MIAMI – A Baptist pastor in Florida was among victims in a Dec. 26 shooting spree that left two dead and three seriously wounded before ending in a suicide.
Keith Blakely, 47, pastor of Central Baptist Church in Miami, died when removed from life support 15 hours after being shot in his home. His parents, who were visiting from Texas, also were shot, but their wounds were not life-threatening.
Police said 19-year-old Jonathan Erik Carter walked past an unsuspecting Blakely in the front yard of the pastor’s home in the Miami suburb of Kendall, knocked on the door, went inside and opened fire. Blakely’s 19-year-old daughter, Angela, was the apparent target of the attack. She escaped out a back door unhurt. Carter then wounded her 78-year-old grandparents and shot her father, who had rushed into the house after hearing gunfire. Blakely’s wife and two younger children were not at home.
According to news reports, Angela had been a friend with Carter, who was described as a troubled youth with a lengthy arrest record, when they were in high school, but they hadn’t been in contact for about a year. Carter reportedly had been upset because he couldn’t date her.
After leaving the Blakely home, Carter later showed up at the home of another former friend, 19-year-old Jonathan Scarboro Lott, about four miles away and shot him to death. The suspected motive for that shooting was an incident almost two years ago when Carter and Lott were being questioned by a police officer. Carter fled, and Lott helped identify and find his friend.
Carter then drove 12 miles to the Miami-Dade County Jail and fired on two uniformed officers outside the building.
Eight hours later, Carter shot himself in the head. His body was discovered in a bathtub at a house under construction. Police found an explosive device in his car, parked two blocks away.
New reports speculated that feelings of unrequited love, betrayal by a friend and holiday depression contributed to the rampage.
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