Wednesday, April 1, 2020

TAMPA, Fla. (WRDW/WMBF/AP) -- Florida state troopers arrested a Georgia man accused of fatally shooting three people in his child's mother's family, and kidnapping his 2-year-old son.

Caesar Crockett Jr., 29, safely handed his child over to authorities after a crash near Tampa on Wednesday.

Authorities say Crockett then stayed in his vehicle for several hours in a standoff with law enforcement before he eventually surrendered.

Police say Crockett got into a fight with his child's mother Tuesday night in Macon, Georgia, and then fatally shot the woman's mother, stepfather and sister.

The standoff happened after the suspect was spotted near Interstate 75 and Fowler Avenue in Tampa, authorities said.

At 1:26 p.m. Wednesday, Tampa police officers attempted a felony traffic stop after spotting Crockett, authorities said. He failed to stop and a police pursuit began on Interstate 4, authorities said.

Florida troopers and Tampa police units worked together to attempt to stop the suspect as he fled at speeds up to 120 mph east and west along I-4, authorities said. While exiting eastbound I-4 at I-75, the suspect crashed on the exit ramp, authorities said.

He is wanted on suspicion of three counts of murder and one count of kidnapping after a shooting Tuesday night at a home in the 500 block of Moreland Avenue in Macon.

Deputies arrived and found three people shot in the house and one woman with injuries, according to the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office.

“It was reported that there was an altercation between 29-year-old Caesar Zamien Lamar Crockett Jr. and his child’s mother, 30-year-old Jamila Augustine French. During the altercation Crockett pulled a firearm and shot French’s mother and step-father and sister killing them,” the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office stated on Facebook.

Deputies said Crockett, who reportedly has family in Florida and California, then fled the scene with his son.

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