Leroy Hommerding, the director of the Fort Myers Beach Public Library, was fatally stabbed Sunday morning as he opened the doors for the second day of a weekend book sale.

The Lee County Sheriff's Office, who later confirmed Hommerding, 69, as the victim, said suspect Adam M. Soules, 36, is facing second-degree homicide charges and will be arraigned Feb. 18. Bail has not yet been set.

There was little information provided on Soules. Witnesses and library workers said he was homeless but the arrest report filed by the Sheriff's Office Sunday listed a Fort myers address.

Before today's arrest the Sheriff's Office arrest database showed only a 2014 arrest for loitering, and listed a Lehigh Acres address.

A group of current and former library employees and others huddled in the blustery conditions outside the library Sunday.

A large banner with the pictures of Snoopy and Woodstock announcing the book sale flapped in the strong breeze above the crime scene as Sheriff's Office personnel talked to witnesses and prepared for a press briefing.

"It's devastating," said Sallie Seabury, president of the Fort Myers Beach Public Library board. "We were having a book sale and he went to open the doors."

Police tape cordoned off the main entrance to the library and blood could be seen by the front doors.

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Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno gave a press briefing outside the library shortly before 1 p.m. Sunday with a few details.

Marceno said deputies were called to the library at 9:06 a.m. and found a male victim with fatal stab wounds.

The sheriff said that Soules had left the scene but was followed by several witnesses, with deputies and detectives quickly finding him and placing him under arrest. The homicide investigation remains open, he said.

"This outrageous act won't go unpunished," Marceno said. "The safety and security of residents is our goal."

Seabury said Hommerding had been a key figure in getting the 5-year-old library built.

"It was his vision," she said.

"Life goes on," Seabury said somberly outside the buff-colored library facility on Estero Boulevard, adding that Hommerding's death will not be easy for the library to deal with.

"It's unspeakable," she said. "Someone will take his position, but not his place. He was totally committed to the library."

She said what the library will do next will be taken up at a board meeting that was already scheduled for Tuesday.

Seabury said Hommerding was a tireless advocate for the library. He was hired as director in 2000.

Marsha Gardner, a former library worker, said that homeless people would often come to the library for shelter or to rest.

"As long as the homeless didn't cause a scene he gave them the benefit of the doubt," she said. "That's why this is so shocking."

Fort Myers Beach Mayor Tracey Gore said she had known Hommerding for many years.

"He was one of the kindest human beings I was honored to have been friends with," she said. "It's sad for everybody."

Gore stressed that beach residents as well as visitors should not hesitate to call the Sheriff's Office if they see something out of the ordinary. "If you see something that doesn't look right, call it in," she said.

The last homicide reported on Fort Myers Beach was in April 2018. Lois Riess, 56, of Minnesota, has been charged with first-degree murder in the death of Pamela Hutchinson, 59, a Fort Myers Beach visitor. Riess is awaiting trial.

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