Man who killed 3 found dead in camper
Clay County sheriff says gunman killed ex-wife, girlfriend, her father
GREEN COVE SPRINGS, Fla. - A man abducted his ex-girlfriend Tuesday and then shot and killed her, her father and his ex-wife before running from the scene and later taking his own life, Clay County Sheriff Rick Beseler said.
Murray Lancaster, 40, was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound inside a camper trailer on property belonging to his family, ending a manhunt in the deadly triple shooting in the small Clay County town of Green Cove Springs, Beseler said.
Lancaster is a nephew of former Clay County Sheriff Scott Lancaster.
"This is a terrible and tragic event for our community," Beseler said. "It brings to light the fragile nature of life and how things can happen in just a moment to ruin many, many lives and fracture many, many families."
Beseler said Murray Lancaster kidnapped his ex-girlfriend, Valorie Short, at gunpoint from a Green Cove Springs hair salon on Orange Avenue about 9:45 a.m. Tuesday and drove her to the Magnolia Point Golf & Country Club.
Beseler said Murray ran into Short's father, Welland "Buddy" Short, there and then shot and killed them both. Officers responding to 911 calls about the double shooting at Country Road 315 and Medinah Lane found the two victims dead.
While responding to that call, police got another call about a shooting at the Rosemary Hill Road landfill.
Lancaster had driven there to find his ex-wife, Erica Green Lancaster, who worked there, and shot and killed her, Beseler said.
Erica Green and Valorie Short each had two children, and sources tell*News4Jax*one of the women was pregnant.
Beseler said all the children are safe and with family.
"This is a very small, tight-knit community and even the suspects are people who have grown up here, went to school with all of us, and are well thought of, and it just compounds the tragedy so much more," Beseler said. "We know the families. We know the pain that this event caused."
Beseler personally knows former sheriff Scott Lancaster, and was the one to break the news to him that his nephew was dead.
"I know probably from his standpoint, it made it easier talking to a friend, someone that he knew," Beseler said. "I've known the Lancaster family my whole life. I go to church with them. It's just a really sad time. I've watched these children grow. I've known them my whole life. When you know the victims and you know the people involved, it makes it a lot harder."
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