A man who proclaimed to be "Jesus and God" was killed by police after holding his parents hostage and shooting law enforcement agents. Wayne Volz, the self-proclaimed "Messiah" and deity, a 34-year-old Florida man, was shot down on Good Friday, April 18.
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During a
news conference held by Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd and Bartow Police Chief Steve Walker, the preliminary details surrounding the Wayne Volz case's investigation were shared. Reportedly, the chain of events started at around 11:30 a.m., when Volz engaged in a heated argument with both his parents at their home in Fort Meade.According to Sheriff Judd, Volz pistol-whipped his mother. When confronted by his father, who tried to intervene, Volz reportedly knocked him down. He then put the gun between his father's eyes, he asked, "Do you want to die today?"
He then added, "If you want to live, you better beg for your life," as per Judd.
Wayne Volz didn't shoot his father, but took both his and his mother's cellphones. It was then that he said that he was "Jesus and God." According to Judd, his father, unfazed by the remarks, answered, "We are people of faith. You're not Jesus. You're not God."
Shootout
Eventually, the tense situation was briefly interrupted by a request made by Wayne's father. He had to go to work at a Lowe's store in Bartow. Volz agreed to his father's request, but made a stop on the way, with Sheriff Judd explaining he had purchased pills from another man. This detail is currently under investigation.
It was during this journey to Lowe's that Volz shared that he was to "kill a lot of people anyway." Upon arrival, Volz's father told his coworkers what was going on. They hid him away so his son couldn't find him while his father called 911.
Bartow police and Polk County deputies arrived at the scene. At around 5:30 p.m., Deputy Edwin Alexander located Volz, and one of his colleagues told Volz to stop, threatening him to tase him if he didn't comply. The female colleague, a drone operator, didn't notice Volz had a gun. That's when Volz rushed inside a building and fired his gun multiple times toward them, hitting a patrol car and hitting Alexander in his forearm.
A shootout between Volz and law enforcement agents took place, in which a Bartow police officer, Mark Sills, and Volz himself were shot. Sills, Alexander, and Volz were transferred to a local hospital. Wayne Volz succumbed to his injuries shortly after arriving. Deputy Alexander and Officer Sills were released and expected to recover.
