GREEN COVE SPRINGS, Fla. – A triple murder-suicide that took the lives of two women and two men Tuesday in Green Cove Springs left the community shaken, including the small town's first responders, many of whom knew the victims.
Erica Green Lancaster, Valorie Short and her father, Welland “Buddy” Short, were shot and killed by Murray Lancaster, who retreated to a camper on his family's property and then took his own life.
Valorie Short was Murray Lancaster's ex-girlfriend, and Erica Green was his ex-wife.
Before finding Murray Lancaster dead in the camper, Clay County deputies, Green Cove Springs officers and SWAT team members surrounded the camper in a standoff that lasted almost four hours.
Like any major incident in a tight-knit community, the chances that those responding knew the victims involved was high.
John Ward, deputy director of Clay County Emergency Management, said supervisors and co-workers do their best in such situations to look out for one another.
“We see if there are behavioral changes or things along those lines and we will generally try to bring, whenever we have a mass incident or stuff that involves children or anything along those lines, we will try to bring in the teams just to assist,” Ward said.
Ward wouldn't say specifically if anyone involved in Tuesday's responses has needed the stress team, but he said there have been multiple times in recent months that the teams have been needed, and they will continue to be available as the community moves forward after the tragedy.
Community rallies after tragedy
An outpouring of support for the victims' families, which include the children of Erica Green and Valorie Short, has flowed from the community in the last two days.
VIDEO: Green Cove Springs shooting victims remembered
A GoFundMe account for Valorie Short's mother and two boys raised more than $14,000 in one day, a family friend told News4Jax.
"It is such an amazing thing when a community can come together and support one another during hard times," Laurel Gregory said in a Facebook post on Channel 4's page. "I am proud to be a part of it."
A GoFundMe account has also been set up to help Green's family with funeral and other expenses. It has raised nearly $10,000 so far.
An impromptu memorial of flowers has started to build at Valorie Short's station at the Keeping It Classy salon on Orange Avenue, where Lancaster kidnapped her at gunpoint Tuesday morning, beginning the violent rampage.
Friends and former cosmetology classmates of Short said they're devastated by her killing and are pitching in to help her family.
Short attended North Florida Academy Cosmetology School and later worked there.
A memorial has been erected for her inside the school with pictures, flowers, ribbons and a donation jar.
Inside of the cosmetology school, a memorial has been set up for Valorie Short. Pictures, flowers, ribbons, and a donation jar.
“We just started telling people about it and made the ribbons. When you donate, get a ribbon,” Lauren Puhl said. “A lady today just came in and dropped off money and left. She didn't even get a service here.”
Puhl said she felt a special connection to Short. She said that more than a year ago, her 2-year-old daughter passed away, and Short was there for her.
“She was always encouraging me to stay strong and go on, and that life does go on,” Puhl said.
The bottom of the memorial's picture collage reads “RIP Valorie! Gone but never forgotten #NFAgirls.” The other girls at the school who knew Short are now relying on each other for support.
“We are here to talk to each other. It's hard for us to even imagine what family and people who are closer to her feel, because we are devastated,” Krystal Fales said. “But it's nice to have that to go to with each other.”
The women said they will be donating the money they raise to Short's GoFundMe account.
Rampage shocks small town
Murray Lancaster tried to visit his two children at Charles E. Bennett Elementary School before he shot and killed his ex-girlfriend, her father and his ex-wife and then committed suicide.
Police don't know which teacher stopped Lancaster or why, before his rampage began about 9:45 a.m. Tuesday, but Clay County officials complimented the school for a job well done for every child in the building.
Lancaster then went to Keeping It Classy salon on Orange Avenue, where he kidnapped Valorie Short at gunpoint. He drove her to Magnolia West, where he found her father, Buddy Short, working construction and then shot them both.
Officers responding to 911 calls about the double shooting at County Road 315 and Medinah Lane found Buddy Short and Valorie Short dead in the street.
Lancaster then drove to the Rosemary Hill Road landfill to find his ex-wife, Erica Green Lancaster, who worked there. He shot and killed her and then fled the scene in his truck, which was later found outside the Lancaster family home on Idlewild Avenue (State Road 16). A .223-caliber rifle was found in the truck, Sheriff Rick Beseler said.
Clay County SWAT teams surrounded a nearby camper on the property and later were able to enter the camper and found Lancaster dead, Beseler said.
The bodies of Lancaster and the three victims were autopsied Wednesday by the medical examiner. The victims were each shot multiple times.
Police said they are investigating if Lancaster was suffering from mental illness. Several witnesses, friends and family have reported that he was, and that he was “off his medicine” and drinking.
A toxicology report will be part of Lancaster's autopsy.
Lancaster is a nephew of former Clay County Sheriff Scott Lancaster.