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A jealous ex-boyfriend busted into a Narcotics Anonymous meeting in Edgewater, Florida, Monday night, killing his romantic rival and briefly taking his ex-girlfriend hostage before killing her and then turning the gun on himself.
At about 7 p.m., Quinton Francis Hunter, 49, who has done time for illegal gunrunning and weapons possession, interrupted a rented group meeting for recovering addicts located behind 515 North Ridgewood Avenue, and killed Ian Greenfield, 59, immediately, according to Mahoney.
Hunter, 49, known on the street as ‘Rags’, who police said was angry that Greenfield was the the new man in 33-year-old Erica Hoffman’s life, took her hostage while the other attendees fled the building.
Unhinged gunman Quinton Francis Hunter, 49, killed the new beau of his ex-girlfriend and then killed her before turning the gun on himself
Erica Hoffman, 33, was at the center of a lover’s triangle that lead to the murder of her new love interest Ian Greenfield by her old boyfriend Quinton Hunter.
Ian Greenfield, 59, who has struggled with addiction for years, was gunned down during a Narcotics Anonymous meeting by a jealous ex-boyfriend
Hoffman and Greenfield, whose brother said he struggled with drug addiction for years, were helping each other through drug recovery.
Edgewater police surrounded the building and tried to negotiate with the unhinged man, but kept their SWAT team nearby.
Police Chief said that Hunter, who sports a distinctive claw-mark face tattoo, started a Facebook live broadcast while he was barricaded inside the building but did not say anything. Police believe that Hoffman and Greenfield were both dead at that point.
‘We attempted to make contact with the suspect to negotiate; however, it was unsuccessful,’ Mahoney said.
The special tactical unit was sent in, but the shooting was already done.
Large chunks of cinder block have been ripped apart during a SWAT team raid on a Narcotics Anonymous meeting where a gunman had taken his girlfriend hostage
Edgewater police tried to negotiate with the gunman who had taken his girlfriend hostage, but after he did not respond, the breached the door
A large black tactical vehicle could be seen outside the building where a gunman killed his girlfriend, another man and then shot himself after a brief standoff
The fateful Narcotics Anonymous meeting took place behind 515 North Ridgewood Avenue in Edgewater
Emergency vehicles blocked the road on Monday night as police tried to negotiate with a gunman who had killed a man and taken his girlfriend hostage. He ended up killing her and himself
‘We breached the building and located three deceased, including the suspect,’ the chief said.
A large black tactical vehicle could been seen in photos and footage from news reports parked at the back of the building after the murder-suicide.
The backdoor lay on the parking lot and chunks of cider block had been ripped from the doorway.
Hoffman and Greenfield were killed during the stand-off at the ‘Bridge the Gap’ meeting on North Ridgewood Avenue.
‘At this time, we believe this is a domestic incident and there is not further danger to the public,’ Mahoney added.
Hunter and Hoffman were in a relationship at some point, according to police.
Greenfield and Hoffman were friends, but it’s not known if it was a romantic relationship, Fox 35 reported.
Narcotics Anonymous offers regular meetings for men and women who struggle with addiction where they can talk about their experiences and help each other stay off drugs.
Eric Lancaster, who runs Bridging the Gap, a social services support organization that rents the front office where the shooting took place said that the violence was ‘very unusual.’
‘There’s never been anything like this before. They’ve been renting that space for a couple of years and there’s never been any violence,’ he said. ‘They don’t bother our space and we don’t bother theirs.’
Edgewater, population 23,097, is a working class town about 20 miles south of Daytona Beach, Florida.