ST. PETERSBURG – Months before an encounter between Austin Kingos and two police officers ended in gunfire, he visited a local smoke shop and spoke to a salesman.
Jennah Glassberg recently moved to St. Petersburg with her partner, she said in a statement to the Tampa Bay Times, and Kingos suggested swapping phone numbers to become friends. Glassberg and her partner once hung out at Kingos’ apartment in the Gandy area but left after 20 minutes because he kept interrupting them and acting strangely.
From there, according to Glassberg and court records, bizarre and undesirable persecution unfolded. It would culminate in an encounter between Kingos and a police officer on Saturday that ended in gunshots, a gunshot wound for Kingos and a narrow miss for the officer.
“This is a case where the crossbreeding of guns, drugs and a person with mental health problems led to a very poor result, but it could have been much worse,” Sheriff Bob Gualtieri said at a news conference Tuesday. “And we are very grateful that both officers were unharmed.”
After that disturbing meeting point in Kingos’ apartment in mid-April, Kingos wrote to Glassberg that he was so in love with her that he could neither eat nor sleep.
“I told him that his feelings were completely one-sided and that I didn’t want anything to do with him,” said Glassberg. She blocked his phone number.
But Kingos didn’t want to stop. He turned up at the smokehouse several times to talk to her. During one visit, Glassberg said, he started arguing with her, insisting that they had communicated telepathically. He wouldn’t leave until another customer stepped in to help Glassberg.
She quit her job in the store. Then Kingos showed up in the apartment where she lived with her partner.
“My partner and I were scared,” said Glassberg. “We carried that fear around with us every day after that.”
It got so bad that on June 2, she asked the courts for protection. A judge took their side on June 15 and issued an injunction that was valid until June 2024. Part of the conditions was that Kingos was not allowed to have weapons. He swore under oath that, according to court records, he had none in his possession.
The story goes on
However, according to Glassberg and police, Kingos continued to try to reach her, this time sending packages to her apartment. He had 40 packages delivered in nine days, she said, mostly groceries and pizza. The last packages came on Saturday. Inside was a lactation massager and baby toy.
“I almost vomited on my doorstep when I saw her,” said Glassberg.
She reported each package to St. Petersburg police, who determined that there was a likely reason for arresting Kingos for violating the injunction. The officers went to his apartment at 10790 Third Street N.
Recordings from the dashboard and body-worn cameras show what happened next.
Officer Ronald McKenzie asks Kingos for ID. Kingos asks why he’s asking. McKenzie identifies and says all they have to do is talk. The officer opens the door to the van and then grabs Kingo’s arm. The two argue and Kingos kicks his legs out of the car.
In the meantime Officer Pavel Kuznetsov arrives. The view from his body-worn camera shows Kingos, who is still sitting in the driver’s seat of the delivery truck and pointing a semi-automatic pistol at the officers.
Then Kingos shoots once. According to Gualtieri, Kuznetsov could hear the bullet pounding on his head. McKenzie fires seven shots at the van. You hit Kingos in the leg. Kingos jumps out of the van from the passenger door and takes off. The officers are chasing him. He finally drops his gun, lies on the floor, and police arrest him on 108th Avenue and Fourth Street.
On Tuesday, Kingos remained in Pinellas County Jail on charges of attempted murder of a police officer, insulting a law enforcement officer and the original injunction violation, among other charges.
Kingos told the Times in a prison interview that he was upset that the officer tried to get into his van without a warrant and refused to tell him why he was there. He saw the officer reaching for his weapon and feared for his life, Kingos said. He said he fired his own gun as a “warning shot”.
“If I wanted to hit you, I would have,” said Kingos. “I made a conscious choice not to hit him … I wouldn’t want to take my life.”
Kingos said he bought the gun from a Bass Pro Shops location sometime last year. When asked why he had said under oath that he had no weapons, he said he believed the court would ask if he had any weapons with him at the moment.
Speaking at Tuesday’s press conference, Gualtieri said family members had told police that Kingos had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia and had been prescribed drugs to treat these diseases. Given his mental health problems, Gualtieri said Kingos should also refrain from drug use. But recently Kingos stopped taking these drugs and started taking marijuana, Gualtieri said.
When Glassberg found out that Kingos had a gun, it scared her even more of what could have happened. But the news of his arrest gave her a “warm feeling of peace,” she said, adding that St. Petersburg police were “wonderful in their response”.
“I welcome the detaining officers’ self-control and wish them protection and happiness,” she said.
“I’m glad he’s in jail,” she said. “I hope he stays there for a long time. I will wait to hear the condemnation so that I can forget him and heal from this ordeal. “
Genevieve Redsten contributed to this report.
The post According to records, a man from St. Petersburg followed an employee for months before shooting first appeared on Daily Florida Press.
from Daily Florida Press https://dailyfloridapress.com/according-to-records-a-man-from-st-petersburg-followed-an-employee-for-months-before-shooting/
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