A child pornography suspect was shot and killed Wednesday in a confrontation with Seminole County deputies in Longwood, according to Sheriff Dennis Lemma.
Gary Wayne Guckenberger, a 68-year-old retired firefighter, was killed after he drew a revolver on deputies when they attempted to arrest him outside his home on Hatfield Court around 3:30 p.m., Lemma said at a news conference later that day.
“You talk about a clear shot, there’s nothing clearer than this,” the sheriff said. “Gary Guckenberger was presenting a real and imminent threat to the deputies that were here on scene. They used great patience and discretion.”
The sheriff’s office had previously received a tip that Guckenberger was accessing mobile devices containing child pornography. Deputies conducted a search warrant at his home Sept. 9 and seized six electronic devices, according to Lemma.
While the examination of the devices is still ongoing, Lemma said deputies discovered over 100 sexually explicit videos involving children from the ages of three to nine years old, which he described as “the most horrific examples of child pornography that somebody could have.” More than 200 still photographs depicting the same type of content were also on found.
The sheriff’s office obtained an arrest warrant for Guckenberger, but opted to surveil him from outside his home before making the arrest since deputies had observed while executing the search warrant that he had multiple guns inside the home, according to Lemma.
While deputies were surveilling the home Wednesday afternoon, Guckenberger came outside and walked into the middle of his driveway, Lemma said. Deputies decided it was a good opportunity to arrest him without incident — but Guckenberger pulled a revolver on them.
The sheriff said a deputy ordered him to drop the weapon and said “don’t do it,” but Guckenberger replied “I have to,” which Lemma believes “leads into the ideology of suicide by cop.” Lemma said the deputy then fired at least two shots, striking Guckenberger.
“They tried to talk him out of actually doing this,” Lemma said. “And of course, I’m convinced that his mind was made up.”
Lemma said the sheriff’s office doesn’t know of any children that have been victimized by Guckenberger. But he said Guckenberger, on at least one occasion, communicated with a woman about engaging in sexual activity with her child. The sheriff’s office doesn’t currently believe that ever occurred, but Lemma said it indicated Guckenberger “clearly was taking this to the next level.”
The sheriff’s office is speaking with neighbors about Guckenberger and is asking anyone in the community who has had contact with him to reach out to the agency if any interactions they had with him now seem suspicious in hindsight.
“We have a responsibility as a society and as a profession to protect our most vulnerable,” Lemma said. “Our children, who are the victims of these heinous crimes, are at the top of that list.”
As per standard procedure, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement will investigate the incident and the deputy involved has been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation, according to a news release from the sheriff’s office.
