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Second murder victim's body found days after suspect killed by deputies

Published  August 7, 2019 5:26pm EDT
News
FOX 13 Tampa Bay

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CLEARWATER, Fla. (FOX 13) - A second murder victim has been found, days after a suspect killed his mother, then was fatally shot by deputies in Safety Harbor.

The Pinellas County Sheriff's Office said deputies found the body of 54-year-old Michael Robinson at his residence in Clearwater Tuesday afternoon.

Investigators had tried to make contact with Robinson after determining he knew 35-year-old John Clark, the suspect in Saturday's deputy-involved shooting. When deputies arrived at Robinson's home, they found him dead from an apparent gunshot wound.

The investigation began early Saturday morning, when deputies responded to a condo on Flanders Way in Safety Harbor for a welfare check around 2:30 a.m.

The sheriff's office said Clark had called a friend in Illinois and told him he had just killed his mother, 64-year-old Susan Clark.

The friend called the sheriff's office and when deputies arrived, Susan Clark was found fatally shot in the living room. 

Investigators used cell phone data to determine that the suspect was still in the area. Around 4:20 a.m., deputies spotted John Clark driving his mother's vehicle through the neighborhood. 

According to Sheriff Bob Gualtieri, the suspect could be seen holding a shotgun and pointing it at deputies on the passenger side. That's when three deputies opened fire. 

The sheriff said John Clark was taken to St. Joseph's Hospital, where he died. He was believed to have issues with drug addiction, Gualtieri said.

“You could certainly draw the inference, and that would be a fair one that it was a suicide by cop situation," said Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri. “But, of course, we don’t know that. The only person who knows is Clark and he’s dead.”

It is unclear how Robinson and Clark knew each other.

Detectives are asking anyone who may have seen a 2012 blue Volkswagen Eos in the Safety Harbor or Countryside area on August 3 between the hours of 12:30 a.m. and 4:30 a.m. to contact the sheriff's office at 727-582-5669.