TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

'This Is A Hard Time,' Gunman's Father Says

ADVERTISEMENT

By BAIRD HELGESON and KEITH MORELLI, The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 16, 2008

Updated: 02/16/2008 12:12 am

LAKELAND - Neighbors say they do not recall ever seeing the man who killed five Illinois college students at his father's home in Lakeland.

As the nation looked for a motive in Steven Kazmierczak's shooting spree, his father, Robert, made a brief statement Friday outside his home and asked to be left alone.

"This is a very hard time," he said. "I'm a diabetic, and I don't want to have a relapse."

Robert Kazmierczak lives in Schalamar Creek Golf and Country Club, a gated community of manufactured homes, set amid a leafy golf course with large oak and birch trees, on the western edge of the Polk County city.
Kazmierczak moved in to the home with his disabled wife more than two years ago, neighbors said. She died about a year and a half ago.

His home is known among neighbors for its neatly trimmed lawn and fake pink flamingos along the side of the house. It still has the ramp he built to ease his wife's access into the house.

Neighbors described Kazmierczak as a quiet man who didn't talk about himself, his wife or his son. They didn't recall ever seeing Steven Kazmierczak at the home.

Neighbors said they knew the elder Kazmierczak was in poor health, lived alone and that he had became less social after his wife died.

Of more than a dozen people interviewed Friday, no one professed to know him well.

"I would be out walking my dog, and we would pass," neighbor Ronald Lloyd said. "He would say 'hi,' but when I tried to talk a little more, he just kept walking."

About 3 a.m. Friday, Polk County Sheriff's Office deputies were called by DeKalb, Ill., police detectives for help locating Kazmierczak. Polk deputies interviewed him about 5 a.m. and forwarded information from that discussion to Illinois authorities.

Later in the day, the community's staff escorted waiting journalists off the property. They closed the gate and brought in a security guard to keep people out.

The community also closed a side gate generally open for delivery vehicles and residents looking to make a shortcut to their homes.

A couple of flower delivery trucks came and went.

The driver of one truck confirmed she had just dropped off a bouquet at Kazmierczak's home.

Reporter Baird Helgeson can be reached at (813) 259-7668 or bhelgeson @tampatrib.com. Reporter Keith Morelli can be reached at (813) 259-7760 or kmorelli@tampatrib.com.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT