A Florida father of six is on the loose after allegedly killing his wife, a neighbor and a local pastor on Thursday, authorities say.
Andres (Andy) Avalos was last seen near the Bayshore Baptist Church in Bradenton, where pastor James Battle was found dead.
The suspect's vehicle, a gold SUV, was found at a nearby Walmart on Thursday night, Dave Bristow of the Manatee County Sheriff's Office told the Daily News, but the suspect remains at large.
Four schools were on lockdown Thursday just in case Avalos tried to pick up any of his six kids, Bristow said, but there were no plans to lock down the schools on Friday.
"Those children. That's the tragedy," said Elwin "Karp" Carpenter, a church deacon.
The bodies of Avalos' wife Amber, 33, and neighbor Denise Potter, 45, were found in the same Bradenton home on Thursday afternoon.
Battle had met with Andy Avalos face-to-face in the church courtyard moments before the pastor was killed, Sheriff Brad Steube said.
"The pastor saw this coming," he told the Bradenton Herald.
The pastor's wife Joy is the church's secretary, and the couple have two young children.
"He was a big man, and his heart almost encompassed his entire body," said Carpenter.
A church member said his final sermon on Sunday was prophetic.
"It was about how we had to have an armor and be prepared for anything," said Judy Smith,
Neighbor Jane Riley said it is "like the sweetest little community," but indicated someone who lived in the Avalos family's home was killed during a home invasion in 2008.
"Now I'm scared," Riley said. "I have an alarm system, but is that enough? I hope the cops hang around for a while."
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