'Parents Were Killed For Being Sex Traffickers' Shooter Said: Cop

POLK COUNTY, FL — The 11-year-old girl who watched Brian Riley gun down her family in the bathroom where they hid Sunday morning told her afterward he killed her parents because they were sex traffickers, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd told news reporters Thursday.

Detectives say the Brandon suspect was in Lakeland to rescue a non-existent victim from the Gleason family's house on North Socrum Loop Road. Five family members were shot; four died and an 11-year-old girl, Aubry Gleason, pretended to be dead after being shot, but survived.

Two GoFundMe sites have been set up to help with the funeral expenses and with Aubry's hospital bills at Tampa General Hospital.

"There was no relationship between the victims and Brian Riley," Judd said. "A witness who lives in the area of North Socrum Loop Road who knows Riley said (told police) he was talking to Riley (Saturday afternoon), and Riley told him that he was going to go help with the Ida Relief Assistance. The witness offered to make him a first aid kit. He told him to come by the house later, and he'd give him the first aid kit."

Riley, 33, went back to his friend's house Saturday at about 6:45 p.m., according to Judd. Following his departure from his friend's house at about 7:10 p.m., Riley stopped in front of the Gleason family house and spoke to Justice Gleason, who had been mowing his lawn.

Riley's Initial Encounter With Justice Gleason

Riley said, "Hey, God said that I need to talk to Amber because she's going to commit suicide," the affidavit reported.

"I don't know what you're talking about, there's no one here by the name of Amber," Gleason said.

Riley pressed on and refused to leave because he firmly believed the figment of his imagination that there was an Amber there who needed help, Judd said. Once again, Gleason told him to leave. To prove there wasn't an Amber there, he called the 62-year-old grandmother to come out of the house. She confirmed there was no Amber there, and that Riley needed to leave.

They called deputies about 7:20 p.m. while Riley remained at the house. The suspect became angry because he thought Gleason was preventing him from seeing Amber, deputies said. He left when he knew the police had been called.

"God Told Me I Had To Kill Everyone"

During his confession to Polk County Sheriff's authorities, Riley said God told him to kill everyone, and rescue Amber because she's a victim of sex trafficking. Judd said he never threatened the family while talking to them the first time. The accused gunman told authorities he went home and put an ops plan together.

"You know what that means, it means you have to kill everyone," Riley said to investigators.

The suspect argued with his girlfriend of four years back at home, Judd said, but didn't mention his plan or violence. He said God had been talking to him, and she told him God didn't talk to people like that. She fell asleep in a separate room and when she woke up Riley wasn't there.

Video footage taken from the Brandon apartment complex where they live shows Riley walking to his black Ford F-150 pickup truck carrying a large shoulder bag at about 1 a.m. But it was about 4:22 a.m. when the family was shot.

Riley told authorities he went back to North Socrum Loop Road, and started to do reconnaissance outside of the house, placing glow sticks on the path to his truck so he could help Amber find her way out of the home.

The suspect repositioned his truck three times for a fast departure, according to investigators. He located three entrance points to the house and planned his getaway. For a diversion, he sliced the tires of a truck and car parked outside the house, the poured gasoline on the vehicles before setting the truck on fire.

"There was no victim of sex crime inside that house," Judd pointed out aside. "He took his breaching tools and went to the grandmother's apartment in the back (behind the main house) and was unsuccessful. He then shot the door, and then he went around to the south side of the apartment and he shot through the window, and he went inside. He called it 'clearing the house,' and that's when he killed the grandmother," Judd said. "He was clearing the house looking for Amber."

The Executions

Riley shot the grandmother multiple times, investigators said. Riley then shot out the back glass door of the main house. As he walked through the hallway, he claimed God told him he was protected. "I moved into a bedroom where I shot the dog two times," he told authorities. The sheriff said the dog had not acted aggressively toward Riley.

The family of four — a 32-year-old mother, Gleason, a 3-month-old baby and Aubry — were huddled together hiding in the bathroom from the gunman. Riley walked to the bathroom door, and tried to open it, but Gleason pushed the door back toward the suspect and closed the door.

Judd said Riley then shot through the door, opened it and fatally shot three of the four family members multiple times.

He grabbed Aubrey and brought her into the living room. He asked her, "Where's Amber," Judd said.

The 11-Year-Old Girl Plays Dead And Prays

"I'm not Amber, there is no Amber," Aubrey said. Riley then wanted to scare her into telling him where the fictitious Amber was. "He started counting down, '3-2-1,' and shot her in the thigh area and in the stomach," Judd said. "She grabbed the wound, and he asked her again about Amber, and shot her again."

Riley confessed to officers that he tortured the child in order to investigate and find Amber.

"Do you know why I killed your parents," he ask her, according to Judd. "They're sex traffickers," he told her. He is then accused of shooting her in the legs. He thought he had killed her as she played dead and prayed.

According to the suspect's confession, Judd said Riley decided to kill her since she wouldn't tell him where Amber was.

Judd praised the bravery and intelligence of Aubrey for outsmarting Riley.

Shootout With Deputies

A deputy entered the house through the back door and exchanged gunfire with Riley, investigators said. More shots were fired as more deputies arrived. After officers had fired about 59 rounds, a bullet from a deputy's rifle went through Riley's bulletproof vest and into his stomach. He retreated to the baby's nursery and nursed his wound.

"At that point, I knew I was outgunned and outmanned," Riley confessed. "So I dumped my bulletproof vest and my guns, and I walked outside with my hands up and gave up."

Judd said the investigation shows Riley shot his gun at the North Socrum Loop house more than 100 times.

While at the hospital being treated for the gunshot wound, Riley fought with a Lakeland Police officer and tried to grab his gun. The suspect said he had been under the influence of meth, which Judd said has not been confirmed as of Thursday. Detectives have confirmed Riley was on illegal steroids.

Riley's girlfriend told authorities he has Post Traumatic Stress Disorder from serving in the military and doing tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. However, a Lakeland veteran organization, 22Zero, that counsels those with PTSD told a news outlet that veterans with PTSD are not typically violent.

"While it's natural to seek an obvious explanation for Riley's alleged acts, focusing on his diagnosis of PTSD would be a mistake," Dan Jarvis, veteran and founder of 22Zero said.

According to the Polk County Sheriff's Office, Riley faces the following charges:

• 1st degree murder
• Attempted 1st degree murder
• Attempted 1st degree murder of a law enforcement officer
• Shooting into an occupied dwellingT
• Armed burglary with battery
• Kidnapping of a minor
• Arson
• Cruelty to an animal

If you 'd like to donate to the GoFundMe sites to help with funeral expenses and Aubry's hospital bills, click here or visit here. GoFundMe is Patch promotional partner.

Patch Related Story:

• 11-Year-Old Shooting Victim Needs Donations For Hospital Bills