1987 Palm Bay shooting

On April 23, 1987, a mass shooting occurred in Palm Bay, Florida, when 59-year-old retired librarian William Bryan Cruse Jr. opened fire outside a shopping mall, killing six people, including two police officers, and injuring 14 others before being captured by police in the early hours of the following day. Cruse was sentenced to death for the crime but died on death row in 2009 of natural causes before his execution could be carried out. The incident is the worst mass shooting in Brevard County history.