Double homicide investigation underway in Bradenton RV park: Authorities

BRADENTON, Fla. - A double homicide investigation is underway in an RV park in Bradenton, the Manatee County Sheriff's Office said. 

Detectives said they responded to the Arbor Terrace RV Park, which is on 55th Avenue Terrace West at around 12:05 p.m. Friday. They said Manatee County deputies received a report of a disturbance in a mobile home when a woman was heard crying for help. 

READ: Lakeland family hopes driver in deadly hit-and-run crash is arrested: 'He needs to pay'

When deputies arrived, they found a man and a woman dead on the floor inside the mobile home, according to investigators. 

"This was certainly a horrible scene here," said Randy Warren, a spokesman for MCSO. "Two people had been killed. It was a very gruesome type scene."

Shortly after deputies arrived, one of them saw another man running away. Authorities said they apprehended the suspect, who they identified as 36-year-old Thomas Matejcek, along 14th Street West and took him into custody.  

Warren said they took the suspect into custody within minutes of him running from the scene. Deputies and the sheriff's office's K-9 unit found him in a parking lot outside a shopping center along 14th Street West.

"And fortunately, we located him real quick and took him into custody and continue to question him, and try to figure out exactly what brought our suspect to the point of wanting to do this," Warren said.

Detectives are investigating what led to the homicide and the relationship between the victims and the suspect. 

"Our suspect did not just randomly walk into this RV park and commit a horrible crime, and killing two people," Warren said. "We know that there was some interaction, a relationship there with at least one of the victims, and very possibly some ongoing disputes."

Neighbors who knew the victims were shocked by the news.

"They were really friendly," Javier Rivera, a neighbor, said. "I mean, they were very friendly and never came out of the house. They were always inside of the house."