A 65-year-old man who authorities said fatally shot a woman and left a sheriff’s deputy and two other men wounded—one of whom later died—last week before killing himself entered the United States as a refugee.
Pavol Vido took his own life after deputies found him hiding under a boat.
A law enforcement official confirmed to Breitbart that Vido entered the country as a refugee in 1977 from the Czech Republic.
Vido lived in the United States as a refugee until he killed himself. He never applied for a Green Card.
Toni Kelley and David Grubbs were identified as the woman and man who were killed by gunshots fired by Vido.
Authorities said the shooting spree started at B Dependable Plumbing in Cleveland in Liberty County. Vido shot two employees there on May 29 before leaving and going to the Big Thicket Veterinary Clinic, reported KTRK. Liberty County Sheriff’s Deputy Richard Whitten followed Vido to the parking lot of the clinic and they got into a shootout there.
Whitten was shot in the throat and airlifted to a hospital; Vido fled the clinic in a stolen car. The vehicle was found about a mile away and officers eventually found Vido hiding under a boat outside of a house they had surrounded. He then shot himself.
Officials told the Houston Chronicle that Vido’s home was a metal storage shed located behind B Dependable Plumbing. He was served eviction papers within 48 hours of the shooting.
ATF, DPS, police, deputies, with guns and dogs searching the plumbing property. Three people were shot inside B Dependable Plumbing. The woman is dead. Unknown how two men are doing. #abc13 https://t.co/LDqPeu045z pic.twitter.com/7u4NwlqL4n
— Courtney Fischer (@CourtneyABC13) May 29, 2019
Vido’s motive was not clear.
He had a lengthy criminal history, including being convicted of the unlawful carry of a weapon in 1982, driving with a suspended license in 1984, and driving while under the influence in 1992. He was also arrested for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in 1990 and a deadly conduct charge in 1994 but was found not guilty on both of those charges.
According to KHOU, Vido pleaded guilty to the unlawful carry charge and served three days in jail; he was sentenced to probation for the driving while intoxicated charge in 1992. Another charge, evading arrest, in 1993, was dismissed.
Tyrone Moncriffe, Vido’s lawyer and friend, claimed that Vido was an immigrant from Russia. He also said Vido would not have carried out the shootings unless he was provoked.
“This isn’t his personality,” Moncriffe said. “That’s uncomfortable for me because he’s not that personality unless something provoked him to do this.”
Tabitha Jordan, who lives near the plumbing business, told KPRC that she was drinking coffee when the shooting started.
“I was sitting there having my coffee, I heard a gunshot,” she said. “I heard a man yelling out in pain and then within three minutes of that gunshot, I mean, police were on it.”
Jordan said she saw Vido on her property several months ago.
“He never said anything to me. He didn’t tell. He boogied. As soon as he knew I was calling the sheriff’s office, he was gone,” she said.
