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Police officer kills 3, then himself

Domestic problems may have led the officer to a colleague's home, where his wife was staying.

EUSTIS - A police officer apparently shot and killed his wife, a colleague and the co-worker's wife in a home in a rural Central Florida subdivision early Sunday before committing suicide, authorities said.

Preliminary results of the investigation show Eustis police Officer Mike Mount and wife Kim Mount, a police clerk, may have had domestic problems before the shootings about 6 a.m., Lake County sheriff's spokeswoman Sgt. Christie Mysinger said.

Mike Mount drove to the house of fellow officer and friend Joe Gomez because Kim Mount had stayed there overnight with the couple's two children, Mysinger said. Mount got into the house and some type of confrontation began, she said.

Investigators believe that Mike Mount then shot the three people, including Gomez's wife, Serena Gomez, Mysinger said. The Gomezes' son, Serena Gomez's mother and the Mounts' children all escaped the house unharmed. Serena Gomez's mother went to a neighbor's house to call 911.

The Mounts have been married since July 16, according to records reviewed by the Orlando Sentinel . Joe and Serena Gomez bought the home about 25 miles north of Orlando in February 2005, according to Lake County property records.

David Greenspan, a 65-year-old retired computer technician, lives across the street from the Gomez home, but said he didn't hear anything until patrol cars arrived about 6:30 a.m. He had never noticed any trouble at the house before.

"The nickname of the street is "Cop Lane' because we have a bunch of cops and retired cops living on the street," he said.

[Last modified February 6, 2006, 01:09:14]