A Tampa man admitted to shooting his mother and teenage daughter and killing his mother’s friend after allegedly trying to force the 17-year-old “into a relationship with him.”
Michael Monroe Banks, 42, also fired at a Tampa police officer before surrendering, according to the Tampa Bay Times.
Court documents say Banks told police he wrote a letter to his daughter “insisting that she enter into a relationship with him and not date anyone else” and that he became upset when he heard his mother and her friend talking about leaving with the teen.
Banks’ 60-year-old mother called police at about 12:45 p.m. on Wednesday and reported that her son had shot her and her friend. When officers arrrived, they found the mother and Banks’ daughter outside the house, both with gunshot wounds. Banks, police said, was armed with a muzzle-loading handgun.”
One of the officers, identified by the department as Darrin Gibson, saw Banks in the backyard, and Banks fired two shots at him but missed. Banks surrendered a short time later.
Officers entered the home and found 52-year-old Josephine Muentes dead in the kitchen with a gunshot wound to the dead.
Banks’ mother told police that she and Muentes had been discussing forcing her son to move out of the house because he “was pursuing a romantic relationship with his daughter,” documents say. The mother said she heard a gunshot and turned to see Muentes fall to the floor. Banks then shot at her, grazing her head, as she ran out of the house.
The teen told police she was in the shower when she heard the gunshots and tried to hold the door closed, but Banks fired through the door “at approximately head level.” The girl said she ran from the house, and Banks fired at her, striking her in the leg.
Banks admitted writing the letter to his daughter pushing her to be in a relationship with him. Shen he heard his mother and Muentes talking, he said he felt “betrayed and upset,” so we went into his room and loaded his gun, which took some time because it is a muzzle loader that required him to measure gunpowder into six cylinders, press projectiles into the cylinders, and then seat percussion caps into each cylinder, the documents say.
From there, he went into the kitchen and shot Muentes and his mother, saying he intended to kill them both. He also admitted shooting his daughter.
After his daughter fled the house, Banks said he reloaded and went outside. He said he heard police yelling at him and saw an officer in his neighbor’s front yard, so he shot at him. Then he went inside, put the gun on the kitchen table, and surrendered.
Banks has been charged with first degree murder with a firearm, two counts of attempted first degree murder with a firearm, one count of attempted first degree murder of a law enforcement officer, and one count of illegally possessing a firearm as a felon.
He’s being held without bail pending a hearing on Wednesday in which prosecutors are arguing against bail, saying he would present a danger to the communty if he is allowed out.
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[Featured image: Michael Monroe Banks/Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office]
