Largo, Florida — Authorities recently arrested a 37-year-old man in Georgia on suspicion of fatally shooting his parents in Florida and threatening to shoot others in South Carolina.
According to the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office in Florida, on June 6, deputies responded to a home on Saunders Avenue after a caller requested a welfare check for someone who did not show up for work. Officials discovered 53-year-old Elizabeth Kirchner and 64-year-old Steven Kirchner dead from apparent gunshot wounds.
Nicholas Kirchner-Prola, the victims’ son and suspect, reportedly fled the scene before the sheriff arrived.
That same day, Sumter County Sheriff’s Office deputies in South Carolina responded to a firearm-related disturbance call on Green View Parkway. According to witnesses, Kirchner-Prola allegedly pointed a firearm at several people and threatened to shoot them. According to the investigation, he “held one family member at gunpoint and forced another to enter the home to retrieve someone, threatening to shoot the hostage in the head if the demands were not met.”
At one point, the suspect allegedly stated, “I’ve already killed two people.” “I will kill some more.”
A family member reportedly exited the house armed, and Kirchner-Prola fled in his vehicle while another person called police.
Hours later, at around 3:41 p.m., the Taliaferro County Sheriff’s Office in Georgia received a call from a motorist reporting a “suspicious individual on the shoulder of the highway” who was “kneeling with one hand raised.”
According to the Taliaferro County Sheriff’s Office, when deputies arrived, Kirchner-Prola stated that he was armed and had his weapon safely secured. Local authorities learned he was wanted in South Carolina and Florida.
Kirchner-Prola allegedly admitted to killing his parents several times, describing it as a “righteous kill.” The suspect also allegedly told investigators that he abandoned a stolen Nissan Pathfinder on Interstate 20, which was eventually discovered by the Warren County Sheriff’s Office.
Kirchner-Prola was arrested and booked into the McDuffie County Jail in Georgia; he will be extradited to Florida, where he faces two counts of first-degree murder.
