Callahan shooting leaves 3 family members dead, husband/father arrested: 'It doesn't make sense'

Saying Wednesday morning's massacre at a Callahan home "doesn't make sense," Nassau County Sheriff Bill Leeper announced the arrest of William Conway Broyles in the deaths of his wife and two grown children.

Leeper said the 57-year-old suspect called 911 about 7:15 a.m. to notify deputies of what had just occurred at his Deer Run Road home in the Spring Lake Estates community.

"The suspect was lying down in the driveway unarmed, waiting on them," the sheriff said. "... Later on, he told us that he shot each victim multiple times just to make sure they didn't suffer."

His wife, Candace Lynn Broyles, 57, was found dead in the living room. Daughter Cara Lynn Broyles, 27, was shot dead in her bedroom as she was waking up. Son Aaron Christopher Broyles, 28, was killed in his bedroom after his door was broken in, Leeper said.

"He then went back to get another gun, came back and shot his son again," the sheriff said.

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Details of what led up to the attack were not released, although the sheriff said they have a "pretty good idea" what happened as the investigation continues.

"It doesn't make sense when you look at the whole circumstance of what we believe happened," Leeper said. "It's just a senseless act. When he was asked why he just didn't shoot himself, he said he was too scared to do that, which is crazy."

Leeper said there is no history of any domestic or anger issues in the past with the family.

Hodges Boulevard Presbyterian Church lists Broyles as its director of Music Ministries and church musician for 23 years in Jacksonville. The church website describes him as happily married for 30 years.

He also is listed as director of engineering at Sunoptic Technologies also in Jacksonville.

Troubling times in normally quiet Nassau County

The Spring Lake Estates community is in a wooded area just north of Lem Turner Road. Wednesday's shootings occurred a few blocks from where West Nassau High School student Trenton Fort, 16, was shot and killed on Feb. 24, 2020. On Sept. 24 a judge sentenced schoolmate Gaven Walker Smith, also 16 at the time of the shooting, to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty to third-degree murder, court records show.

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Fort, a West Nassau High School football player, was shot in the chest while in a car parked with friends about 4:30 p.m. that day at Spring Lake Drive and Deer Run Road.

The Nassau County Sheriff's Office also just handled a double shooting on Nov. 23 at a home in the 96000 block of Otter Run Drive near Kingsley Creek. Deputies found a male suspect dead on the front porch with a gunshot wound to the head, the Sheriff's Office said. Inside the home, they found a woman victim with gunshot wounds to her right arm and shoulder.

The Sheriff's Office said there had been an ongoing quarrel between the suspect, who lived across the street, and the victim’s family. The suspect had come to the woman's home and seen her sitting inside.

She looked up and saw him point a handgun at her and open fire through the window, a bullet hitting her arm. She was hit again as she ran away, then hid and called 911 as the suspect killed himself on her front porch, the Sheriff's Office said.

Experts say domestic violence and among acquaintances during the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays is an issue. The National Domestic Violence Hotline says holidays can be stressful and dangerous for people in abusive relationships.

Spending time with family and friends, dealing with financial stress and traveling can make safety planning for the holidays a challenge, the Texas-based organization said. Family and friends of survivors may also struggle to find ways to help or be supportive.

A representative of Micah's Place, a domestic-violence center in Nassau County, declined to comment until learning further circumstances of Wednesday's killings.

dscanlan@jacksonville.com, (904) 359-4549

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: 3 killed in domestic shooting in Nassau, Florida; dad, husband arrested