Ex-Florida principal accused of fatally stabbing 2 in violent crime spree

Compiled from news reports

A former Florida middle school principal stabbed four people Friday at a group home for the hearing impaired, killing two of them, then struck five others with a car, the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office said.

The suspect ― identified by the sheriff's office as Anthony Giancola, 45 ― was taken into police custody after being tracked down by K-9 unit members. He has been arrested and formally booked on two counts of first-degree murder, sheriff's spokeswoman Cecilia Barreda said.

Authorities said they first learned around 10:45 a.m. that four people had been stabbed at the group home in Lealman, a community just north of St. Petersburg.

One man, later identified as 27-year-old Justin Lee Vanderbergh, was pronounced dead at the scene, the sheriff's office said.

Three women were sent to a local hospital, where one of them ― 59-year-old Mary Anne Allis ― ended up succumbing to her injuries. The other two, ages 25 and 43, suffered what the sheriff's office said were non-life-threatening injuries. All four stabbed were the only residents of the one-story home, Barreda said.

The suspect fled the scene and headed toward a motel in nearby Pinellas Park, where a man and woman were assaulted, authorities said. The sheriff's office said the man's injuries "appear to be life-threatening."

From there, the suspect left and is thought to have spoken briefly to people outside a duplex before abruptly leaving, then returning in his vehicle ― slamming into three women and one man in the process. The women were all transported to an area hospital, while the man chose not to go.

The sheriff's office said the suspect then drove west and struck another person, this time a 13-year-old boy. The child suffered only minor injuries.

The suspect ended up at the Egg Platter restaurant in Pinellas Park, where he left his vehicle, entered another vehicle and fled. He was detained shortly after 1 p.m., the sheriff's office said.