ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — A man holding five hostages in a suburban home released two of the four children Sunday as police tried to end the two-day standoff.
Both children, an 8-year-old boy and a girl under 1, were in good health, although the boy was hungry and thirsty, Orange County Sheriff Kevin Beary said.
Beary said the suspect, Jamie Dean Petron, 41, had asked police to see the children reunited with their parents on live television after releasing them.
"Everybody is entitled to make mistakes, and he's made them and admitted to it," Beary said. "But folks, this is a very positive thing."
Petron took the family hostage Saturday after shooting an Orange County sheriff's deputy in the leg as the deputy tried to arrest him outside a nearby grocery store, police said. Petron is suspected in the Friday shooting death of a Pompano Beach convenience store clerk, authorities said.
Petron apparently did not know the family before he burst into their home. Petron said he didn't mean to hurt anyone.
"This is not me, it's something that totally happened," he said. "All I can say is deep in my heart I am really apologetic. Don't think I'm the devil, I'm not the devil."
Petron also had a message for his son and baby granddaughter.
"I love you guys. Maybe we'll see each some day," he said.
Petron had demanded food and "other things," but police did not release details.
Petron, who continued negotiating with police after a SWAT officer shot at him, has said someone in the house is injured, though police could not confirm whether it was true, Orange County sheriff's Sgt. Angelo Nieves said.
"I'm sure he wants the right thing done," Petron's attorney, Spencer Bryant Siegel, said Sunday after talking to his client by phone.
The sheriff's office was receiving assistance from Petron's son, a Broward County sheriff's employee, who traveled to Orlando in an attempt to convince his father to let the hostages go.
On Saturday, Petron shot at a 28-year-old man as he escaped the home, grazing the man's head, authorities said.
Petron is a suspect in the Friday slaying of Jorge Trillos, 22, during a convenience store robbery in Pompano Beach. Trillos' boss, Samir Hantash, 48, was seriously wounded.
Deputies located Petron about noon Saturday at a grocery store, but Petron rammed a sheriff's vehicle and shot Deputy Scott Winters in the leg, authorities said. Winters, 26, was in stable condition.
Records show Petron was sentenced to 20 years in prison in 1986 for attempted first-degree murder, forgery and battery on a law enforcement officer. He was released from prison on Dec. 10, 1995.