A 29-year-old man was arrested for shooting and killing three tourists in Kissimmee on Saturday afternoon, Osceola County Sheriff’s Office said.
Deputies responded to a shooting at 12:13 p.m. on Saturday in the Indian Point Subdivision where they found three men dead in front of a home, the central Florida sheriff’s office said in a news release.
On Saturday Ahmad Jihad Bojeh was arrested and is currently booked in the Osceola County Jail on three counts of murder.
At a news conference on Sunday, Sheriff Christopher Blackmon said the victims were tourists staying at a rental property and Bojeh was living next door. He said the motive for the shooting is unclear but deputies are still investigating.
“He was a threat to the neighborhood all the time,” Blackmon said. “We had calls on him all the time.”
Bojeh has been arrested on petite theft and drug possession in Osceola and Orange counties, court records show. In 2021 He was arrested for first-degree attempted murder with a gun and battery but he was acquitted by reason of insanity, court records show.
Blackmon said he was aware and is still investigating.
The victims were Robert Lewis Kraft, 70, of Holland, Michigan, and his brother Douglas Joseph Kraft, 68, of Columbus, Ohio and James John Puchan, 69, also of Ohio, Blackmon said. A fourth man was staying at the rental but left earlier, he said.
According to TV6 in Orlando, the families of the victims put out a statement, saying the four men had attended the Mecum Car Show, staying at an Airbnb. The three victims’ return home had been delayed due to car trouble with their rented vehicle.
The family described the killings as a “random, tragic act,” noting the men were preparing to leave and awaiting assistance with their vehicle when they realized “they were being observed from a distance by an unknown individual who was well-known to local law enforcement.”
“These three wonderful men did not deserve this,” the family said. “Our families are left with an unexpected, unimaginable loss that cannot be put into words.”
