Alex Greene Case: Chase, Police Shooting, and Wrongful Death Suit

Alex Greene, a 21-year-old from Eagle Lake, Florida, was fatally shot by a Lakeland police captain on February 6, 2023, after a 5.4-mile high-speed chase through Winter Haven and Eagle Lake. Greene was a suspected accomplice in a mass shooting that had injured 11 people in Lakeland a week earlier. Two years later, his mother sued the Lakeland Police Department, city officials, and Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd in federal court, and that wrongful-death case is still pending.¹

Why Police Were Looking for Greene

On January 30, 2023, a drive-by shooting on the 900 block of North Iowa Avenue in Lakeland injured 11 people. Investigators identified five suspects. Four were arrested. Greene was the fifth, suspected of having supplied modified weapons to the shooters.²

He also had a Polk County Sheriff’s Office warrant for residential burglary, conspiracy to commit burglary, and trespassing with larceny, and 10 prior felony charges dating to 2013.³

The Chase and the Shooting

Lakeland police were running a surveillance operation on Greene on February 6, 2023, when he fled in a stolen truck. The pursuit ran 5.4 miles through Winter Haven and Eagle Lake, and during it Greene carjacked an elderly woman. After he got out of a vehicle in a restaurant parking lot, Lakeland Police Captain Eric Harper shot him at least six times, killing him.¹ A search of his vehicle turned up cocaine, marijuana, a handgun, and thousands of dollars in cash.³

State Attorney: Justified, But With “Grave Concerns”

State Attorney Brian Haas reviewed Harper’s use of deadly force and, in a letter dated January 10, 2024, found the shooting itself legally justified. In the same letter, Haas said he had “grave concerns” about Harper’s conduct leading up to the shooting, writing that Harper had acted outside his jurisdiction, interfered with ongoing Polk County Sheriff’s Office investigations, and violated the Polk County Mutual Aid Agreement.¹

Internal Review and Harper’s Retirement

The Lakeland Police Department’s Pursuit Review Board reached its own conclusion first. On February 27, 2023, three weeks after the shooting, the board decided that neither Harper nor Lieutenant Tom Connor, who also took part in the pursuit, would be disciplined. It found that the “need to immediately make an apprehension” outweighed safety concerns, citing Greene’s suspected role in the January 30 mass shooting.¹

Harper retired from the department on September 1, 2023, after 20 years of service. That was months before Haas issued the critical letter.¹

The Wrongful Death Lawsuit

Diane Greene, Alex’s mother, filed suit on February 3, 2025, in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida. The 69-page complaint names the Lakeland Police Department, city officials, and Sheriff Grady Judd. Attorney Mauricio Padilla of the Padilla Law Group is seeking more than $150,000 in damages plus attorney fees.¹

The complaint alleges that Harper used excessive force, acted outside his jurisdiction, and violated Greene’s federal constitutional rights. It also alleges a civil conspiracy among the defendants to conceal the circumstances of the shooting. A central claim is that the pursuit itself broke Lakeland Police Department policy: the warrant for Greene’s arrest was for nonviolent crimes, specifically unarmed burglary of an unoccupied dwelling and conspiracy to commit burglary, not the sort of violent offenses that would justify a high-speed chase.¹

As of the most recent reporting, the federal lawsuit remains pending.

1
The Ledger. Lakeland Police Sued Over Chase and Killing of Suspect in Winter Haven
2
FOX 13 News. Federal Charges To Be Announced in Lakeland Shooting That Injured 11
3
Legal News. Alex Greene Connected to Lakeland Mass Shooting