Cape Coral shooter a former Collier deputy

The man who shot and killed two people in Cape Coral on Friday night was a former Collier County sheriff’s deputy who quit his post Tuesday.

Thomas Ciesla, 28, then turned the gun on himself after Cape Coral police arrived at 1021 S.W. 18th Terrace, near Palmetto Pine Country Club. A Cape Coral police officer on the scene fired his gun but did not hit anyone.

According to Cape Coral police spokesperson Dyan Zedeker, officers responded to a 9:15 p.m. 911 call as a possible domestic situation involving a firearm. She would not elaborate on the details of the call, citing a continuing investigation.

Inside, two relatives of Ciesla’s estranged wife were dead. Thomas Podejko, 63, Amy Ciesla’s father, and her aunt, Carol Lindner, 62, died on the scene. Her uncle, Thomas Lindner, was shot in the hand and is recovering at Lee Memorial Hospital, where he was in fair to good condition on Saturday.

Ciesla resigned from the Collier County Sheriff’s Office three days before killings, said Brigid O’Malley, spokeswoman for the Collier Sheriff’s Office.

He started working at the Collier County jail on Feb. 17, 2004, O’Malley said. He was given an honorable discharge from the U.S. Army after serving from 1996 to 2000.

Ciesla moved to Lee County in 2003 and worked for a cable company before joining the Sheriff’s Office, O’Malley said. He graduated from Manville High School in Manville, N.J.

Officials had no details on Ciesla’s resignation, and his personnel file won’t be available until Monday, O’Malley said.

It’s still not clear exactly what happened that night and why. No charges have been filed in the case, and police are investigating it as a domestic situation, Zedeker said.

Ciesla and his wife were separated, she said. According to Lee County court records, Amy Ciesla filed for divorce on June 6. The couple have no children, according to the court entry. Amy Ciesla was present at the home at the time of the shootings but was not injured.

In 2004, the couple bought a vacant piece of property just a few blocks from the four-bedroom, two-bathroom home where the shootings occurred. The Cieslas listed the home, which Podejko owned, as their permanent address in the purchase of the vacant land.

Meanwhile, the State Attorney’s Office is involved in the investigation of why a Cape Coral police officer discharged his gun at the scene, which is standard any time officers are involved in a situation like this. A preliminary investigation showed that the officer fired his weapon aiming at Ciesla after hearing shots fired inside, Zedeker said, but it did not strike Ciesla or anyone else in the home.