. >> reporter: sarah gladstone woke up to gunshots around 1:30 in the morning. >> people running down the street take cover. >> reporter: lakeland police officers investigated a sexual assault report which led them to a house along mlk way and and gar street. >> the suspect ultimately came out of the front door with a rifle and immediately began firing upon the officers that were in front of the house. >> here is the rifle that was recovered from the suspect. you can see it looks to be a type of assault rifle with an extended 30-round magazine. >> reporter: a sergeant and an officer fired back striking the 48-year-old man but not before he hit the sergeant who is a 14-year veteran. the gunman later died at the hospital. oakland resident linda jenkins has been hit by stray gunfire. she calls the violence senseless. >> i mean. i don't understand why people would do things like that. what do you expect will happen? they have to protect themselves. >> it's scary that we live in a place that, like, doesn't seem to have a grip on the idea that, like firearms should not just be so easily acc