By Fallan Patterson
Staff Writer

A son shot and killed his father at their St. Cloud home Monday before turning the gun on himself in a murder-suicide, the St. Cloud Police Department said.

Autopsies on Vincent Vaughan, 51, and Tyler Ryan Vaughan, 20, were conducted Tuesday by the Orange/Osceola Medical Examiner's Office to determine who shot whom as evidence at the scene was inconclusive.

“It appears to be a domestic situation between the pair,” St. Cloud police Chief Pete Gauntlett said, adding the son lived with the father and the pair had a history of domestic altercations.

Father and son were found just after 9 a.m. at 401 15th St. after the father's employer contacted police when he failed to show up for work at Michigan Avenue Elementary School in St. Cloud.

The father was head custodian at the school since Sept. 2005, Osceola County School District spokeswoman Dana Schaffer said. He had worked for the district since Aug. 1997.

Principal Diane Crooks-Nichols, who initially made the call, and assistant principal Ed Toothe met officers at the residence for a wellness check, St. Cloud Police Department spokeswoman Sgt. Denise Roberts said.

"He (the father) didn't report to work and they thought that was unusual so they met us there, Roberts said. "No one answered the door and our officers found the two men deceased in the house."

Roberts was unsure how long the pair had been dead and didn't know if anyone else lived at the home.

The house belongs to Vincent and Lourdes Vaughan, according to the Osceola County Property Appraiser's website.

Tyler Vaughan played linebacker for St. Cloud High School's varsity football team from 2007-09. He was the Bulldogs' leading tackler in 2007 and 2008 and helped lead the Bulldogs to a 2008 district championship and playoff appearances in 2008 and 2009, only the second time in school history the team made back-to-back playoff trips.

Mark Jackson was head coach during Tyler Vaughan's three years as a starter on the Bulldogs' varsity team, where the player was once team captain. Jackson said he was “shocked” to hear about Tyler Vaughan's death.

“Myself and my family are very saddened by this. I was very blessed to have coached him. He was a very competitive kid, a good athlete and a good friend to his teammates,” he said. “His parents were always at his games. He had good parents who were supportive and involved.”

Jackson, who is currently the offensive coordinator at Golden Gate High School in Naples, said he was “concerned” about how Tyler Vaughan's friends and former teammates would “recover” from the unexpected news of his death.

“He was a real loyal kid,” Jackson said.

Friends and acquaintances took to Twitter to express their disbelief at the Vaughans' deaths, posting photographs of father and son.

“I feel like this isn't really life (sic) my heart is broken,” Jasmine Blaze wrote on Twitter. “I love you Tyler Ryan Vaughan.”