Miami-Dade police say a man shot three family members to death before turning the gun on himself. One of the victims was in hospice, police said. (WTVJ/YouTube)
A Florida woman delivering food for an elderly neighbor in Miami made a startling discovery on Sunday when she found four people shot to death inside the home.
Miami-Dade police were called just before 2 p.m. to a home in the 4500 block of Southwest 137 Court for a welfare check. Officers found a woman in one bedroom and a man and woman in another bedroom. They continued to search the home and located a fourth body, a man in his 60s, with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound and a gun laying nearby, a press release said. One of the victims was in hospice care, police said. All four lived in the home.
Family members told local NBC affiliate WTVJ the victims were an 85-year-old woman, her ex-husband, their son and his wife. The son was the shooter, family told the outlet. Police did not identify the victims or suspect.
The woman who discovered the bodies, Joanna Cruz, said she was taking food over because the elderly woman couldn’t cook anymore.
“I saw the elderly lady on the bed and the elderly man’s body on the bed to the left, blood coming out of their mouths, and the wife in the other room,” Cruz told the outlet. “I feel like I’m in a nightmare.”
Once she realized the three people were dead, she feared for her safety.
“Good thing I didn’t see him, but I saw them. When I saw three, I said, where is the fourth one? I know there’s a fourth one. And I ran out because I said, if he’s still alive here, I’m next,” Cruz said.
Other neighbors told the outlet that the son had been going through a mental health crisis. Health care workers who were attending to the woman in hospice had expressed concern and called police when they couldn’t get into the home on Thursday or Friday, the neighbors said. Officers responded but left after no one answered the door and didn’t see any signs of a struggle, WTVJ reported.
The incident remains under investigation.
More on Law&Crime: ‘Three little angels’: Mom’s ex-boyfriend shot 3 of her children in murder-suicide after she let him take them out to eat, police say
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