MIAMI LAKES, Fla. – Law enforcement authorities in Miami Lakes are investigating a double murder-suicide outside a residential community that left two children and their father dead during a domestic dispute.
The man reportedly shot and killed his 12-year-old daughter and 9-year-old son around 9:30 p.m. outside their Miami Lakes apartment complex, according to WSVN.
The father is said to have picked up the kids earlier in the day. When their mother didn’t hear from them some time later, she managed to track them down and made the heartbreaking discovery after finding them by the lake.
The mother was not injured and the deceased suspect was not immediately identified Tuesday night.
Magda Pena lives nearby. She ran out of her home after hearing the mother scream for help.
“I just opened the door and I ran,” said Pena. “My son ran behind me. He didn’t even have shoes. I ran across the grass and when I got there I saw the lady like on top of the little boy. I couldn’t see the dad or the daughter because of the darkness at first.”
Pena said she then saw the gun next to the father’s body, WSVN reported.
“I was in shock for a good hour,” she said. “I think I cried for like an hour and I was just shaking and I came inside the house. I think I was up ’till like 3 o’clock in the morning because I was there looking at everything and wondering how this happened because this has never happened here.”
The Miami-Dade police did not immediately release additional information.
