DEERFIELD BEACH, Fla. – Three people are dead after a standoff Thursday night in which police said a man took his wife and children hostage.
A SWAT team moved in on a recreational vehicle in Deerfield Beach after neighbors found a man shot and bleeding and the gunman inside claiming to have a hostage, according to police.
"He was bleeding, blood all over the place," said witness Gerald Baudim.
"When he was lying there, he was still breathing. He was still breathing," said witness Larraine Garneau.
Joanna Beauchemin said her mother, Pierrette Beauchemin, was the hostage, and her mom's boyfriend was the one killed. She said this started when a man, identified by BSO as William De Jesus, 41, of Port Orange, pulled up in a car with his wife and two kids, asking to use Beauchemin's phone.
BSO said Ovila Plante, 76, of Quebec, who was with Beauchemin, approached De Jesus, who started yelling. Plante pushed De Jesus, who then pulled out a revolver and shot Plante in the chest, investigators said. When Plante fell to the ground, De Jesus shot him in the head, killing him, BSO said.
De Jesus led his wife, Deanna De Jesus, 37, and their two children, Jeshiah and Samson, ages 9 and 7, into the RV, with Beauchemin still inside, BSO said.
"We see the guy closed the window and everything," said witness Rick Forteil.
"We saw the man in the trailer breaking all the lights," said Garneau.
Cops arrived and stood their ground as negotiators worked to coax the gunman out peacefully. Moments later, a woman, identified as Beauchemin, emerged from the RV unharmed.
Police decided to make a move at about 12:30 a.m. Friday after a standoff that lasted for hours. Once inside, they found Jeshiah De Jesus dead and his 7-year-old brother, Samson, and his mother, Deanna De Jesus, in critical condition.
William De Jesus took his life before cops could confront him, BSO said.
Investigators determined that William De Jesus stabbed his sons with a knife from the RV's kitchen, then stabbed his wife and himself.
"It was devastating to everyone who worked here all night long to have a little boy die and another little boy and woman critically injured," said Broward Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Dani Moschella.
Samson and Deanna De Jesus remained in serious condition at hospitals Friday.