MIAMI LAKES, Fla. – Miami-Dade police responded to the scene of a shooting Tuesday night in which they said a father shot two of his children before turning the gun on himself.
Authorities confirmed that both the children and their father have been pronounced dead.
The shooting was reported around 9:30 p.m. in the 6400 block of Miami Lakes Drive near a lake located next to a Publix supermarket parking lot.
According to police, a 12-year-old girl and a 9-year-old boy were shot and killed by their father.
No other injuries were reported.
At the time of the shooting, the man’s ex-wife was inside a nearby home, Local 10 News was told.
According to police, the ex-husband had picked up his kids earlier and their mother tried to contact him because it was getting late and the kids have school, but he never responded to her.
Police said the mother found their location and responded to the canal bank area, where she found their bodies.
Witnesses in the area said they saw the mother rushing toward the lake behind the grocery store.
“The lady came screaming in the middle of the street, and that was when the cops were called,” Cardinal Nforgwei said. “Apparently the mother was the lady of the children and the father apparently had just killed the kids and himself.”
Nforgwei said he saw a line of first responders rushing toward the scene Tuesday night. The scene was still active Wednesday morning as authorities tried to piece together what led to the shooting.
At this point, it still isn’t clear what happened in the moments before the shooting.
The identities of the father and children have not been released.