A man set fire to his South Florida apartment, killed six people and held another two hostage at gunpoint before a police commando team stormed the complex and fatally shot him, police and witnesses say.
Pedro Vargas went on a shooting rampage throughout his apartment building, killing six people before police shot him.
The ordeal lasted eight hours through late Friday into early Saturday, with Pedro Alberto Vargas running through the building, firing at random and eluding officers for part of it, police said. Vargas, 42, set a combustible liquid on fire on Friday evening to start the blaze, police spokesman Carl Zogby said.
The building manager, Italo Pisciotti, 79, and his wife, Camira Pisciotti, 69, noticed smoke and ran to the apartment. Vargas came out and shot several times, killing both of them, according to the police account. Vargas then went to his fourth-story balcony and fired 10 to 20 shots in the street, killing Carlos Javier Gavilanes, 33, who was parking a car outside, Zogby said. Then, Vargas went to the third floor, kicked the door in on another apartment and killed a family of three: Patricio Simono, 64; his wife, Merly Niebles, 51; and their 17-year-old daughter.
Zogby said Vargas then ran through the building, firing "at random, in a very irrational fashion". "He kept running from us as he fired at us, and we fired at him," Zogby said. He forced his way into another apartment and took two people hostage at gunpoint. Ester Lazcano, who lives two doors down from where the shooting began, said she was in the shower when she heard the first shots, then there were at least a dozen more. "I felt the shots," she said.
Miriam Valdes, 70, lives on the building's top floor - one floor above where the shooting began. She said she heard gunfire and later saw smoke and what smelled like burned plastic entering her apartment, and ran in fear to the unit across the hall. A crisis team was able to briefly establish communication with Vargas.
Sergeant Eddie Rodriguez said negotiators and a police special weapons and tactics team tried talking with him from the other side of the door of the unit where he held the hostages. Valdes said she heard about eight officers talking with him as she stayed holed up at the neighbouring apartment. She said officers told him to "let these people out". "We're going to help you," she said they told him. She said the gunman first asked for his girlfriend and then his mother but refused to cooperate. Rodriguez said the talks eventually "just fell apart". Officers stormed the building, fatally shooting the gunman in an exchange of gunfire.
"They made the decision to go in there and save and rescue the hostages," Rodriguez said. Both hostages survived. Neighbours said the shooter lived in the building with his mother. Police don't believe she was home at the time of the shootings. "He was a good son," Lazcano said. "He'd take her in the morning to run errands" and took her to doctor appointments. But Valdes said he was known as a difficult person who sometimes got into fights and yelled at his mother. "He was a very abusive person," she said. "He didn't have any friends there." Zogby said police had not responded to any prior calls at his home or found any criminal background on Vargas.
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Pedro Vargas went on a shooting rampage throughout his apartment building, killing six people before police shot him.
The ordeal lasted eight hours through late Friday into early Saturday, with Pedro Alberto Vargas running through the building, firing at random and eluding officers for part of it, police said. Vargas, 42, set a combustible liquid on fire on Friday evening to start the blaze, police spokesman Carl Zogby said.
The building manager, Italo Pisciotti, 79, and his wife, Camira Pisciotti, 69, noticed smoke and ran to the apartment. Vargas came out and shot several times, killing both of them, according to the police account. Vargas then went to his fourth-story balcony and fired 10 to 20 shots in the street, killing Carlos Javier Gavilanes, 33, who was parking a car outside, Zogby said. Then, Vargas went to the third floor, kicked the door in on another apartment and killed a family of three: Patricio Simono, 64; his wife, Merly Niebles, 51; and their 17-year-old daughter.
Zogby said Vargas then ran through the building, firing "at random, in a very irrational fashion". "He kept running from us as he fired at us, and we fired at him," Zogby said. He forced his way into another apartment and took two people hostage at gunpoint. Ester Lazcano, who lives two doors down from where the shooting began, said she was in the shower when she heard the first shots, then there were at least a dozen more. "I felt the shots," she said.
Miriam Valdes, 70, lives on the building's top floor - one floor above where the shooting began. She said she heard gunfire and later saw smoke and what smelled like burned plastic entering her apartment, and ran in fear to the unit across the hall. A crisis team was able to briefly establish communication with Vargas.
Sergeant Eddie Rodriguez said negotiators and a police special weapons and tactics team tried talking with him from the other side of the door of the unit where he held the hostages. Valdes said she heard about eight officers talking with him as she stayed holed up at the neighbouring apartment. She said officers told him to "let these people out". "We're going to help you," she said they told him. She said the gunman first asked for his girlfriend and then his mother but refused to cooperate. Rodriguez said the talks eventually "just fell apart". Officers stormed the building, fatally shooting the gunman in an exchange of gunfire.
"They made the decision to go in there and save and rescue the hostages," Rodriguez said. Both hostages survived. Neighbours said the shooter lived in the building with his mother. Police don't believe she was home at the time of the shootings. "He was a good son," Lazcano said. "He'd take her in the morning to run errands" and took her to doctor appointments. But Valdes said he was known as a difficult person who sometimes got into fights and yelled at his mother. "He was a very abusive person," she said. "He didn't have any friends there." Zogby said police had not responded to any prior calls at his home or found any criminal background on Vargas.
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