At Least 3 Dead, Including Teenager, After ‘Active Shooter’ Incident in Florida

A stock police tape photo (Stock photo CC0)

At least three people, including a teenage girl, were killed on July 6 following an active shooting incident at a home in Port St. Lucie, Florida, according to reports.

According to Port St. Lucie police, the suspect and gunman was a neighbor and is among those dead, alongside a teenager and another man. Police said the gunman had an ongoing dispute with the victims over his dog, the Miami Herald reported.

Officers and St. Lucie County sheriff’s deputies on Monday afternoon responded to reports of an active shooting at a home near Southeast Morningside Boulevard. Upon their arrival, they discovered an injured man inside a garage who later succumbed to his injuries.

Police officers then exchanged gunfire with the gunman. One officer was injured in the arm while attempting to apprehend the suspect, sustaining non-life threatening injuries, police said.

A teenage girl, 13, was also found critically injured inside the home, and was rushed to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead, according to police.

The two victims are believed to be related. However, police have not yet released their identities.

The gunman was later found by a SWAT team dead in a bedroom upstairs. It is not yet clear how the suspect died or whether he was a licensed firearms holder.

During a press briefing, St. Lucie County Sheriff Ken Mascara said that a dispute over the gunman’s dog led to the shooting.

“When the call came out … the caller said there’s someone in our house and shooting my parents,” Mascara said.

The dog had been declared dangerous by a judge in a court hearing Monday before the shooting, Mascara added.

“The court proceeding was this morning,” Mascara said, WPTV reported. “The case was granted for the victims in this case and they all came home from court and then the suspect armed himself and went to the victim’s house.”

“The dog was declared dangerous today in court, and he owned the dog and he went over there to confront his neighbors and this is what happened,” said Port St. Lucie Police Department Assistant Chief Richard Del Toro.

Neighbor Frank Didonna, 81, told USA Today he heard the gunshots.

“All the sudden I heard about four or five shots, one after the other, boom, boom, boom,” Didonna said.