Florida murder-suicide leaves four elderly people dead, community ‘stunned’

Florida officials are investigating an “apparent murder-suicide” that left four elderly people dead on Sunday.

Miami-Dade Police Department officers responded to a home in the Kendale Lakes neighborhood for a welfare check for a person under hospice care just before 2 p.m., police said in a press release sent to Newsweek.

Police found an adult female dead in one room, and an adult male and female dead in another room. All of the victims had apparent gunshot wounds.

As officials continued to search the home, they found an adult male dead from with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound and a firearm near him.

The person under hospice care was among the deceased victims. Preliminary information shows all four lived in the same residence, police told Newsweek.

Officials have not released the names of the victims. The man who died by an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound is between the ages of 60 and 65. Two of the victims were between the age of 80 and 85, while the other victim’s age has not been announced.

“I’m stunned because I’ve been living here for 25 years and nothing like this has ever happened,” a neighbor told CBS News.

A neighbor told the outlet that an elderly couple lived there with their adult son and his wife. The woman recently suffered a stroke and was receiving medical care from nurses at her home.

“They were there last on Wednesday, and they said that she was very, you know, optimistic, she was talking, she was in good spirits. Meanwhile, her son, I heard was not in good spirits. They were just concerned about the son because he seemed to be not well emotionally,” another neighbor said.

Det. Angel Rodriguez told CBS News the dispute was “domestic-related in nature.”

Joanna Cruz told NBC Miami she was the one who initially discovered three of the bodies. She said she knew the victims and her mother was trying to help the elderly woman.

“She couldn’t cook anymore, so my mom came to give her food and she kept knocking and knocking and nothing. And she asked me to bring the key,” Cruz said.

Cruz recalled what she saw after entering the home.

“I saw the elderly lady on the bed and the elderly man’s body on the bed to the left, blood coming out of their mouths, and the wife in the other room,” Cruz said. “I feel like I’m in a nightmare.”

She said she did not see the fourth body because she ran out of the house.

“I said, if he’s still alive here, I’m next,” Cruz said.

The Miami-Dade Police Department’s Homicide Bureau is investigating the incident. Anyone with information should contact CrimeStoppers at (305) 471-TIPS (8477) or (866) 471-8477.