HIALEAH, Fla. (WSVN) — A viewing was held Sunday for Patricio Simono, one of six people who lost their lives during the July 26 mass shooting at a Hialeah apartment complex and the last to receive a funeral service.
A police presence greeted Simono's family, friends and coworkers as they began gathering around 5 p.m. at San Jose Funeral Home in Hialeah to bid farewell to one of the victims of 42-year-old lone gunman Patricio Vargas, who, police said, went on a shooting rampage before being gunned down by a SWAT team.
Simono, 64, was shot in his third-floor apartment along with longtime girlfriend Merly Niebles, 51, and her 17-year-old daughter Priscilla Perez. Relatives said Niebles and Perez, who were laid to rest earlier this week, had lived with Simono at the same apartment for 10 years.
A woman who used to work with Simono and lived in the same apartment complex before moving away one month before the shooting described him as a dedicated family man. "He was an amazing person, liked to help a lot of people, a person that really liked to work, help, loved his family," said Gidy Perez. "He was a really good person, so I feel really bad [about] what happened to him."
Hialeah Mayor Carlos Hernandez also attended the viewing to show support for Simono's family. "Hialeah is a family, and we're suffering together now, we come together," he said. "The most important thing now is that we've got to take care of those who are left behind, the immediate family members, other victims."
Before going into Simono's apartment, Vargas fatally shot Italo and Samira Pisciotti, the elderly couple who managed the apartment complex, as well as 33-year-old Carlos Gavilanes, a father of two who, according to The Miami Herald, was on the verge of opening his own shoe design and sales company.
A lawyer for one of Vargas' former employers said he believes the shooter suffered a mental breakdown after he was confronted about cyber-harassing former colleagues.
According to published reports, in the days before the incident, Vargas watched movies involving shootings, seeking creative inspiration for his own screenplay. His 83-year-old mother, who he lived with for years, told 911 operators her son was writing novels.
According to public records and people who knew him, Vargas had a second personality and was a troubled loner who had a history of harassing former coworkers.
Simono's burial took place Sunday morning.
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