PEMBROKE PARK, FLA. (WSVN) - The suspect in connection to a fatal shooting in Pembroke Park has been identified as the father of the two youngest children, according to officials.
Pembroke Park Police officers and Broward Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to an apartment complex along the 3100 block of Hallandale Beach Boulevard, Wednesday night.
“At approximately 7:30 p.m., we received 911 calls reporting a shooting at this location,” said BSO spokesperson Claudinne Caro.
According to officials, the suspect, identified as 34-year-old Stephen McKenzie, opened fire on a woman and her four children, including two of his own.
“Pembroke Park PD officers located a woman and three children inside an apartment,” said Caro. “They were all pronounced deceased due to gunshot wounds.”
The woman, identified as 32-year-old Julie Cruz, and three of her children — 11-year-old Xion Solomon, 2-year-old Nova McKenzie and 2-year-old Emery McKenzie — were pronounced dead at the scene.
Both Nova and Emery were Stephen’s children, according to police.
Deputies said that after the shooting, Stephen made an unsuccessful attempt at taking his own life.
“[Deputies] located a man and another child also injured from gunshot wounds,” said Caro.
That child, identified as 8-year-old Phiinyx Solomon, remains at Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital in serious condition.
Stephen was taken to HCA Florida Aventura Hospital in critical condition and is in custody.
“The child remains in serious condition. That man is in critical condition. At this hour, BSO Homicide Unit detectives have identified that man as the suspect, as the shooter,” said Caro.
Neighbors reacted to the news in shock.
“It sounded like firecrackers, but then I heard little crying out. Oh, my God, I was devastated. I couldn’t sleep all night,” said one woman. “They’re children. We’re talking about children. They don’t deserve that. They were always quiet; you would never know, you would never know.”
Richard Rainey was shaken up by the news. He told 7News he was with Stephen an hour before the nightmare unfolded.
“He wasn’t upset or anything. We said ‘hi’ and ‘how’s it going?’ And he went in the laundry room. I got on the elevator and came back 20 minutes later sitting there, watching TV,” said Rainey, “and then, it was all the ‘boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom.”
He said Stephen’s laundry basket remains in the same place he saw him last.
“I saw the girl laying there in a big pool of blood, and I looked at the right, and there was another pool of blood where he was laying, and then I backed out,” he said.
Cecilia, a neighbor who lives just a couple doors down, said she heard and saw everything unfold.
“I thought it was fireworks, and then I thought it was hammering. But then I heard a baby crying, and then it went silent,” she said in Spanish.
Cecilia said she ran outside to find a horrifying scene in front of her: one of the victims’ bodies on the floor covered in blood.
“I was shocked. My body started to shake. I mean, it was traumatic, traumatic to see the little boy lying in the parking lots between cars with police standing all around him,” she said.
Heartbroken family members gathered at the scene after hearing the news.
The grandmother of the deceased children screamed and cried after being told her daughter and grandchildren had been shot and killed.
“That’s my daughter. That’s my daughter,” yelled the grandmother.
7News reached out to a family member of Stephen who said he had been distant and hard to get in touch lately.
The exact circumstances surrounding the incident remain unclear, but neighbors question what led to this domestic tragedy.
Charges against Stephen are pending as he remains in the hospital.
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