NORTHWEST MIAMI-DADE, FLA. (WSVN) - A man was taken to the hospital after, police said, he shot and killed his wife, then turned the gun on himself while barricaded inside his Northwest Miami-Dade home with two of their children.
Miami-Dade Police and Fire Rescue units responded to a reported shooting along the 6000 block of Northwest 23rd Avenue, at around 8:50 p.m., Saturday.
“According to investigators, the call came in about 8:50 in the evening with reference of a person that was shot,” said Miami-Dade Police Detective Alvaro Zabaleta in a statement. “Officers who happened to be in the nearby vicinity were able to respond almost immediately.”
When officers arrived, they saw two men running from the home who told them there were children still inside.
“There two kids and an individual armed with a rifle,” said Zabaleta.
Investigators said the suspect and his wife were fighting when he pulled out a rifle and fatally shot her.
7News cameras captured armed officers with their guns drawn, several marked vehicles and crime scene tape outside of the residence.
SWAT members tried to get in contact with someone inside the home but were unsuccessful.
“That’s when they realized they were dealing with a barricaded subject situation. They summoned for the special response team to respond along with the negotiators,” said Zabaleta.
Officials said that’s when they entered the home and rescued the subject’s two children and found the subject’s wife dead from gunshot wounds.
The man then allegedly turned the gun on himself.
Paramedics transported the suspect to Jackson Memorial’s Ryder Trauma Center in a conscious state but unknown condition.
The deceased woman’s sister identified the couple as as Shanica and Eddie Harris. She said Shanica was 47, and they had five children.
According to a family friend, the couple’s oldest son died last year.
Relatives said the couple had been together for 30 years, since they were 15.
The children were placed with other family members.
“The children were able to be rescued without incident,” said Zabaleta, “and at this point we’re going to allow crime scene records to do their part, and homicide is going to start their investigation.”
Police shut down Northwest 24th Avenue between 58th and 61st streets while they investigated.
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