MIAMI — Three people, including a teenage girl, died Monday following a two-hour standoff at a home in Port St. Lucie, according to multiple reports.
Port St. Lucie police said the gunman was a neighbor who had an ongoing dispute with the victims over his dog.
City officers and St. Lucie County sheriff’s deputies responded to the home early Monday afternoon after receiving reports of a shooting. They discovered a man inside a garage who was shot. He later died from his injuries, police say.
Once inside the home, officers traded gunfire with the shooter. An officer was shot in the arm while trying to apprehend the suspect, according to police. He is being treated with non-life-threatening injuries.
A wounded girl was also found inside the home. Law enforcement safely removed her from the scene and paramedics took her to a hospital. She later died from her injuries, police say.
The two victims are thought to be related. Police did not immediately release identifications.
A SWAT team then went inside their home and discovered the suspect dead upstairs in a bedroom, police say. The circumstances surrounding the shooter’s death are unclear.
St. Lucie County Sheriff Ken Mascara told reporters that a disagreement over the safety of the gunman’s dogs led to the shooting. A judge had declared the dog dangerous in a court hearing earlier Monday, according to Mascara.
“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.”
Police believe the home was a family residence and that three to four people managed to escape. Their whereabouts were unclear.
The Treasure Coast city of Port St. Lucie is about 50 miles north of West Palm Beach.
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