Miami man kills wife, 2 children and self

MIAMI – A 53-year-old man fatally shot his wife and two daughters Wednesday before turning the gun on himself, and a 16-year-old son who survived the attack managed to call police on a cordless phone as he fled, police said.

Officers went to the home, located in southern Miami-Dade County, just before 6 a.m. after receiving a call about shots fired.

“The son was inside of the residence and he was able to escape unharmed,” Miami-Dade Police spokeswoman Rebeca Perez said.

The two daughters were 11 and 12, and their mother was 45, according to a police news release. It wasn’t immediately clear what led to the killings. Police were seen carrying black body bags and loading them into Miami Dade Police vehicles. Officers located a gun but haven’t determined how many shots were fired.

Neighbor Soraya Peer said she has lived next to the family for five years and had seen “nothing negative come out of that home before.”

Other neighbors identified the man as a music teacher who gave lessons to dozens of area children.

“He was a marvelous person and a tremendous professor. People would enter the house, and you just breathed peace,” said neighbor Saraie Betancourt.