Man kills mom, hands their kids to firefighters and kills himself, Florida cops say

Two children were among multiple witnesses who watched their father pull a gun and kill their mom in the street, and the very public tragedy only worsened when he later shot himself, Florida investigators say.

The siblings were spared witnessing that, when he had the foresight to pull over and hand them over to firefighters, the Cape Coral Police Department reports. Cape Coral is a 130-mile drive south of Tampa.

Identities of the couple and the ages of their children have not been released.

Police learned of the first shooting around 9:20 a.m. Wednesday, March 20, when multiple 911 callers reported seeing a body in the 1700 block of Southeast 12th Street, according to a news release.

“Callers .... believed it was the victim’s ex-boyfriend who shot the female victim while he was picking up their children in common,” police said.

“They were exchanging children,” officials said. “She went back into the house to grab something. She came out. ... From there, he shot her and drove off with the kids. ... There were multiple, different callers that actually saw it happen.”

The suspect passed a group of firefighters not long after, and he stopped to hand over his children, telling the firefighters “he wanted to kill himself,” officials said.

“He then drove down a nearby street, where he was confronted by one of our officers. During the exchange with our officer, the suspect shot himself, and his vehicle rolled into a canal,” police said.

He died at the scene.

The woman, who was in her mid 30s, was rushed to a hospital and pronounced dead, officials said.

Relatives of the two children live across the street from the crime scene, and they have taken in the two children, officials said.

Details of a motive have not been released, and the case remains under investigation, officials said.

This story was originally published March 21, 2024 at 7:52 AM with the headline "Man kills mom, hands their kids to firefighters and kills himself, Florida cops say."