3 dead, 2 injured after hostage standoff

DEERFIELD BEACH, Fla. (WSVN) -- Two men and a 9-year-old boy are dead after a hostage standoff turned into a family tragedy inside at a mobile home park.

The incident began at about 6:20 p.m., Thursday, along Northeast 48th Street and Dixie Highway. Broward SWAT and bomb squad units responded to the scene after receiving a phone call that a man had been shot.

BSO arrived to find the man lying dead outside the mobile home. Deputies said the suspect shot the victim, who, police said, was a stranger to him, before locking himself inside the mobile home. "It's pretty shocking, the circumstances. I'm not sure what's going on right now," said Nicole Dupras, a neighbor.

Dupras said the deceased was an elderly tourist at the wrong place and time. "I think a Canadian was killed, and it's pretty surprising because they're all tourists here; 80 percent, 90 percent of the people come from Canada and Montreal, Quebec city, and it's pretty shocking."

After an hour of negotiations, the suspect had freed a female hostage, who told authorities that a man was holed up in the mobile home with his wife and two kids, ages seven and 9. "There was a suspect inside that mobile home, was making threats to deputies and indicated that he was armed," said Dani Moschella of Broward Sheriff's Office, "and that he would harm a hostage that he had inside the mobile home."

The SWAT Team eventually barged into the RV, finding the suspect and the 9-year-old boy dead. Authorities believe the suspect killed the child before turning the gun on himself.

Officials also found the woman and the 7-year-old boy injured inside the mobile home. "This was such a devastating outcome with a little boy found dead, a woman critically injured and another little boy critically injured," said Moschella. "It was very difficult for everybody here."

Rescue crews transported the woman and the young boy to an area hospital in critical condition.

Neighbors said the mobile home park is populated with tourists from Canada.

BSO deputies said it is so far unknown who owned the RV, and they are still investigating this incident.

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