Conflicting opinions on Florida gunman
Print Edition
The gunman who went on a shooting rampage at a South Florida apartment complex was described as a quiet man who took his mother to doctor appointments, yet also someone who was known for getting into fights and yelling at his mom.
The conflicting portrayals of Pedro Vargas, 42, emerged as police tried to piece together why he set ablaze the apartment he lived in with his mother and then killed six people before police fatally shot him.
As the eight-hour standoff unfolded, horrified residents hunkered down in their homes, at times so close to the action that they could feel the gunfire or hear negotiations between the gunman and police, authorities said on Saturday.
As the rampaged winded down, Vargas held two people hostage at gunpoint for up to three hours in their apartment until a police commando team entered and killed him, police said. The hostages were not hurt.
“Nobody seems to know why he acted the way he acted,” said Lieutenant Carl Zogby of the Hialeah Police Department.
Detectives were investigating whether Vargas had any ongoing disputes with the building manager, as some residents believed. His mother was not home at the time of the shootings.
“He was a good son,” said Ester Lazcano, who lived on the same floor as Vargas and his mother. “He’d take her in the morning to run errands” and to doctor appointments.
Lazcano said she was in the shower when she heard the first shots, and then there were at least a dozen more.
Miriam Valdes, 70, was in a friend’s apartment two doors down. She said she heard officers trying to convince Vargas to surrender.
Valdes said Vargas was also known as a difficult person who sometimes got into fights and yelled at his mother. “He was a very abusive person. He didn’t have any friends there.”
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