Miami hostage standoff leaves 7 people dead

MIAMI -- Seven people were shot and killed at an apartment building in
a Miami suburb early Saturday, including the suspected gunman who was
holding two hostages when a SWAT team moved in, police said.

The hostages were rescued unharmed, Hialeah Police Sergeant Eddie
Rodriguez told NBC News.

The standoff began on Friday evening during an argument between the
gunman and the husband and wife who ran the apartment complex. Their
bodies were among the six found after the SWAT team moved in on
Saturday morning, police said.
The gunman lived in a fourth-floor apartment with his mother, the
Miami Herald quoted the landlords' daughter, Shamira Pisciotti, as
saying.

The couple, 78-year-old Italo Pisciotti and 68-year-old Samira
Pisciotti, went to the unit to discuss a problem with the gunman, who
opened fire and killed them both, their daughter told the newspaper.

Three other victims were found shot to death in that building and one
was walking into a building across the street when the gunman shot him
from a balcony, police said.

The shooter was barricaded inside a fifth-floor apartment with the two
hostages when police negotiators made contact with him during the
night. The SWAT team swarmed in after the talks broke down about 2
a.m., the Herald said.

The apartment complex in the blue-collar, mostly Hispanic community
housed about 90 families.

Copyright © 2013, Reuters