Murder Suspect Kills Self In Parking Lot Near Near Sawgrass Mills Mall
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SUNRISE (CBSMiami) - Quite a scene in Sunrise Monday morning after police surrounded the parking lot of a 'Rooms To Go' near the Sawgrass Mills mall and closed off a section of Flamingo Road as they moved in to capture a suspected killer.
Sunrise Police Officer Chris Piper told CBS4's Peter D'Oench, "We took extra precautions to seal off the area and blocked off roads to make sure the community was safe."
Chopper4 over the scene found a Sunrise police SWAT truck focused on a van in the parking lot. The van matched the description of one driven by Pedro Torres, wanted for the murder of his 45-year-old wife Vicky in Vero Beach.
With guns drawn, officers tried to make contact with the person in the van. They then used a robot to take a peek inside and found that the person was no longer alive. The Indian River County Sheriff's Office confirmed that the body was that of Torres, the van was his wife's. The sheriff's office said he died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Shoppers at the mall were horrified when they found out what had happened.
"I was kind of shocked. My first reaction was why do this. Why take a mother from her children," said Eric Goldstone.
"You know this happens but you never think in your neighborhood," said Terry Goldstone.
Detectives believe Torres killed his wife and then fled to South Florida, according to the sheriff's office, because he was known to frequently visit Broward County.
A friend of Vicky Torres said Pedro Torres had a destructive relationship with his wife.
"He wasn't a nice guy and he was always jealous of his wife," she said. "He was always possessive and controlling and what it was is he was always jealous of his wife going over to her family."
"I know her family was always worried about her safety," she added.
Neighbors say Torres kept to himself, seemed possessive of his wife and three kids, and acted paranoid at times.
The three children, according to neighbors, are now staying with relatives.