- Associated Press - Saturday, April 8, 2017

CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) - The Latest on the shooting on Saturday at a Florida gym (all times local):

10:50 a.m.

The Miami-Dade Police Department said Sunday that the gunman who opened fire at a Florida gym was an employee at the fitness center who had just been fired.

The department issued a statement identifying the shooter as 33-year-old Abeku Wilson of Miami, who was fired from the gym earlier in the day “due to work place violence and was escorted off the premises.”

He then returned to the fitness center later armed with a gun.

The shooting happened about 1 p.m. Saturday at the upscale mall the Shops at Merrick Park.

Equinox issued an email statement Sunday saying that it is “deeply saddened” by the deaths of two employees, 35-year-old Janine Ackerman of Miami and 42-year-old Marios Hortis of Miami Beach. Police said both victims were deliberately targeted and that the shooting was not random.

___

10:30 a.m.

A Florida gym that was the scene of a deadly shooting Saturday says it is “deeply saddened” by the deaths of two employees, 35-year-old Janine Ackerman and 42-year-old Marios Hortis. Ackerman was identified as the club’s general manager.

Executives of Equinox including CEO Niki Leondakis said in an email that the two employees would always be “in our hearts.”

Authorities say a former employee opened fire at Equinox in Coral Gables and then killed himself. Miami-Dade police say the shooting happened due to a dispute between the ex-worker and the manager.

The shooting happened about 1 p.m. at the upscale mall the Shops at Merrick Park. Shoppers and diners at mall restaurants ran to safety or took cover.

8 p.m.

A law enforcement official says a former gym employee opened fire inside the Florida facility, critically wounding a manager and another person before he killed himself.

The official says the manager later died at a hospital Saturday. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information.

Miami-Dade police say the shooting happened during a dispute between the ex-worker and the manager. The second victim is in critical condition at a hospital.

The shooting happened about 1 p.m. at the upscale mall the Shops at Merrick Park. Shoppers and diners at mall restaurants ran to safety or took cover.

Police have not released the names of the shooter and victims.

___

2:20 p.m.

Officials say one person is dead after shooting near upscale shopping mall in South Florida.

Alvaro Zabaleta of the Miami-Dade Police Department says detectives have responded to the scene of the shooting in Coral Gables that resulted in one death.

Zabaleta says the location of the shooting was along South Lejeune Road at an address that appears at or near the Shops of Merrick Park, an upscale shopping mall.

Copyright © 2024 The Washington Times, LLC.

Please read our comment policy before commenting.

Click to Read More and View Comments

Click to Hide