Florida Gunman Kills 6 at Apartment Complex

A gunman holding hostages inside a South Florida apartment complex killed six people before being shot to death by a SWAT team that stormed the building early today following an hours-long standoff, police said. Sgt. Eddie Rodriguez says police got a call around 6:30pm yesterday that shots had been fired in a building with dozens of apartments in Hialeah, just a few miles north of Miami. (Update: It reportedly started when the building's managers—a husband and wife—spoke to a tenant about a complaint. They were both killed.)

Although a crisis team was able to briefly establish communication with the man, Rodriguez said talks eventually "just fell apart" with the gunman, who was holding two hostages on the fifth floor. Both of them survived when officers stormed the building, fatally shooting the gunman during an exchange of gunfire. The dead bodies of three women and two men were found inside the building. Another man who was walking his children into an apartment across the street also was killed. Rodriguez said it wasn't immediately clear whether the gunman took aim at him from an upper-level balcony or if he was hit by a stray bullet. (More hostages stories.)