PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. (CBS12) — Port St. Lucie Police have identified the victim and suspect in what investigators are calling a murder-suicide in a neighborhood.
Officers responded just before 8 p.m. Saturday to a home on SE Oxmoor Terrace after reports of a shooting.
Neighbors told CBS12 they heard about four gunshots, followed by another shot a few minutes later. They say they never imagined something like this would happen in their neighborhood.
Exclusive cellphone video shared with CBS12 shows Port St. Lucie police surrounding the home with guns drawn, repeatedly ordering Ralph Varela Sr., 50, to come outside.
According to police, Varela used an AR-style rifle to shoot his longtime partner, Elizabeth Ortega,50, around 7:30 p.m. Saturday. Investigators say the couple was in the process of separating.
A neighbor who knew the couple confirmed a photo obtained by CBS12 is Ortega and described her as “a sweetheart.”
“It’s really sad,” neighbor Heather Callahan said. “Obviously you don’t really expect it in a town like this.”
Callahan said she and her family watched as police flooded the neighborhood after the shooting.
“I was just really nervous,” she said. “Obviously there’s a lot of police, so what is going on?”
Investigators say the couple’s son had just left to pick up food when the shooting happened.
Police say Varela first shot Ortega inside the home. Surveillance video then allegedly shows Ortega running outside in an attempt to escape, but investigators say Varela continued shooting before she collapsed on the front lawn.
Ortega was airlifted to a hospital, where she later died.
Police used a drone to look inside the home before entering. Investigators say they found Varela dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
“I asked the police officers if everything was okay, and they said it wasn’t okay, but they had everything contained,” Callahan said.
Detectives continue to process evidence and are awaiting the medical examiner’s report. Investigators also say there was no reported argument or disturbance inside the home in the moments leading up to the shooting.