{"id":363963,"date":"2026-08-06T02:42:11","date_gmt":"2026-08-06T02:42:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/363963\/"},"modified":"2026-08-06T02:42:11","modified_gmt":"2026-08-06T02:42:11","slug":"newly-released-911-call-reveals-frantic-moments-after-port-st-lucie-murder-suicide-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/363963\/","title":{"rendered":"Newly released 911 call reveals frantic moments after Port St. Lucie murder-suicide"},"content":{"rendered":"

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. (CBS12) \u2014 A newly released 911 call captures the frantic moments after a woman was shot outside a Port St. Lucie home<\/a> in a murder-suicide that killed a Palm Beach County Sheriff\u2019s Office communications officer.<\/p>\n

A neighbor called 911 shortly after 7:40 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 1, after hearing a burst of gunfire near Southeast Oxmoor Terrace.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think my neighbor was shot,\u201d the caller told a dispatcher. \u201cShe\u2019s in her front yard.\u201d<\/p>\n

The woman said she had been outside with her children when the shots rang out.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe heard it a couple minutes ago, and I made my kids come inside because they sounded really, really close,\u201d she said. \u201cMy 4-year-old went in his sister\u2019s room and he looked out the window. He said, \u2018Mommy, the neighbor\u2019s on the floor.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

The caller said she initially wondered whether the noise had come from fireworks, which she said were frequently set off in the neighborhood.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut this one, like, made my house rattle,\u201d she said. \u201cShe is not moving.\u201d<\/p>\n

When the dispatcher asked whether she had gone outside to check on the woman, the caller said she was too frightened.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not moving,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m scared to go over there.\u201d<\/p>\n

The caller reported hearing approximately five or six shots. She said she did not see a gun or anyone standing near the woman.<\/p>\n

See also: Police release photo of toy kitchen involved in Boynton toddler’s death; family IDs girl<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no one outside,\u201d she said. \u201cShe\u2019s very visible. She\u2019s in her pajamas.\u201d<\/p>\n

The caller also told the dispatcher that the woman and her husband frequently argued.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re just always cursing at each other,\u201d she said. \u201cThey\u2019re always yelling.\u201d<\/p>\n

The woman remained inside as dispatchers sent police and fire-rescue crews to the neighborhood.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe is laying on her stomach,\u201d the caller said later in the call. \u201cIt\u2019s just her laying in the grass.\u201d<\/p>\n

Police and fire-rescue units were dispatched less than a minute after the initial report. The first Port St. Lucie police officer arrived about three and a half minutes later, according to dispatch records.<\/p>\n

As officers arrived, the caller directed them toward the injured woman.<\/p>\n

\"Elizabeth<\/p>\n

Elizabeth \u201cLiz\u201d Ortega, a former Palm Beach County Sheriff\u2019s Office emergency communications officer, was fatally shot Saturday at her Port St. Lucie home. Police said her longtime partner, Ralph Varela Sr., killed her with an AR-style rifle before taking his own life. (Handout photo)<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s over here,\u201d she said. \u201cShe\u2019s right there.\u201d<\/p>\n

The caller then said officers instructed her to return inside.<\/p>\n

Responding officers found Elizabeth \u201cLiz\u201d Ortega <\/a>suffering from gunshot wounds. Police removed her from the area and brought her to waiting paramedics while other officers surrounded the home and established a perimeter.<\/p>\n

Ortega was flown to a hospital but later died. She worked as an emergency communications officer for the Palm Beach County Sheriff\u2019s Office.<\/p>\n

Investigators said Ortega had recently ended her relationship with Ralph Varela Sr., her partner of more than 30 years. Police said surveillance video showed Varela shooting Ortega inside the home with an AR-style rifle. Ortega ran outside in an attempt to escape, but police said Varela continued firing until she collapsed in the yard.<\/p>\n

Dispatch records show officers initially did not know where Varela was. Police surrounded the residence, warned officers to take cover and requested a drone to look inside.<\/p>\n

At approximately 8:13 p.m., the drone operator reported seeing a man down inside the house with what appeared to be a rifle next to him. The operator later reported that the man appeared to have blood on him and was not moving.<\/p>\n

See also: PBSO deputy reprimanded after ticketing one-armed driver for alleged texting while driving<\/a><\/p>\n

Specialized officers and armored equipment were brought to the neighborhood before teams entered and cleared the home. Police found Varela dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.<\/p>\n

The police response lasted more than six hours as officers secured the house, garage and nearby structures before crime-scene investigators took over.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. (CBS12) \u2014 A newly released 911 call captures the frantic moments after a woman…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":363704,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[171,173,172],"class_list":["post-363963","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-port-st-lucie","tag-port-st-lucie","tag-port-st-lucie-headlines","tag-port-st-lucie-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/363963","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=363963"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/363963\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/363704"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=363963"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=363963"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=363963"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}