{"id":364052,"date":"2026-08-06T05:32:09","date_gmt":"2026-08-06T05:32:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/364052\/"},"modified":"2026-08-06T05:32:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-06T05:32:09","slug":"i-think-my-neighbor-was-shot-port-st-lucie-police-release-911-call-in-weekend-murder-suicide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/364052\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;I think my neighbor was shot&#8217;: Port St. Lucie police release 911 call in weekend murder-suicide"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&#8216;I think my neighbor was shot&#8217;: Port St. Lucie police release 911 call in weekend murder-suicide<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wpbf.com\/news-team\/b01334e5-5687-482b-93de-c7a4b1ede900\" aria-label=\"Ari Hait profile page\" class=\"css-15eikfp\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/b01334e5-5687-482b-93de-c7a4b1ede900_1657581227.png\" width=\"48\" height=\"48\" alt=\"Ari Hait\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/a>PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. \u2014<\/p>\n<p data-node-id=\"0\">Police in Port St. Lucie Wednesday released the emotional 911 call from a neighbor after a weekend murder-suicide at a home on Southeast Oxmoor Terrace.<\/p>\n<p data-node-id=\"1\">&#8220;I need police. I think my neighbor &#8230; I think my neighbor was shot,&#8221; the caller said during the 911 call.  <\/p>\n<p data-node-id=\"2\">Authorities identified the victim as 50-year-old Elizabeth Ortega, a communications officer for the Palm Beach County Sheriff&#8217;s Office. <\/p>\n<p data-node-id=\"3\">Investigators believe Ortega was shot and killed by her longtime boyfriend, 50-year-old Ralph Varela Jr., who then shot and killed himself.  <\/p>\n<p data-node-id=\"5\">According to police, Ortega had recently ended their 30-year relationship, but the two were still living together while Varela searched for a new place to live.  <\/p>\n<p data-node-id=\"6\">The neighbor who called 911 said she had been in her backyard with her children when they heard the gunshots.  <\/p>\n<p data-node-id=\"7\">&#8220;You heard the gunshot?&#8221; the dispatcher asked.  <\/p>\n<p data-node-id=\"8\">&#8220;Multiple. There was, like, six of them. And I thought it was maybe on the other side of the street because we do have people that shoot off fireworks all the time. But this one made my house rattle,&#8221; the caller said.  <\/p>\n<p data-node-id=\"10\">When asked if she saw the gun, the caller responded, &#8220;No. We just heard it. We heard it a couple of minutes ago, and I made my kids come inside because it sounded really, really close.&#8221;  <\/p>\n<p data-node-id=\"11\">The caller said she did not know her neighbors&#8217; names but mentioned she often heard them yelling.  <\/p>\n<p data-node-id=\"12\">&#8220;Her and her husband were fighting?&#8221; the dispatcher asked.  <\/p>\n<p data-node-id=\"13\">&#8220;I don&#8217;t know if they&#8217;re fighting. They&#8217;re just always cursing at each other,&#8221; the caller said.  <\/p>\n<p data-node-id=\"14\">Police arrived at the scene and began their investigation, which they are calling a murder-suicide.  <\/p>\n<p data-node-id=\"15\">If you or someone you know is in need of help, the National Domestic Violence Hotline is available 24 hours a day at 800-799-SAFE. <\/p>\n<p data-node-id=\"16\">Locally, 2-1-1 also provides resources around the clock.<\/p>\n<p data-node-id=\"17\">Stay up to date: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wpbf.com\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">The latest headlines and weather from WPBF 25<\/a><\/p>\n<p data-node-id=\"18\">Get the latest news updates with the WPBF 25 News app. You can download it <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wpbf.com\/article\/get-wpbf-25-news-on-the-go\/999316\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p data-node-id=\"19\">Your neighborhood: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wpbf.com\/local-news\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Local coverage from WPBF 25 News<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"&#8216;I think my neighbor was shot&#8217;: Port St. Lucie police release 911 call in weekend murder-suicide PORT ST.&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":364053,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[171,173,172],"class_list":["post-364052","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\/364052","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=364052"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/364052\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/364053"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=364052"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=364052"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=364052"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}