Ralph Varela Sr. was 50. He lived with Elizabeth Ortega and their grown son in the 2000 block of SE Oxmoor Terrace in Port St. Lucie. The two had shared a home for years. They were in the middle of a separation.
Their son left the house about 7:30 Saturday evening to pick up food. Police found no sign of any argument before he walked out.
Once the son was gone, investigators say Varela took an AR-style .223-caliber rifle and opened fire on Ortega inside. She bolted for the door and reached the front yard. He kept shooting at her out there.
House cameras caught Ortega trying to get away before she collapsed on the lawn. Officers arrived and found her hit by multiple rounds. She was airlifted to HCA Florida Lawnwood Hospital and later died.
Varela went back inside the residence. When police entered they found him dead from what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
The case is still open. Detectives are reviewing evidence and waiting for final reports from the medical examiner. Police called it an isolated domestic shooting and expressed sympathy for Ortega’s loved ones.
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