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Police Name Victims in Port St. Lucie Double Homicide as Neighbor Suspect Dies After Standoff

Investigators say 62-year-old Paul Maraio killed two neighbors during an ongoing dispute, then held a 77-year-old woman hostage before shooting himself.

Overview

  • Port St. Lucie Police identified the victims as 54-year-old Mark D. Golden and 85-year-old David W. Gasik, both of Port St. Lucie.
  • The shootings occurred Monday inside the Tropical East Community HOA, where police say an ongoing dispute preceded the violence.
  • After the killings, Maraio entered a third home and held 77-year-old neighbor Suzanne Rothermel hostage before allowing her and her dog to leave.
  • Crisis negotiators engaged Maraio during the standoff, and police used a drone to locate him before he was transported by helicopter to a hospital, where he died.
  • Rothermel has described the ordeal and said the intruder told her he had been evicted and had shot two neighbors, a detail authorities have not independently confirmed as motive.