Man kills woman, burns down house, then dies by suicide, Fort Lauderdale police say
If you or someone you know is thinking about self harm, call the toll-free National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-TALK (8255). It’s available 24/7.
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A man fatally shot a woman inside a Fort Lauderdale house on Thursday night before setting fire to the place and then shooting himself dead, police said.
Police on Friday said Gwendolyn Lynette Bass-Kemp was shot and killed by Richard Kenneth McDonald. They were both 71, police said.
Keenan Johnson, 62, told WSVN he cried when he turned on the news and saw footage of his aunt’s home.
“I’ve tried not think about it,” Johnson told WSVN. “The only I can do is remember her from the last time I’d seen her. That’s what I want to remember, nothing else.”
Bass-Kemp was a billing specialist for Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue, the department said in a statement.
“She joined the city in 2005 and was a valued member of the team for 18 years,” the statement said. “She will be greatly missed. Our thoughts and prayers are with Gwen’s family during this difficult time.”
Fort Lauderdale police detective Ali Adamson, a department spokesperson, said officers arrived at the house at 170 NW 27th Ter. around 8:25 p.m. after getting a call someone there was shot.
McDonald walked out of the house armed with a gun and then walked back inside and started a fire, Adamson said. While the home burned, tactical teams and negotiators tried to talk him into surrendering for about two hours.
Meanwhile, firefighters had to hold off battling the flames, Battalion Chief Garrett Pingol said.
McDonald ultimately stepped outside with the handgun and shot himself, Adamson said.
“An adult female victim was located inside the home, and she was pronounced deceased,” she said. “At this time, this incident appears to have been a murder suicide.”
Pingol said firefighters were then able to move in and knock out the flames in about 30 minutes, but the house was completely destroyed.
“Every wall inside the house was destroyed,” Pingol told the Miami Herald. “The roof collapsed. All that was left was the external concrete walls.”
911 call
According to a 911 call made by Bass-Kemp’s son, which police released Friday afternoon, McDonald was her boyfriend.
The son, who has not been named, told the 911 operator that he went to the house to visit his mother and found her dead.
He confronted McDonald, who pulled a gun on him, prompting him to leave the house.
The son said McDonald was a military veteran who had “a house full of guns.”
This story was originally published May 12, 2023 at 1:21 PM.
