Man kills wife, shoots self in busy Westchester shopping plaza

A man shot and killed his wife before turning the gun on himself in a busy Westchester shopping center Tuesday night, according to Miami-Dade police.

Det. Alvaro Zabaleta said the couple was married, but separated, and met in the parking lot at 87th Avenue and Coral Way to have a discussion. They parked side by side, Zabaleta said, and at some point the discussion turned into an argument.

“He produced a firearm and shot her and then turned the gun on himself,” he said.

The woman, later identified as 43-year-old Lourdes M. Martinez-Rodriguez, died in the car, and the man was taken to Kendall Regional Hospital. Police have not yet identified the man.

Police blocked off a huge chunk of the parking lot at Westchester Shopping Center, a plaza that houses Party City, Aldi supermarket and Ross. A yellow tarp covered part of a red car parked in front of Party City.

More than a dozen people stood around wondering what happened.

Adriana Huezo, 16, was in Westchester Café when she heard a loud noise.

“It sounded like a gunshot, but I couldn’t wrap my head around that,” she said. “The whole thing was really scary.”

This story was originally published January 13, 2015 at 9:05 PM with the headline "Man kills wife, shoots self in busy Westchester shopping plaza."