The dispute started over a dog. Three people, including a father and daughter, ended up dead
Three people, including a father and daughter, died Monday following a two-hour standoff at a home in Port St. Lucie, Florida, according to police.
Ronald Delserro fatally shot Guy Alexander Hansman, 55, and his 11-year-old daughter, Harper, over what Port St. Lucie police believed to be an ongoing dispute involving the gunman’s dog.
City officers and St. Lucie County sheriff’s deputies responded to the home early Monday afternoon after receiving reports of a shooting. They discovered a man, later identified as Guy, inside a garage who was shot. Guy later died from his injuries, police say.
Once inside the home, officers traded gunfire with the 82-year-old Delserro. An officer was shot in the arm while trying to apprehend the suspect, according to police. He is being treated with non-life threatening injuries.
An 11-year-old girl, later identified as Harper, was also found suffering from a gunshot wound inside the home. Law enforcement safely removed Harper from the scene. Paramedics rushed her to a hospital where later died from her injuries, police say.
A SWAT team then went inside the victim’s home and discovered Delserro dead upstairs in a bedroom, police say. The circumstances surrounding his death are unclear.
St. Lucie County Sheriff Ken Mascara told reporters that a disagreement over the safety of the Delserro’s dog, a female gray Mastiff named “Roxy,” sparked the shooting. A judge had declared the dog dangerous in a court hearing earlier on Monday, according to Mascara.
“The court proceeding was this morning,” Mascara said Monday, WPTV reported. “The case was granted for the victims in this case and they all came home from court and then the suspect armed himself and went to the victim’s house.”
A subsequent investigation revealed that Delserro’s issues with the victims likely began March 4 when Roxy attacked and bit a woman who lived with the victims, according to police. This incident led to the hearing where the dog was declared dangerous.
The Treasure Coast city of Port St. Lucie is about 50 miles north of West Palm Beach.
This story was originally published July 6, 2020 at 5:38 PM.
