Gunman Kills Self After Shooting Toddler, 2 Women

Three hospitalized, one dead after wild North Miami shooting

Three people, including a toddler, were shot at a North Miami apartment complex Monday evening, before the man suspected of shooting them turned the gun on himself after a standoff with police. 

The incident occurred around 5 p.m. at a building at Northeast 7th Avenue and 132nd Street,, after police said one of the women's boyfriend showed up at the apartment and started shooting.

Police say Tavaris Fair, 25, confronted  22-year-old Stephanie Peterson while she was babysitting a 1-year-old girl with 31-year-old Kizzy WIlliams, the owner of the apartment.

Fair wounded all three in the shooting.

When cops and Miami-Dade firefighters showed up, they say Fair, who had barricaded himself in an apartment in the same building, wasn't done firing shots.

Rescuers were able to remove one of the women and the toddler from the building, and a helicopter carried them to Jackson Memorial Hospital's Ryder Trauma Center. 

But the situation grew more treacherous while four firefighters and several police officers tended to the third victim. As they worked, more shots were fired, said Miami-Dade County Fire Rescue spokesman Capt. Eric Baum. 

The firefighters and officers quickly formed a circle around the shooting victim and turned over tables to chairs to block any further gunfire that might come their way, Baum said. 

"Our firefighters didn't know where the shooter was, they didn't know where the gunshots were coming from," Baum said. "They just knew they were being shot at.''  For about 30 minutes, the group remained in place as additional shots were fired, Baum said. Even in the chaos, Baum said, they continued to give aid, inserting intravenous tubes into the woman and supplying oxygen.

Eventually, a group of North Miami officers reached the group, formed a ring and helped the woman and her rescuers to safety. 

"It's not every day we're under fire,'' Baum said. "These four firefighters did an outstanding job. This is, literally, grace under fire.'' 

Once outside the building, firefighters loaded the woman into another helicopter bound for the Ryder Trauma Center.  Afterward, police tried to negotiate with the gunman, Cuevas said. 

After several hours of negotiations with Fair, a SWAT team entered the apartment and found him dead from a self-inflicted wound.

North Miami Senior High School, located nearby, had been placed on lockdown. Some students were attending extra-curricular activities at the school at the time of the shooting.

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