Florida police say 2 dead, including gunman, 1 injured in mall shooting

Two people are dead and one is injured after a gunman opened fire in a Florida mall food court Saturday morning, police said.

The shooter, Jose Garcia Rodriguez, 57, from Palm Bay, wounded his wife and shot one man dead at the Melbourne Square Mall, said Cmdr. Vince Pryce, spokesman for the Melbourne Police Department. He later died at a hospital of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Garcia Rodriguez’s wife, Idanerys Garcia Rodriguez, 33, a mall food court employee, was taken to a hospital and was listed in good condition, Pryce told the Los Angeles Times.

Police believe she was the intended target of the shooting, but would not give any information about a motive. The couple has two children, though Pryce said police do not know where they were at the time.

The identity of the male victim, who died at the scene, was not released, and police said the relationship between him and the couple, if any, was still under investigation.

Police arrived at the mall around 9:30 a.m. after many reports of gunfire. As officers entered the mall, they heard at least one shot, Pryce said.

The mall officially opens at 10 a.m., though about 100 store employees and exercise groups were already in the building earlier.

The mall will be closed for the rest of the day and was expected to reopen Sunday, Pryce said.

Melbourne is on the eastern coast of Florida, about 72 miles from Orlando.

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