PORT ST. LUCIE — A 62-year-old man suspected of fatally shooting two men in a Port St. Lucie community Monday afternoon died early Tuesday after shooting himself during a standoff with police, according to the Port St. Lucie Police Department.
Police said that around 3:15 p.m. Nov. 10, officers responded to reports of shots fired in the 2700 block of SE Tropical Circle. As officers were en route, multiple 911 callers reported that two adult males had been shot at two different locations within the community.
The suspected shooter, identified as Paul Maraio, who lived in the same community, then took a woman hostage at a third location, police said. He was armed and barricaded inside a residence.
The Port St. Lucie Police Department deployed significant resources to the scene, including SWAT, K9 units, the Crisis Negotiations Team and additional patrol officers. A shelter-in-place order was issued for the surrounding neighborhood and a nearby school out of an abundance of caution.
Negotiators began communicating with Maraio around 4:30 p.m., and he released the female hostage unharmed a few minutes later. Police said Maraio remained armed inside the residence.
At about 6 p.m., Maraio told negotiators that he had shot himself in the chest, which officers later confirmed using indoor drones. Around 7 p.m., SWAT officers entered the home, took Maraio into custody and transported him to HCA Lawnwood Hospital, where he was listed in critical condition after sustaining a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
The department’s Criminal Investigations Division took over the case, which included multiple crime scenes throughout the community.
In an update early Tuesday, police said Maraio was pronounced dead just before 2:30 a.m. Nov. 11. The investigation into the double homicide remains ongoing.