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A mother and her four-year-old son were killed in a murder-suicide when the woman’s ex-boyfriend opened fire outside a Chase Bank in Miami-Dade last week.
The gunman has been identified by Miami-Dade police as 41-year-old Michael Andres Pineda Lozano, police announced on Monday.
Police said 43-year-old Odalys Bancroft was in the bank’s drive-thru ATM line when Lozano pulled up next to the minivan she was driving and began shooting at her. She was killed in the shooting along with her son, Theodore “Teddy” Couto, who was also in the van.
Lozano then turned the gun on himself, police said. Authorities have not released a motive for the shooting.
Video recorded by a bystander and obtained by NBC6 shows the harrowing moments leading up to the shooting at the Chase Bank in the West Kendall area of Miami-Dade County.
Bancroft’s family is grieving the tragic loss of the mother and son.
“There were some concerns about him, but nothing that stuck out like this,” Bancroft’s brother, Michael Trujillo, told NBC6. “They were going through a breakup, but no signs that I was aware of that there was fear like that.”
“Never in a million years would I expect anything like this to happen,” he added.
Bancroft was the director of regulatory affairs at Jackson Health System. She had joined the hospital system in 2015, beginning her career as a clinical staff nurse, and eventually worked in leadership roles at Holtz Children’s Hospital.
Her son Teddy had recently graduated from PreK-4. He would have turned 5 years old next month. The boy’s father, Vicente Couto, showed up quickly on the scene, but did not speak to the press.
“Everywhere that he was, was always just a happier place with him around,” Trujillo said about his sister’s relationship with her son.
“I just can’t imagine any situation that would bring a normal person to do this sort of thing to a woman and her child,” he added.
A GoFundMe created to help support the family with funeral expenses states that they are “profoundly devastated by the sudden loss of her and her beloved son.”
“She was a beacon of kindness and love, and those fortunate enough to know her will remember her as a remarkable woman and devoted mother,” it continued.
“Their lives are forever changed by this heartbreaking tragedy.”
A separate GoFundMe was set up for Teddy by the Couto family.
“There are no words to express the depth of our sorrow,” it read. “Theodore was a bright light in our lives, and his sudden departure has left us shattered.”
Source: independent.co.uk
