A man fatally shot a woman inside a Fort Lauderdale house on Thursday night before setting fire to the place and then shooting himself dead, police said.
Police on Friday said Gwendolyn Bass-Kemp was shot and killed by Richard Kenneth McDonald. They were both 71, police said.
Bass-Kemp was a billing specialist for Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue, the department said in a statement.
“She joined the city in 2005 and was a valued member of the team for 18 years,” the statement said. “She will be greatly missed. Our thoughts and prayers are with Gwen’s family during this difficult time.”
Fort Lauderdale police detective Ali Adamson, a department spokesperson, said officers arrived at the house at 170 NW 27th Ter. around 8:25 p.m. after getting a call someone there was shot.
McDonald walked out of the house armed with a gun and then walked back inside and started a fire, Adamson said. While the home burned, tactical teams and negotiators tried to talk him into surrendering for about two hours.
Police did not immediately explain the nature of the relationship between Bass-Kemp and McDonald.
Meanwhile, firefighters had to hold off battling the flames, Battalion Chief Garrett Pingol said.
McDonald ultimately stepped outside with the handgun and shot himself, Adamson said.
“An adult female victim was located inside the home, and she was pronounced deceased,” she said. “At this time, this incident appears to have been a murder suicide.”
Pingol said firefighters were then able to move in and knock out the flames in about 30 minutes, but the house was completely destroyed.
“Every wall inside the house was destroyed,” Pingol told . “The roof collapsed. All that was left was the external concrete walls.”