In a devastating incident that has left a community in shock, three individuals, including a 4-year-old child and his mother, were killed in what authorities suspect to be a murder-suicide shooting outside a Chase Bank in southwest Miami-Dade. The heartbreaking event unfolded on Friday morning at around 7:30 a.m., near the intersection of Bird Road and 152nd Avenue.

According to Miami-Dade Police Detective Luis Sierra, an on-duty sergeant happened to be driving in the area when he heard the sound of gunshots. Immediately responding to the scene, he discovered the bodies of the three victims.

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Preliminary investigations suggest that a woman, traveling in a minivan with her young son, had pulled up to the bank’s ATM and was waiting in line. At that moment, a man in an SUV pulled up next to her and opened fire, tragically taking the lives of the woman and her child. The shooter then turned the gun on himself, resulting in his own death.

Detective Sierra stated, “It appears to be that he opened fire on the minivan and then opened fire on himself.” Shockingly, the body of the 4-year-old child was found still strapped in his car seat.

The victims have been identified as 43-year-old Odalys Bancroft and her 4-year-old son, Theodore Couto, who would have celebrated his fourth birthday next month.

Footage captured at the scene displayed a silver BMW SUV parked outside the bank, situated on the opposite side of the ATM from the dark-colored minivan. The area was cordoned off with yellow crime scene tape as investigators worked meticulously.

🔥🚨DEVELOPING: A hospital director, 43, and her four year-old son were shot and killed by her wealthy ex-boyfriend in at a Chase Bank in Southwest Miami-Dade Florida.

Odalys Bancroft, 43, and her son Theodore ‘Teddy’ Couto were inside their minivan at a Chase’s drive-through… pic.twitter.com/uRF5u7k70p

— Dom Lucre | Breaker of Narratives (@dom_lucre) June 10, 2024

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The identity of the suspect has not yet been released, and authorities are actively working to ascertain the relationship between the gunman and the victims.

Family members, apparent in their anguish, were seen speaking with police outside the bank. One individual, fearing the worst, expressed concern that his ex-wife and child were the victims, although their connection to the incident has not been confirmed.

Witnesses who encountered the aftermath of this tragic event were deeply disturbed to learn that a child had lost their life. Michelle Abreu, reflecting on the innocent lives affected, said, “I was at my granddaughter’s show that’s 2 years old, I just came from there, and all I can think of are those little innocent children there, that there is an innocent child in a car right now who died.”

As the investigation unfolds, the community mourns the loss of these precious lives and seeks answers to the devastating questions surrounding this heartbreaking tragedy.

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