Florida Shooting: Clashing Accounts Of Gunman

The gunman who killed six people in a shooting spree in Florida has been described as a "good son" but also as a difficult man prone to getting into fights.

Pedro Vargas, 42, took his mother to doctor appointments but also yelled at her, neighbours said.

Vargas set ablaze the apartment he lived in with his mother and killed six people before police fatally shot him.

During the confrontation, he moved from floor to floor inside an apartment complex in Hialeah and barricaded himself with hostages inside their home.

After an eight-hour standoff and failed attempts to persuade him to surrender, a Swat team entered and killed him.

"He was a good son," said Ester Lazcano, who lived on the same floor as Vargas and his mother.

"He'd take her in the morning to run errands" and to doctor appointments.

Hialeah is a working class suburb a few miles northwest of downtown Miami

Miriam Valdes, who was in a friend's apartment two doors down, said she heard officers trying to convince Vargas to surrender.

He refused to cooperate, she said.

Ms Valdes, 70, said Vargas was known as a difficult person who sometimes got into fights and yelled at his mother.

"He was a very abusive person," she told the AP news agency.

"He didn't have any friends there."

Detectives were investigating whether Vargas had any ongoing disputes with the building manager, as some residents believed.

Police were called to the scene on Friday afternoon. Pic: WSVN.com

"Nobody seems to know why he acted the way he acted," said Lieutenant Carl Zogby, a spokesman with the Hialeah Police Department.

He described Vargas, who had no criminal record, as a "quiet man" with an "unremarkable background".?

Lieutenant Zogby said Vargas still had several rounds of ammunition when he was killed.

"He was ready to fight," he said.

The gunman's mother was not home at the time of the shootings, and the hostages were not hurt.

Source: http://news.sky.com/story/1121418

Andre 3000 Keyshawn Johnson Mara Wilson Cullen Finnerty maria menounos Mermaids New Evidence Raspberry Pi