Police: Fitness trainer killed 2 after being fired
Abeku Wilson killed 2 managers then himself, police say.
The man who shot and killed two managers at a Florida gym before turning the gun on himself had just been fired from the fitness center for workplace violence, police said Sunday.
The Miami-Dade Police Department said in a statement Sunday that 33-yearold Abeku Wilson of Miami was let go Saturday as a fitness trainer at the Equinox gym in Coral Gables “due to workplace violence and was escorted off the premises.”
Authorities didn’t elaborate on what that violence involved.
Shortly after his dismissal, Wilson returned to the gym with a handgun and fired multiple shots at both managers before fatally shooting himself. Police said the managers were deliberately targeted and that the shooting wasn’t random.
Equinox issued an email statement Sunday that it was “deeply saddened” by the deaths of the two employees, 35-year-old Janine Ackerman of Miami and 42-yearold Marios Hortis of Miami Beach. Ackerman was the gym’s general manager and Hortis the fitness manager.
“Our love, prayers and condolences are with both families during this terrible time. The collective Equinox community will always keep Janine and Marios in our hearts,” the statement said.
Marc Sarnoff, who previously trained with Wilson for two years, saw him at the gym before Saturday’s shooting and noticed something was wrong.
Wilson typically was “very buttoned up, very proper, very appropriate,” Sarnoff said in a phone interview. But on Saturday, Wilson physically bumped into Sarnoff and his current trainer. The usually adept Wilson seemed noticeably off-kilter.
“He wasn’t clean-shaven ... and he seemed to be slurring his words,” said Sarnoff. “He said, ‘I’m sorry I’m just off balance this morning.’ ”
An Instagram account in his name is filled with shirtless, muscly photos talking about body building competitions that he was preparing for. In December, a posting said he had gotten a blue belt in martial arts.
The shooting happened about 1 p.m. Saturday at the upscale Shops at Merrick Park. Shoppers, diners at mall restaurants and people in workout gear ran to safety or took cover after reports of gunfire.
“Five gunshots,” Ovi Viera, who was in the men’s locker room, told The Miami Herald. “It was too loud for it to have been a weight dropping. Within two seconds, people just started running out.”
Wilson trained Eveliny Bastos-Klein shortly before Saturday’s shooting. She said that he didn’t seem distracted and that she didn’t notice anything unusual during their session.
The mall is a few miles from the University of Miami campus.