Coast Guard kills self after fatally shooting wife, 7-year-old son
A U.S . Coast Guard serviceman shot his wife and 7-year-old son to death before shooting himself, Coast Guard officials and Miami-Dade police said Sunday.
His 8-year-old daughter, who was also shot, survived. Police said she was airlifted to a nearby hospital in critical condition.
The shooter was identified Sunday as 44-yearold John Stanley Presnar, an electronics technician First Class who worked out of a Coast Guard base Miami Beach. He has served since 2001, according to Coast Guard spokesman Ryan Kelley.
Presnar’s wife was 39year-old Gretchen Presnar. His children have not been identified.
Presnar and his wife were involved in a domestic dispute that escalated into a shooting at 12:41 a.m. Sunday, according to Miami-Dade police investigators.
“When the subject started shooting, his wife told her mother to run out of the house and call for help,” police said in an email. “Once uniformed officers arrived, they entered the home and discovered the wife and their 7-year-old son deceased from apparent gunfire. The subject was found deceased from a selfinflicted gunshot wound.”
The double-murder suicide happened at his home near the 11400 block of Southwest 242nd Lane in Southwest MiamiDade near Homestead.
“The Coast Guard is deeply saddened by this tragedy, and our hearts go out to the family members of those who were killed,” Kelley said. We continue to pray for and offer the full support of the Coast Guard to the young child fighting for her life.”
Monique O. Madan: 305-376-2108, @MoniqueOMadan