In the late afternoon of Monday in the quiet subdivisions of the Tropical East community of Port St. Lucie, Florida, chaos erupted when 62-year-old Paul Maraio opened fire on two neighbors, killing both, then barricaded himself in a nearby home with a woman held hostage. Officers arrived in the 2700 block of Southeast Tropical Circle following multiple 911 reports of shooting and found the neighborhood in shock.
According to the city’s police chief, Leo Niemczyk, the deadly incident appears to have been sparked by a long-running dispute between Maraio and his neighbors. “It appears there was some sort of ongoing neighbor dispute and something just brought our suspect to the edge,” he said. When officers responded, they discovered two men had been shot at separate locations. The victims, whose identities have not been released, both lived in the community.
As Maraio fled the scene, he broke into a third home and took a woman hostage. A SWAT team, crisis negotiators, and K-9 units converged on the residence. The shelter-in-place order was issued for nearby homes while negotiations began. After about an hour, Maraio released the hostage unharmed and remained inside, armed and barricaded. The standoff stretched on for more than two hours.
Inside the home, Maraio told officers he had shot himself in the chest. An indoor drone deployed by law enforcement confirmed his injury. At that point SWAT entered, took him into custody, and transported him via helicopter to a local hospital in critical condition. Around 2:30 a.m. Tuesday morning, city officials confirmed Maraio had succumbed to his injuries.
The immediate aftermath has left a community reeling. The two victims’ names remain withheld pending next-of-kin notification and ongoing investigation. The school nearby, Mariposa Elementary School, where 14 children were in after-care, wasn’t involved directly, but authorities kept the students inside until the police deemed the area safe.
Neighbors described the scene as surreal: one moment a typical Florida afternoon, the next a broad police presence, yellow crime-scene tape, and hushed conversation between neighbors who had long noticed a simmering tension between Maraio and others on the block. Chief Niemczyk said this dispute “just brought our suspect to the edge … where he took things into his own hands.”
Investigators are now examining the timeline of events, the nature of the neighbor conflict, and the sequence of the shootings. With the suspect deceased, authorities say their focus remains on gathering evidence and offering support to a neighborhood shaken and saddened by sudden violence.
