CORAL GABLES, Fla. – Authorities on Wednesday released 911 calls made after a former Equinox Fitness Club employee shot and killed two managers and then killed himself inside the Coral Gables gym last April.
Police said Abeku Wilson, 33, shot and killed Janine Ackerman, 35, and Mario Hortis, 42, before turning the gun on himself April 8, 2017. Wilson, a mixed martial artist and bodybuilder, had been fired a few days earlier for being violent at work, police said.
The shooting started just after 1 p.m. while the gym was full of people. Dispatchers received dozens of calls as people fled the fitness center, which is on the second floor of Shops at Merrick Park.
"My father is there, my mother is there! I don't know what's happening!" one panicked caller told a dispatcher.
After the first shots were fired, the mall's security issued an automated audio alert with a siren advising "emergency, evacuate or seek shelter."
During the mall's warning, what had been a relaxing outdoor dining area turned into people scrambling to get on the ground. Some hid under tables before running inside to the restaurants' kitchens.
"Someone went shooting at in Equinox of Coral Gables," another caller said. "I don't know what's happening."