SUNRISE, Fla. – The body of a Vero Beach murder suspect was found Monday inside a van in a parking lot near the Sawgrass Mills mall, police said.
Sunrise police SWAT team members swarmed the Rooms To Go parking lot, where the van was parked.
Police told Local 10 News that Vero Beach murder suspect Pedro Torres was believed to be inside the vehicle. Authorities in Vero Beach later confirmed that Torres had shot himself inside the van.
"Our crisis negotiation team came out and tried to make contact and got no response. Our SWAT team made contact and he was found to be deceased," Sunrise police Officer Chris Piper said.
According to the Indian River County Sheriff's Office, Torres killed his wife at a Vero Beach home before fleeing to South Florida where his in-laws live. A family friend told Local 10 News that Torres and his wife had a troubled marriage.
"He wasn't a nice guy," the friend said. "He was always jealous of his wife. His wife just went away because one of the grandparents died and he got jealous because she went away."
Torres and his wife had three children together.
It isn't clear how long Torres' body may have been in the van.
Flamingo Road was shut down in the area during the investigation.
ATTENTION: Due to police activity near Rooms To Go (1905 N Flamingo Rd) Please stay out of the area. Flamingo Rd will be shut down in the area. #SunrisePolice Attention Rooms to Go, Home Depot, and Ashley Furniture
— Sunrise Police FL (@SunrisePoliceFL) March 5, 2018