DANIA BEACH, Fla. – The Broward Sheriff’s Office is investigating after two people were shot late Thursday night at a 7-Eleven in Dania Beach before the suspect turned the gun on himself.
The shooting was reported at 11:14 p.m. at the gas station in the 800 block of Stirling Road.
According to BSO spokesperson Carey Codd, deputies were told that the shooting occurred inside the convenience store and arrived at the scene to find three people suffering from gunshot wounds.
Two people --11-year-old Syed Nabigh Ali and the suspected gunman, 29-year-old Darren Rosenthal -- were pronounced dead at the scene and Broward Sheriff Fire Rescue paramedics transported the third person to a nearby hospital.
The details are chilling. A 5th grader, shot dead, in cold blood, by a man investigators say he didn’t know, while the young boy was buying ice cream. “Just walked out of nowhere and started shooting.” And the child wasn’t the only shooting victim. https://t.co/CLTuCYpZan pic.twitter.com/oF4sdzsvSR
— Christina Boomer Vazquez, M.S. (@CBoomerVazquez) May 5, 2023
A witness told Local 10 News reporter Saira Anwer that Rosenthal first shot another man in the neck who was sitting in a van outside the 7-Eleven, and then went inside the convenience store and shot Syed before taking his own life.
“He was just chilling in his car -- boom -- shot in the neck,” Maximo Limas, who works at the taco shop inside the gas station, said.
Witnesses said Syed was buying ice cream inside the store when he was killed. Authorities later confirmed to Local 10 that the suspect shot a man who was inside a vehicle before shooting the boy in the store and then turning the gun on himself.
Syed, a fifth-grader at Nur-Ul-Islam Academy, was described by a teacher at as “a pleasant, well-mannered, and bright boy. He loved to play chess and always got excited at the thought of playing soccer.”
Codd said BSO’s Homicide and Crime Scene units are investigating the circumstances surrounding the shooting. A motive remains unclear.
Anyone with further information about the shooting is asked to contact BSO or submit a tip through the SaferWatch app. Those who wish to remain anonymous, may contact Broward Crime Stoppers at 954-493-TIPS (8477) or online at browardcrimestoppers.org. Tipsters can also dial **TIPS (8477) from any cellphone in the United States.