PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — Port St. Lucie police on Monday identified a man who authorities said zip-tied a woman, barricaded himself inside a home with three children, armed himself with a propane tank and lighter and then was shot and killed by a police officer.
In a news release, the Port St. Lucie Police Department said Paul Simon Fialho, 50, was at the center of a "volatile domestic violence incident" over the weekend in the 600 block of Northwest Marion Avenue.
Police responded to a home just after 3 p.m. Saturday after the grandmother of the children — 6-year-old triplets — called 911 and said the kids were scared, crying, and screaming for help, yelling to her from the second floor of the home, saying, "Daddy was hitting mommy" and that "mommy was not OK" and "she could not move."
When two Port St. Lucie police officers arrived, the grandmother was outside the home and couldn't get inside because there was a white minivan blocking the front door, as well as other doors barricaded with wood, police said.
According to the news release, the officers could hear the children inside the home screaming that "Daddy was killing mommy."
"It was a very violent, volatile situation. I think he had every intention of killing everyone in the house including my officers," Port St. Lucie Assistant Police Chief Leo Niemczyk said.
The officers, then joined by a sergeant and 12-year veteran of the Port St. Lucie Police Department, climbed over the minivan and went through the unlocked front door.
The police department said that once the officers got into the home, they could hear Fialho and the woman screaming in the garage.
The officers tried to get into the garage through the laundry room, but the door was barricaded shut with a washer and dryer from inside the garage. In addition, a large refrigerator was blocking a hallway that led to a bathroom, which was also connected to the garage.
Police said Fialho peeked out of the bathroom door and officers went after him, following him into the garage, which had been turned into a living space. The woman was tied up with zip ties around her hands and neck.
Fialho armed himself with a propane tank and a lighter. The sergeant ordered Fialho to drop the items, but he refused.
"There were gas cans present. They were concerned that had been poured around the house as well," Niemczyk said. "It was obvious the suspect's intention was to engulf the house in flames."
Smelling propane and seeing a large red lighter in Fialho's hand, the sergeant fired multiple shots at Fialho, killing him.
"We heard what we thought were gunshots and we figured at that point, something had happened," neighbor Tim Bhagwandin said.
The woman and her three children were safely taken out of the home. The mother had minor injuries from the zip ties around her wrists and neck, and the children were not hurt.
The three officers involved were also not hurt and have been placed on paid administrative leave, which is the Port St. Lucie Police Department's standard operating procedure in officer-involved shootings.
"I feel so horrible for the kids," Bhagwandin said. "I've been here for five years. I've seen them grow up."
Police said a second propane tank was found in the garage living space, along with a red gas can filled with liquid and several lanterns filled with liquid.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement has taken over the investigation. The three officers involved in the incident have been placed on paid administrative leave which is standard protocol.
