A shooting in Springfield, Virginia left three dead on Saturday night, according to police.
The shooting happened around 11:45 p.m. Saturday in the 8600 block of Cromwell Drive. Investigators believe that one man shot a woman and another man, then shot himself. Police said it appeared to be a self-contained incident, and there was no risk to public safety.
The three victims have been identified as 45-year-old Santos Vladimir Ralda, his wife, 40-year-old Floridalma Diaz and 20-year-old Nathanael Owen Cooper. Investigators believe an argument broke out between the three, and shortly after Ralda shot his wife and Cooper.
Police said that they were attending a private gathering before the shooting happened.
There were about ten people attending the gathering, and police said some of them were children.
Bobby Bancroft lives a few houses down from where the shooting occurred and said he was coming home when he saw rescue vehicles heading toward his street.
“There were police wearing vests and there were guns, it was serious,” Bancroft said. “You think ‘this can’t be possible, this is Kings Park,’ it’s just pretty unbelievable that this is happening here.”
Ed Passarelli also lives down the street and says his wife was awake when gunshots rang out.
“She heard a gunshot and asked if it was inside the house, it sounded loud,” said Passarelli. His family has lived in the neighborhood since 1986 and has never experienced an incident like this.
WTOP’s Melissa Howell contributed to this report
