A man who allegedly fatally shot his estranged wife, her father and another man during the abduction of his 4-year-old daughter in Tamarac early Sunday was arrested on multiple murder charges after he and the child were found safe following a statewide Amber Alert, authorities said.
A man who allegedly fatally shot his estranged wife, her father and another man during the abduction of his 4-year-old daughter in Tamarac early Sunday was arrested on multiple murder charges after he and the child were found safe following a statewide Amber Alert, authorities said.
Nathan Gingles, 43, was arrested on three counts of first-degree murder with a firearm, along with violating an injunction relating to not having contact with the child or child's mother, and interfering with custody of a minor, Broward Sheriff's Office officials said Monday.
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WATCH HEREThe tragedy unfolded just after 6 a.m. Sunday when deputies got a call about a shooting in the 9700 block of North Grand Duke Circle.
The deputies searched and found 64-year-old David Ponzer shot to death on the back patio of a home at 5897 North Plum Bay Parkway, BSO officials said.
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While investigating the shooting, investigators learned Seraphine Gingles, the daughter of Nathan Gingles and 34-year-old Mary Gingles, whose father was Ponzer, was taken from the home and was with Nathan Gingles, prompting a statewide Amber Alert to be issued.
Home surveillance video from a neighbor captured what appeared to be the father and little girl walking in the area around 6:13 a.m., minutes after the shooting was reported Sunday morning. But what that footage shows hasn’t been confirmed by investigators.
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About an hour after the Amber Alert was issued, deputies found Nathan Gingles' vehicle outside a Walmart on West McNab Road in North Lauderdale.
Seraphine Gingles was found safe, and Nathan Gingles was taken into custody.
Deputies continued to search for Mary Gingles and found her shot to death inside a home at 5888 North Plum Bay Parkway, across the street from where her father was found shot and killed, BSO said.
Also inside the home was the body of 36-year-old Andrew Ferrin, who had also been shot to death.
Ferrin's family members said Mary Gingles was trying to get help when Ferrin answered the door and was shot.
“It’s unimaginable,” Ferrin's uncle said. “A woman was in the neighborhood knocking on actual doors, and my nephew who was home happened to open the door for her."
Gingles was arrested and initially charged with violating a stay away order involving a domestic violence injunction. On Monday, he was officially booked on the murder charges. He faces additional charges of armed burglary, child abuse, child neglect and kidnapping.
Court records show Mary and Nathan Gingles were going through a divorce.
The divorce petition states that the mother and child were both physically abused by the father. On one occasion, it states that the girl watched Nathan Gingles drag Mary up the stairs while in a chokehold.
It also states that he “sang songs about killing his wife.”
Mary Gingles’ divorce attorney called the shooting a “senseless tragedy.” She said she also represented the mother in two separate domestic violence cases.
One of Mary's friends, Lupita, told NBC6: "It shouldn't get to this point. The system needs to be fixed. That's where my frustration is coming in, because loved ones... look at all the lives that have been affected because of one person's action."
Back in the Tamarac neighborhood, a dive team had been searching a canal and found a firearm that is believed to have been used in the killings, BSO officials said.
