Miami murder suicide: US Coast Guardsman John Presnar murders wife Gretchen Presnar, son as daughter fights for her life

A shocking murder suicide in Miami left a seven-year-old boy and his mother are dead with a young girl is fighting for her life. John Stanley Presnar, an active member of the U.S. Coast Guard, shot an killed his wife, Gretchen Presnar, his son and daughter, not fatally killing the girl, before killing himself.

John Presnar, 44, was fighting with his wife early Sunday and somehow the incident escalated into the shooting as Gretchen told her mother to run out of the SW 242 Lane home and call for help.

Miami-Dade Police responded to find Gretchen, 39, and the boy dead from gunshot wounds. The unidentified eight-year-old girl survived the gunshot wound, but is in critical condition at Nicklaus Children’s Hospital.

“When the subject started shooting, his wife told her mother to run out of the house and call for help,” police said in an email. “Once uniformed officers arrived, they entered the home and discovered the wife and their 7-year-old son deceased from apparent gunfire. The subject was found deceased from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.”

Presnar was an active member of the U.S. Coast Guard, according to a statement from the Coast Guard He had served since 2001 and worked out of the Coast Guard Base Miami Beach as an Electronics Technician First Class.

“The Coast Guard is deeply saddened by this tragedy and our hearts go out to the family members of those who were killed,” wrote Lt. Kelly in a statement. “We continue to pray for and offer the full support of the Coast Guard to the young child fighting for her life.”

The Miami-Dade Police Department is investigating the incident.

John Presnar