A gunman opened fire at an Equinox gym in Coral Gables, Florida, on Saturday, killing two managers before turning the gun on himself. Abeku Wilson, 33, of Miami had been fired from his job as a fitness trainer “due to workplace violence and was escorted off the premises,” the Miami-Dade Police Department said on Sunday. Shortly after he was fired, Wilson returned to the gym with a handgun and opened fire before shooting himself to death. The managers seem to have been deliberately targeted.
Equinox confirmed Sunday that the two victims worked at the gym, one, Janine Ackerman, was the general manager and the other, Marios Hortis, was the fitness manger. “Our love, prayers and condolences are with both families during this terrible time. The collective Equinox community will always keep Janine and Marios in our hearts,” the company said in a statement.
Those who knew the meticulously built Wilson said he was a very popular trainer at the high-end gym. One woman tells the Miami Herald she trained with Wilson earlier that day and didn’t notice anything wrong. “He did not seem unusual,” she said. “Not distracted. I didn’t notice anything amiss.” But another person who saw Wilson on Saturday morning said Wilson seemed off. He wasn’t his usual clean-shaven self and appeared to be slurring his words, the Equinox customer said. Wilson was an avid social media user and kept an active Instagram account in which he often posted workout photos as well as pictures from bodybuilding competitions.
This was the second fatal workplace shooting in the Miami area this month alone. On April 3, a Chili’s employee was killed following a dispute with a co-worker.
