By ANAHAD O’CONNOR
An armed man holding a bouquet of flowers walked into a Queens pharmacy on Thursday and shot and killed his ex-wife — who had an order of protection against him — and then went home and killed himself, the authorities said.
They said that the shooter, Alex Figueroa, 38, opened fire about 3:40 p.m. inside Crescent Chemists, a small pharmacy in a row of stores on 34th Avenue near 24th Street in Long Island City.
They said that Mr. Figueroa walked in carrying the flowers and started arguing with his ex-wife, Guimmia Villia, 32, a mother of two, before pulling out a gun and shooting her in the head in front of co-workers. He then fled.
Ms. Villia died a short time later at Mount Sinai Hospital Queens, the police said.
Officers searching for Mr. Figueroa went to his home, at 14-01 26th Avenue in Long Island City, where they found him dead, also shot in the head.
Records indicate that Ms. Villia and her ex-husband had a troubled history together. In December 2009, Mr. Figueroa was charged in a domestic violence case against her, but it was dismissed this year and the file sealed, the authorities said. Ms. Villia had a limited order of protection against Mr. Figueroa that expired on Jan. 25.
She also had a full order of protection against him, stemming from a domestic violence case in Nassau County, that was set to expire in April, a law enforcement official said. The details of that case were unclear Thursday night, the official said.
In New York criminal law, a full order of protection generally requires the defendant to stay away from the person and not try to communicate.
A compilation of daily news articles from around the United States about deaths (including both people and animals) that appear to occur in the context of a past or present intimate relationship, focusing on 2009-present. (NOTE: this blog is limited to incidents that appear in the media and are captured by our search terms. We recognize this is not an exhaustive portrayal of all deaths resulting from intimate violence.) When is society going to realize intimate violence makes victims of us all?
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