Domestic violence in Broward: Uncle commits suicide after shooting nephews

HOLLYWOOD, Fla. – A family was struggling to understand what prompted the domestic violence that left them with a funeral and two hospitalized in South Florida.

The Wierzba family had already lost a family member on May 17, 2010. The tragedy in Broward County was a day before the 14th anniversary of the murder.

Richard “Richie” Wierzba was 26 when he was killed. He would have been 40 last year. His brother Anthony “Tony” Wierzba had been grieving him for years on Facebook and posted a photo of his tombstone.

“Cherished son, father, husband, brother, uncle.”

According to Deanna Bettineschi, a spokeswoman for the Hollywood Police Department, police officers found three males shot on Thursday near McKinley Street and 53 Avenue. One was dead.

Anthony Wierzba, who had co-owned Anthony’s Towing & Recovery, had committed suicide. He was 53.

Bettineschi reported he “had shot the two victims” before he shot himself at about 4:20 p.m., and fire rescue personnel took the two injured to the Memorial Regional Hospital in Hollywood.

Relatives reported Anthony Wierzba shot his two nephews — Alex Wierzba, 15, and Richard Wierzba, 21, who are brothers.

On Saturday, a relative told Local 10 News Assignment Desk Editor Joyce Grace Ortega that the Wierzba brothers — whose father was murdered and whose mother lost custody of them ― were at different hospitals.

AEF Schools, where Alex is a 9th-grade student, organized a fundraiser to help support Tina Wierzba, the paternal grandmother who has custody of Alex and had custody of Richard.

“Alex was placed on life support without brain activity,” the organizer wrote on the GoFundMe page on Friday. “Richard is in critical condition.”

Detectives asked anyone with information about this or other cases to call Broward County Crime Stoppers at 954-493-8477.