WASHINGTON - A gunman killed six people before he was shot dead by the police in an apartment building in Miami, Florida, police said on Saturday.

Police hold a news conference outside an apartment building after a shooting incident which began Friday evening left seven people dead in Hialeah, Florida, July 27, 2013. A tenant went on a shooting rampage at a Florida apartment building, killing six people before a SWAT team killed him and rescued two neighbors he was holding hostage on Saturday, police said. The hostages were unharmed, police in the Miami suburb of Hialeah said. [Photo/Agencies]

Pedro Vargas, 42, set his home on the fourth floor on fire at 6:30 pm local time (2230 GMT) Friday in Hialeah, a suburb northwest of downtown Miami, local police spokesman Carl Zogby said.

The suspect, who lived with his mother in the five-story building, gunned down a 79-year-old building manager and his 69-year-old wife at the door of his apartment when they arrived to check it out after seeing the smoke, said the spokesman. Vargas then fired gunshots into the street from his apartment's window, killing a 33-year-old man, who was parking his car.

Vargas, who reportedly moved into the building recently, also fired randomly from inside the building after killing a couple in their 50s and their teenage daughter at a third-floor apartment.

In a standoff that lasted hours, Vargas forced his way into a fifth-story unit and held two people captive before he was killed in an exchange of fire with the police.

The motives behind the crime remained unknown as an investigation was underway.