Gunman’s friends: Unspoken tension before Port Charlotte murder-suicide

PUNTA GORDA, Fla. – A tense battle between the parents of an 11-year-old child pushed the suspect in a local murder-suicide over the edge, close friends said.

Hugh Gordon was the estranged husband of North Port High School teacher Antoinette “Ann” Gordon. He is accused of killing his wife then turning the gun onto himself as their son watched on April 27 in a Port Charlotte parking lot.

But Hugh Gordon’s close friends say the man who pulled the trigger that Friday evening was not the man they knew and love.

“An angel. An angel — that’s the Hugh Gordon I know. An angel and I don’t care what anyone says,” a woman named Grace said.

Grace and a man named Tyrone said the custody of the Gordon’s son and divorce settlements were the source of unspoken tension between the separated couple.

“He just got overwhelmed, you know, in the end because it went on, and on, and on. I never saw him raise his voice — act in any way. He would cry sometimes,” Grace said.

She and Tyrone were on a cruise when the shooting happened. They said they wish they had been around to speak with Hugh Gordon and now grieve the loss of their friend.

“Nobody can replace him,” they said.

The couple’s son is safe and in the custody of family members.