Four women were pronounced dead at the scene and three others were hospitalized in critical condition, Hialeah police Detective Eddie Rodriguez said.
The shooting Sunday night began in a parking lot outside the Yoyito Restaurant in Hialeah, where 38-year-old Gerardo Regalado of Coral Gables was seen arguing with Liazan Molina, Rodriguez said.
"It was some sort of domestic dispute," he said.
According to police, Regalado shot and killed Molina, 24, then entered the restaurant and fired at six women inside.
"He went straight for the women," Rodriguez said.
One employee called her brother after the shooting, saying she had been shot and was bleeding.
"Please call 911," Felix Fuentes said his sister, Ivette Coronado, told him. He said the 32-year-old woman was recovering Monday after undergoing surgery for gunshot wounds to her chest and one of her arms.
Regalado fled the scene in a vehicle, police said. Officers found him dead of an apparent suicide a few blocks away, with the same weapon used in the restaurant shootings, Rodriguez said.
It was not immediately clear if all the women shot were employees of the restaurant or customers. The shooting began at 10:15 p.m., shortly after the restaurant had closed.
A spokeswoman for Jackson Memorial Hospital declined to release any information about the three women being treated there because all had requested privacy.
Regular customers gathered in shock outside the restaurant Monday.
"They are good people," said Valentin Perez, 52, who visits the restaurant for his Cuban coffee every morning.
Octavio Guzman, another customer, said the restaurant workers are always generous with those who can't afford a meal.
"You tell anyone here, 'I'm hungry and I don't have money,' and they give it to you," Guzman said.
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Associated Press writers Christine Armario and Jennifer Kay in Miami contributed to this report.
