PEMBROKE PINES, Fla. – Business owners at a Pembroke Pines shopping center returned one day after Broward Sheriff's Office deputies fatally shot a robbery suspect there Thursday afternoon.
On Friday, the windows were boarded up at the Allstate Insurance office at 1462 South Palm Avenue.
Hafida Wilmot said seven armed officers walked into her martial arts studio just before 3 p.m. Thursday and ordered her and her students to the back of the room.
"They just stormed in with no questions. They pushed me to the side," she said. "They made us all stand right here."
Outside, undercover deputies waited for an armed robbery suspect to show up at the insurance office. According to Broward Sheriff Scott Israel, an informant tipped off BSO several days before that a robbery would happen there Thursday.
About 3 p.m., the robbery suspect came into the office. Israel said he was armed, but didn't say if the suspect fired a shot.
Wilmot and her students listened to the ordeal unfold from her studio.
"Then, we hear the walkie talkie, 'The suspect is approaching. Everybody stay back. Stay back,' and then suddenly they said, 'Okay, he's coming in,'" she said.
"Then, a couple of minutes later, we heard bangs on the wall and then like pops," said Wilmot's son Riyah.
"And then we hear, 'The suspect is down,'" said Hafida Wilmot.
According to the Broward Sheriff's Office, the robbery suspect ignored orders before he was shot. Three deputies were placed on administrative assignment following the shooting.
Deputies haven't identified the suspect yet, but said he was 23-years-old, from Miramar, and had a lengthy criminal record.
"I would figure that probably, you know, another store, but not Allstate," said Wilmot. "Allstate doesn't have no money."