MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – Catherine Daniels Brown was overwhelmed with grief Monday.
She had a question for police: "Why did you all kill my child?"
While the Miami Gardens Police Department works on getting her an answer, the veteran police officer who shot her 25-year-old son dead was on administrative injury leave, police said.
The department has yet to identify the police officer.
The distraught grandmother said she called police for help around 5 a.m. Sunday. She was at her home at 19157 NW Third Ave. Her son was near Northwest 192nd Street and Second Avenue. She told police he had a "mental problem" and was in an aggressive mood.
Her son, Lavall Hall, had been arrested more than four times and had a history of violence and drug use. In 2013, he was arrested for trespassing. In 2012, he was arrested for burglary. He was arrested in 2007 for battery and in 2009 for cocaine and marijuana possession.
Officers showed up to find her son was armed with an object, police said.
He was armed with "a red broom with straws. (It was an) old red broom," said a witness, who asked Local 10 News to identify her as Regina. "What (is) he going to do with that? With a whole bunch of cop with guns?"
She said she was inside her house when she heard officers shouting.
"Get on the ground! Get on the ground!"
MIAMI GARDENS STATEMENT
"We offer our condolences to the family of Lavall Hall. The loss of any life is tragic and understandably difficult ... This investigation will be transparent and thorough. Our thoughts and prayers are with all involved."
Police said Hall did not comply with officers' verbal instructions and that he used "the object to strike the officers," police said. After the officer shot Hall, he was handcuffed on the ground, witnesses said.
Three police officers were injured, including the one who fired his weapon. Miami Gardens Police Chief Stephen Johnson said the officer who killed Hall was transported to Memorial Regional Hospital.
Hall's cousin Walter Pinkies, who was not present during the incident, said police should have just tried to calm him down instead of using a Taser and a gun. Hall is survived by his 9-year-old daughter, Riah Hall.
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Local 10 News reporter Hatzel Vela contributed to this story.