MARGATE, Fla. – Officials are investigating a police-involved shooting that happened Sunday in Margate.
Officers responded to the area of Northwest 1st Street and Rock Island Road.
Sy Karim was working a few doors down from the drama and didn’t know what to think, but he told Local 10 News it was obvious trouble was near.
“All we heard was three, four gunshots and all hell broke loose after that,” Karim said. “Sirens like crazy. Sirens, a lot of police activity. It was crazy.”
It didn’t take long for detectives to shutdown Rock Island Road between Atlantic and Southgate Boulevards to spark a major investigation.
It was near the City of Margate Public Works Department on Northwest 1st Street and Rock Island Road that police opened fire on an individual.
Witnesses said that person was shot and killed.
It’s unclear what led up to the violent encounter with police and what exactly prompted one or more Margate officers to fire their weapon.
“Whatever happened, I figured it was pretty intense,” said Karim. “And poor guy, or poor girl whoever it is, they’re not going home to their family and that’s sad.”
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating, as is the case with all officer-involved shootings.
It’s the second fatal police-involved shooting on this same block in about a month.
Just last month, Margate police shot and killed a man in his own home on Northwest First Street, as they say he was caught violently attacking his wife with their small child nearby.
That incident appears to be unrelated to the most recent Sunday violent encounter with police.