NORTH MIAMI BEACH, Fla. – North Miami Beach police shot and killed a suspect Thursday afternoon following a hostage negotiation, officials said.
The shooting happened sometime before 2 p.m. at an office building at 16855 NE 2nd Ave., less than a mile east of the Golden Glades interchange.
Family members identified the suspect as 38-year-old Edridge Alexis.
Police said they attempted to use a taser on the suspect but that seemed to set him off even more, and he ran into a nearby building and held a machete to a woman’s neck.
According to police, officers responded after receiving a 9-1-1 call about a man holding a large knife in the street near Alexis’ home.
“Once they encountered that subject, they gave him commands that he refused to obey. My officers then tased that subject, the subject fled into the building, the office building behind me,” said North Miami Beach Police Chief Harvette Smith.
11 p.m. report:
Police say they fired three shots that killed Alexis after he grabbed that woman inside the medical building near Northeast 2nd Avenue and 168th Street.
Family members were distraught after the shooting.
“They can’t tell me, like, ‘hey, he got a machete, he trying to cut somebody’s throat,’ nah he ain’t like that,” said Wilkenson Alexis, the suspect’s brother.
Even though they admit he had mental problems, Alexis’ family is still struggling to believe what happened.
“He had some mental issues,” said Wilkenson Alexis.
“For him to go inside the building and put the machete on someone’s neck, they have to give me the proof for that. He’s not like that,” added another of Alexis’ relatives.
Police said they shot the suspect in order to save the woman’s life.
The woman who police said Alexis grabbed is okay, and no police officers were injured.
Records show Alexis has had numerous run-ins with the law in Miami-Dade and recently spent 13 months behind bars.