DANIA BEACH, Fla. – A Broward Sheriff’s Office deputy fired at a suspect Wednesday morning at a motel in Dania Beach after he was attacked, authorities said.
According to authorities, the incident occurred at the Rodeway Inn & Suites off State Road 84, just to the west of Interstate 95.
BSO spokesman Carey Codd said deputies responded to the business around 5:45 a.m. after receiving a call about a disturbance.
He said the suspect attacked a responding deputy, who then fired at the suspect, causing him to retreat and barricade himself inside a room.
“BSO’s SWAT team and K-9 units responded, made entry into the room and safely apprehended the individual,” Codd said in a news release. “It does not appear the adult male was struck by the deputy’s gunfire.”
A Local 10 News crew was outside the motel later in the morning as dozens of deputies surrounded the front parking lot of the business.
An armored SWAT vehicle was parked outside the motel.
James Johnson, who was a guest at the motel, told Local 10 News reporter Trent Kelly that he heard a gunshot around 7:30 a.m.
“We seen SWATs -- like four or five of them -- they were running or whatever,” he said. “I heard something like a pop, but I really didn’t, you know, know really what it was or whatever. So then later on, like my friends and family, everybody been calling me like, ‘What’s going on? What’s going on?’”
Codd confirmed that the deputy who was attacked was transported to a nearby hospital for treatment. The extent of the deputy’s injuries has not been released.
BSO’s Homicide and Internal Affairs units are investigating the circumstances surrounding the incident.