OAKLAND PARK, Fla. – The sound of gunfire rang out near businesses along the 800 block of Prospect Road in Oakland Park on Wednesday.
That’s when the Broward Sheriff’s Office said its deputies were forced to open fire on a man who refused to comply with their commands, and confronted them.
Tim Miller was working next door at a single source business and told Local 10 News he first spotted the suspect early in the morning sitting in his car.
“I got here around seven in the morning he was already here,” Miller said. “He was in the back corner of my parking lot, not bothering anybody. I didn’t pay any attention to him. They came back and got me in my parking lot and said hey police are in the parking lot. Something is going on.”
According to BSO, deputies with the agency’s Crime Suppression Team in the Oakland Park district located a domestic violence suspect at approximately 2:30 p.m. Wednesday. In the cell phone video we obtained, the deputies can be heard shouting commands to a man named Alex.
He has since been identified as 51-year-old Alexander Staal, who police said was wanted for several felony domestic violence charges that were related to a recent incident.
Deputies said Staal was wanted for attempted kidnapping, burglary of a dwelling with battery, aggravated stalking after injunction for protection and domestic battery, all for an incident that occurred in Oakland Park on Sunday.
“It was like a long time,” said Miller. “They were asking, and asking and asking. And then he finally exited his vehicle. Then they asked him to get down to the ground.”
Then in an instant, the video shows the suspect stand up and raise his arm, appearing to be holding something, when several shots are fired.
“Why he just didn’t want to do what they asked him to do, I don’t know,” said Miller. “It’s crazy.”
The deputies who opened fire have been placed on administrative duty pending the outcome of an investigation into the shooting.