HOMESTEAD, Fla. – The Homestead Police Department identified the man who died on Saturday during a police-involved shooting as Leandro Chong. He was 34.
Police officers responded to shots fired.
Chong’s neighbor said it was 3 a.m. when there were “a lot of shots” fired inside the Villas of Sunrise townhouse complex off Northeast Fifth Street near Southwest 162 Avenue.
Chong’s neighbor also reported hearing “screams” and loud talking at the unit on Sunrise Boulevard where police officers made contact with Chong.
Video from a nearby surveillance camera captured at least three loud bangs around 2:30 a.m. Police officers arrived soon after. Once there, investigators say Chong was seen standing in the front doorway, with his hands inside a fanny pack.
They say Chong was also throwing objects from inside the home at officers, leading to a standoff with the Miami-Dade SWAT team.
“I saw the big trucks,” a neighbor who asked not to be identified said. “I saw them all suited up, and shields.”
At some point, detectives say the situation escalated causing officers to open fire, killing Chong, who was known to police after they responded to a disturbance call at the same address one day earlier.
On Sunday, there was blood spatter near the front door, along with a nearby truck filled with bullet casings. The tense stand-off rattled neighbors.
“I was very nervous,” the neighbor said. “I couldn’t sleep last night at all.”
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