HIALEAH, Fla. – One person has died following a police-involved shooting in Hialeah, authorities confirmed Friday morning.
According to Officer Scarlett Hernandez, officers responded to a home in the 500 block of West 53rd Street at about 7 a.m. in reference to a “violent dispute.”
She said officers arrived at the home and encountered an armed male.
According to Hernandez, at least one officer discharged their firearm.
”He was screaming, agitated. The officers gave numerous, numerous commands to drop the firearm. He did not. He pointed the gun at police officers and they had no other choice but to take his life,” said Steadman Stahl, president of the South Florida Police Benevolent Association.
The suspect was pronounced dead at the scene.
Sky 10 was above the scene just after 9 a.m. as the suspect’s body was covered with a tarp in the driveway of the home.
“This is an isolated incident and (there is) no danger to the public,” Hernandez said in an email to Local 10 News.
One neighbor told Local 10′s Liane Morejon that he threw himself on the ground during the shooting, in fear the bullets were flying towards him.
“I mean, it’s a shame to hear that in this neighborhood -- that’s why I came out, because this is a quiet neighborhood,” another neighbor, Nidia Sedano, said. “If they’re pointing a gun at you and it’s a danger for them, they have to do it.”
According to Hernandez, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating the police-involved shooting.
No other details were immediately released.