FORT LAUDERDALE, FL - Jul 06, 2020 - According to an online news article from Sun-Sentinel.com, a 43-year-old man from the city of Fort Lauderdale, Florida has been charged with second-degree murder. The defendant is being held at the Broward County Jail and is being held at the jail without bond. The news report states that surveillance video recorded an area close to Fort Lauderdale beach and allegedly shows a man on the ground and the man swaying back and forth due to a gunshot to the leg. The shooter drove away. The video then allegedly shows a different man, the defendant, walking up to the injured man and killing the man by shooting the man in the head. The defendant reportedly killed the man at approximately 11 o'clock at night on June 2, 2020.
According to the police arrest record, which did not provide the victim's full name, the two shootings occurred around 231 Almond Avenue, which is approximately one block to the northwest of State Road A1A and Las Olas Boulevard on Fort Lauderdale beach, Florida. A building close by the fatal shooting had a security camera and captured the incident. The camera footage shows the victim talking to another man in a parking lot. The man talking to the victim reached into the car he was driving and pulled out a handgun. Then the man shot the victim in the victim's left knee. Then the first shooter left the scene in his silver car. The surveillance camera also picked up the sound of the gunshot. The video has not been released to the public. However, a full description of the video's content was written in the police report. Approximately five minutes later, the surveillance camera video allegedly shows the victim on the ground, holding his knee, and rocking back and forth in pain. At that moment, a second shooter walked up to the victim and then shot the victim in the head. That fatal shot was also heard on the video according to the report. This shooter is seen on the video fleeing the scene on foot, wearing flip flops, a green shirt, and dark shorts. The news report also states that the victim was transported by the Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue. The emergency medical crew brought the victim to Broward Health Medical Center, and the man was pronounced dead.
Investigators spoke with possible eyewitnesses in the area. The investigators discovered the second shooter who was wearing identical clothing. The defendant was inside the Half Baked Smoke, Tattoo & Piercing Shop, next to the shooting scene. The alleged shooter explained to law enforcement that he had never left the store. Law enforcement examined a second surveillance camera video captured at Blondie's Bar. This camera was located across from the scene of the murder. It provided video of the double shooting as well but from a separate angle. The video showed a man, who police thought was the defendant, sprinting in the direction of the second camera from the area of the parking lot and then into the tattoo parlor. The suspect was shown the video, and the defendant admitted to the police that he was the man in the video. Then police placed the defendant under arrest.
At the defendant's initial court hearing, the defendant was denied bail and was ordered to remain in the Broward County Jail. Law enforcement is continuing to investigate the case and determine the identification or the first shooter.