DEERFIELD BEACH, FLA. (WSVN) - Authorities are investigating what they described as a deputy-involved shooting in Deerfield Beach that left a woman dead and a deputy injured.
Broward Sheriff’s Office and Broward Sheriff Fire Rescue units responded to the scene of the incident near the 1900 block of Northeast Second Street in Deerfield Beach, near A1A, at around 9:30 p.m. on Wednesday.
7News cameras captured a large number of deputies and detectives at the scene.
Investigators said they received a call about a woman who was “brandishing a firearm” in a parking lot in this highly populated area located near the beach.
Three responding deputies made contact with the woman in front of a Fat Tuesday restaurant. The deputies were told she had a gun inside one of the restaurants in the area and was asked to leave.
At some point, officials said, deputies engaged with the woman, and a threat was presented to the deputies.
“Multiple shots were fired. The suspect is deceased. At this time, what I will tell you is that it doesn’t require an individual to fire at us in order for us to engage them,” said Broward County Sheriff Gregory Tony. “Weapons presentation, pointing at my deputies, or posing a threat to this community is enough for my deputies to engage these threats and put them down. Not only within policies, protocols and procedures, or our use of force continual, but also my expectations. We cannot afford to lose people out here in the public.”
Witnesses described the ensuing chaos.
“They basically- they were ducking down. Everybody was running for cover,” Bobby Prendergase said. “As far as – BSO was on point, they were sprinting over the bridge, they were coming over.”
“I was sitting in my living room, and I heard gunshot fired,” said a woman.
Another man, Torri Hobbs, who’s visiting South Florida from Dallas, recounted the whole ordeal.
“All of a sudden, I heard about seven or eight shots, and I had no idea what was going on,” said Hobbs. “I am an Iraqi veteran, and so, my first thing I did was duck, take a little cover, and just kind of wait and see. All of a sudden, I saw police officers coming from both angles, coming down Second Street and down this street right here. I mean they were coming, and they were coming fast.”
One man said officers wouldn’t allow to remove his car because it was apart of the crime scene.
“And I came to see if I can get my car, and the officer said that my car is a part of a crime scene, and I have to come back tomorrow morning to get it,” he said. “I was kind of shocked because I never seen something like this happen on Deerfield.”
Investigators said the woman died at the scene.
Detectives said one deputy was hurt but is doing well. It’s unclear whether the deputy was shot or was hurt by something else like shrapnel. No other injuries were reported.
It is also too early to determine whether or not deputies exchanged gunfire with the victim, authorities said.
As of Thursday afternoon, detectives have not provided further details about the shooting, as they continue to investigate.
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