FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. (WSVN) - A man suspected of trying to start a fire has died following a confrontation with police outside a warehouse in Fort Lauderdale.
Fort Lauderdale Police units responded to the 5300 block of Northwest 33rd Avenue after receiving a call reporting a fire, at around 6:30 a.m. on Thursday.
Responding officers arrived to find a small rubbish fire.
Fort Lauderdale Police Chief Bill Schultz said officers also spotted the subject.
“And they also encountered a suspect who was holding incendiary devices,” he said.
At some point during the exchange, officers said they opened fire, killing the subject after he refused to drop the device.
“The suspect was given verbal commands to drop and did not comply. As a result, there was an officer-involved shooting,” said Schultz.
While the police chief would not specify what kind of incendiary device the suspect was holding, 7News cameras captured a wine bottle with a cloth stuff inside, similar to a Molotov cocktail.
Police said the man was not armed with a weapon otherwise.
7Skyforce hovered above the scene as officers surrounded the warehouse and cordoned off the area to being their investigation.
A shopping cart along with some burned debris were seen on the ground. Right next to the cart was the subject’s body.
The small rubbish fire was put out, and it appears no nearby structures suffered any damage.
People who work nearby said homeless people frequent the area, though officers would not confirm this.
“There’s just quite a few around here. You see them all the time, walking around, they do weird things at night. There’s a guy in a tent,” said Seann Rowland. “We just tell them to move on. Sometimes they do, sometimes they yell at us, sometimes they don’t.”
Hours before the rubbish fire broke out, there was another fire just a block away that did damage a building.
Police are now investigating whether or not the two fires are connected.
“The circumstances of that fire is similar to the fire that followed. Our investigation into these arsons and the subsequent officer-involved shooting remains ongoing, and we will investigate all possibilities, including the connection to the fire that preceded this fire,” said Schultz.
As of Thursday afternoont, the subject’s identity remains unknown.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating, per protocol whenever there’s an officer-involved shooting.
At this time, two officers have been placed on paid administrative leave.
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