NEAR FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla (WSVN) — A man has died after a deputy-involved shooting that led to an hours-long closure of a major intersection near Fort Lauderdale.
A surveillance camera captured the violent encounter near West Broward Boulevard and Northwest 27th Avenue just before noon, Thursday.
Speaking with reporters hours later, Broward Sheriff Gregory Tony said the incident began as a drug bust.
“Our investigators were in the process of what we refer to as a ‘buy-bust’ or a drug deal exchange,” he said. “The individual was involved. He decided to flee.”
Tony said the suspect began driving out of control, leading to a crash at BSO headquarters.
“He crashed into multiple vehicles, driving recklessly through the parking lot, trying to avoid apprehension,” he said.
A witness said the suspect drove through a parking lot, went over some bushes, jumped a sidewalk and then a median before he crashed.
“The person just ran out the car. If I didn’t get out of the car, like, minutes before, that car would’ve hit me,” said the witness. “I seen the car slam through here, and went across the street and crashed.”
Investigators said the suspect tried to make a run for it on foot.
“He decided to take off on foot, running through this community, armed with a firearm. One of our officers was able to pinpoint him and give him an opportunity to surrender,” said Tony. “Instead, he drew out a firearm, at which time our deputies fired on this individual.”
Witness Jazmin Wilson described the tense confrontation between the suspect and the deputies. She did not see the man reach out for a firearm.
“They told him to put his hands up. He put his hands up, surrendered, and all of a sudden, I just hear six, seven rounds of shots,” she said. “Before I turned around, I saw him laying on the ground.”
Broward Sheriff Fire Rescue officials said the suspect was shot in the chest and was transported to Broward Health Medical Center as a trauma patient.
BSO later confirmed the man died at the hospital.
Other witnesses shared their accounts of the foot chase and shooting.
“[The deputies] chased him there, and they shot him there, and police that came out of that cop car shot the guy and laid him on the floor,” said a man who asked not to show his face on camera.
“I heard like a ‘pap, pap’ after, like, while I was walking, and then I saw everybody else. That was it,” said another man.
7SkyForce captured several law enforcement vehicles on the scene.
The suspect’s family identified him as 23-year-old Zy’shonne Johnson. They believe the shooting was unjust.
“We know that he is a known gang associate. We know that he had violent offenses. We know that he’s participated in other violent encounters throughout this community during his time here,” said Tony, “so this was not someone who was your ideal citizen.”
Tony indicated the suspect was not giving up.
“We are shocked that he didn’t kill someone out here in the vehicle. We’re also shocked that, just running down the street and being armed, that he didn’t create a great shootout where innocent civilians would have been harmed.”
The suspect’s family, visibly distraught, showed up to the scene and spoke with detectives. They declined to comment further.
“We’ll talk later, just let us grieve,” said a family member.
Back at the crime scene, 7News cameras captured a gun on the ground.
Deputies shut down the intersection at Broward Boulevard and Northwest 27th Avenue while they investigated. It reopened to traffic just before 4 p.m.
Florida Department of Law Enforcement officials later responded to the scene to take over the investigation. The identity of the deputy who shot Zy’shonne remains unknown.
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