FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. (WSVN) - A fugitive on the run from authorities was fatally shot by several law enforcement agencies outside of a mosque near Fort Lauderdale.
7Skyforce HD flew over the scene where several agencies could be seen in the parking lot of the Masjid Al Iman mosque in the area of Northwest 25th Avenue and Franklin Drive, early Friday afternoon.
Broward Sheriff’s Office deputies and Fort Lauderdale Police and federal agents responded to the scene just after 11:30 a.m., Friday, to help U.S. Marshals serve a warrant.
“The U.S. Marshals Florida Regional Task Force was involved in zeroing on an attempted murder subject,” said U.S. Marshal Gadyaces Serralta.
Officials said the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force spotted a black SUV that was believed to belong to an attempted murder suspect from Osceola County, parked near the mosque.
The Osceola County Sheriff’s Office identified the suspect as 58-year-old Hamid Ould-Rouis.
Officials said the suspect went to a home in Kissimmee and battered a man, early Thursday morning. He then stabbed a woman with a knife.
Deputies responded to the scene at around 3:30 a.m. and found the victims suffering from injuries.
Paramedics transported them to a local hospital. The woman was last listed in critical condition, and the man’s condition was unknown.
Investigators said Ould-Rouis drove to the Fort Lauderdale area, and it was outside of the mosque where police and U.S. Marshals confronted him.
When Marshals approached the suspect, officials said, the suspect pulled out a firearm, and several Marshals opened fire.
Witness Jay Cormier said he heard gunfire.
“I heard a couple, they were going like, ‘Prrra-pop, pop, pop,'” he said. “They were going on, and I don’t know if it was a person or nothing. I didn’t see nobody like that, but I just came out when I started hearing the gunshots.”
Serralta said Ould-Rouis was armed.
“He exited the vehicle brandishing a firearm. The task force members opened fire, and the subject, unfortunately, is deceased,” he said.
7Skyforce HD captured a handgun on the ground next to the bullet-riddled SUV.
The man was pronounced dead on the scene.
The mosque where the shooting took place remained closed on Friday.
“We do not believe that the mosque was involved in any way, nor the subject with the mosque,” said Serralta, “but, obviously, those are things that we need to look into, and it’s going to take some time, folks.”
A distraught woman who came to the scene identified herself as Ould-Rouis’ sister.
“That’s my brother. I got a call,” said the woman, who said her name was Tamitra.
She said her mother called her to alert her about the shooting, so she rushed to the scene. However, authorities did not allow her to enter the area.
“She said my brother had just got shot, so I just came this way,” she said as she fought back tears. “I’m just trying to see what’s going on, I want to know if he’s OK.”
It remains unclear what connection, if any, Ould-Rouis had with South Florida, what his crime background is and why he chose this specific mosque.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement continues to investigate.
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