HOLLYWOOD, FLA. (WSVN) - A police standoff in Hollywood ended with a fatal shooting and a house being set ablaze.
According to Hollywood Police, officers responded to a person making threats inside a home early Wednesday, near the 6200 block between Taft and Sheridan streets. Police said they heard gunshots when they first arrived.
Police were notified to the incident after a local television station received a call. That station then called police.
“They had received a call from a subject who indicated that something big was going to happen in his neighborhood,” said Hollywood Police spokesperson Miranda Grossman.
A perimeter was immediately set up, and SWAT was called to the scene.
“Officers heard multiple gunshots coming from that location,” Grossman said.
Police then began evacuating surrounding areas.
“My mother-in-law woke up at 4:30 in the morning, and she heard a couple of gunshots, so she says, ‘Aye, something is going on,'” said a resident of the area, “and at 5:30 in the morning, the cops knocked on my door. The SWAT Team, they came in and [told] everybody, ‘You all got five minutes to leave the house immediately.”
Neighbors in the community were shocked to find out who was behind the shooting.
“He just didn’t seem like the kind of person to do what he did, but you never know,” said neighbor Renee Souz. “It could happen to anybody,”
Then, just before 10 a.m., police officers said the man lit a paper bag on fire and used it to set the entire home on fire.
Fire rescue who were already on scene put out the fire quickly.
The man then ran outside shooting his gun, and officers said, they were forced to open fire, killing him.
“This individual endangered the lives of others, of the residents surrounding this area, and the police department is thankful that no other lives have been lost,” Grossman said.
Neighbors in the area told 7News that the house has been a subject of several 911 calls in the past, including one just a couple of weeks ago.
As of 10:30 p.m., neighbors were still trying to get home and police said they can meet at 61st Terrace and Sheridan Street to be escorted in.
Police continue to investigate.
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