NORTHWEST MIAMI-DADE, FLA. (WSVN) - New video shows a South Florida man holding a gun outside of his home only moments before the situation would take a deadly turn with police.
Police said moments later, he raised A gun at an officer.
Police said 73-year-old Ernesto Battle did not comply and was shot and killed by an officer. It all started with an alarming call to 911 around 6:15 Monday evening from a man at a home in the area of Northwest 17th Avenue and 113th Terrace in Northwest Miami-Dade.
“It is hard,” said Mayelin Ortega.
Battle’s relatives were home when it happened.
“I was outside, and I heard police say, ‘Put the gun down’ three times,” said Ortega.
“He was going to cause harm, that he was in fact going to kill somebody and if the police did not respond immediately, somebody would be dying,” said Interim Miami-Dade Police Director George A. Perez.
Surveillance video from a neighbor appears to show Battle with the weapon, standing by the gate of his home before police arrived. Police haven’t released their video from body cameras yet but say it shows what happened when a uniformed officer tried to get Battle to drop the gun.
“It is clearly depicted that the individual is armed with what appears to be a rifle style weapon,” said Perez. “During the conversation of the officer attempting to deescalate and giving him direction, you can see the individual, you can see clearly that the individual begins to raise that firearm in the direction of the officer and shots were fired.”
“Technically, he acted like he wanted to die,” said Ortega.
Ortega said Battle suffered from depression but never threatened to hurt anyone inside their home.
“He got depressed since his mother died. He didn’t want to go out. He didn’t want to go nowhere,” said Ortega. “He never made no threat. He didn’t threaten anybody in the house.”
As with all police-involved shootings, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement has taken over this investigation.
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