WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — On Monday afternoon, a police cop shot someone in West Palm Beach.
The shooting happened at the Paradise Cove Condominiums at 1246 Pointe Drive, according to the West Palm Beach Police Department (WPBPD).
The call came in at about 3:22 p.m., and several units were sent to the building because someone was breaking in. The police were told that the suspect had a gun. When the cop got to the scene, he had no choice but to shoot.
“There was a man with a gun waiting for them. This person had a gun, and he was walking toward the police. Officers told the man over and over again to put down the gun.
He did not. In fact, he moved toward the police in a hostile way. “At that point, the officers had no choice but to shoot at the suspect,” said Mike Jachles, a spokesman for West Palm Beach Police.
The department says that three cops came and that several shots were fired.
Jachles said, “But at this point, we don’t think all three officers fired their guns.”
After hitting the suspect, police say they tried CPR and other ways to save his life. But West Palm Beach Fire Department doctors came to the scene and said the suspect was dead.
The WPBPD says that none of the cops were hurt.
John McKinzie Jr., who is 27 years old, was named as the suspect. His father, John McKinzie Sr., confirmed this to CBS12’s Katie Bente.
McKinzie Sr. said, “She called us and told us that he had been shot.”
“I try my best to look after him. I love him. I love him. Tamara DeOliveira, who was with the suspect, said, “I love him.”
The cops were called because a neighbor saw McKinzie Jr. trying to get into the apartment of his girlfriend.
The suspect’s father said that his son had diabetes and that when his blood sugar was low, he wasn’t himself very often.
“I know what he does when his blood sugar is low. He gets very cocky, and you don’t know where you stand with him. McKinzie Sr. said, “He doesn’t know his name or anything else about him.”
At the scene, it looked like a gun with its case still on it was lying on the ground. But we don’t know what happened yet because no camera footage has been made public.
But McKinzie Sr. told CBS12 that he has seen the tape of the event from the ring doorbell.
“I know that he gets very, very, very angry. “But from what I could see, the officer was not in any danger,” McKinzie Sr. said.
The officer-involved killing is being looked into by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE). Both the West Palm Beach Police Department and the State Attorney’s Office will do their own probes.
