There seem to be more questions than answers after a man who allegedly threatened a woman with a machete was shot and killed by a Broward Sheriff's deputy Sunday night.
According to the BSO, a woman approached the deputy just before 8 p.m. Sunday to tell him a man had threatened her with a machete.
She pointed toward a white Chevy Silverado parked outside the Marathon Gas Station at Hammondville Road and NW 31st Avenue. The driver of the pickup was then spotted leaving the gas station. He pulled out of the parking lot and drove off without turning on his headlights. The deputy gave pursuit.
What happened after that remains fuzzy but, in the end, the driver of the pickup was dead and the deputy was in the hospital for high blood pressure.
According to a description of the incident by BSO, the deputy attempted to pull over the white Chevy Silverado on the 300 block of NW 31st Avenue.
At that point, officials say the deputy advised that shots had been fired.
The deputy fired back, fatally wounding the man. The white Chevy Silverado sputtered off the road and ran into a palm tree, its bed filled with coconuts.
Detectives on the scene say they found a machete inside the truck. Neighbors who knew the man told the Sun Sentinel that he used it to chop up coconuts, which he would then sell.
The incident is currently under investigation. But Broward Sheriff Scott Israel told reporters that the man in the pickup had, at some point, exited the vehicle. Officials say the deputy had felt threatened and opened fire on the man. The man was pronounced dead at the scene.
A witness told the Sun Sentinel that the driver had began running before any shots were fired.
BSO has not commented on what that witness reported, but homicide detectives are investigating to determine what went down between the deputy and the driver before shots were fired.
The names of the driver and the deputy have not been released. According to BSO, the deputy was taken to Broward Health North for treatment of high-blood pressure.
Officials are asking anyone with information about the shooting to report it to Det. Frank Ilarraza at 954-321-4210 or report anonymous tips to Crime Stoppers of Broward County at 954-493-TIPS (8477) or online at browardcrimestoppers.org.
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