Deerfield Resident Pistol Whipped By Shooting Suspect
DEERFIELD BEACH (CBSMiami) – The Broward Sheriff's Office is investigating an early morning shooting in Deerfield Beach that left one person hospitalized and a homeowner pistol-whipped after taking the law into his own hands but it's still not known if the two crimes are connected.
According to BSO, deputies responded to a shooting at 166 SW 3rd Street shortly after 5:00 a.m.
The suspect took off, but minutes later someone broke into a home just down the street 179 SW 3rd Street, and told the people inside to hide him.
"He said 'hide me, help me,'" explained Annie Morris, the homeowner's aunt. "He (the homeowner) said 'no' and called the police but he pulled out a gun and tried to shoot him and they began to fight."
The homeowner was pistol-whipped and ended up with a bandage around his head and blood stains on his tank top but they helped police catch the man.
"When deputies arrived they found the homeowner and another woman in the front yard with a suspect," explained BSO's Dani Moschella. "They were sitting on top of him and holding him at knifepoint."
Deputies arrested the suspect whose mother showed up at the home a short time later.
"At first they had him on the ground. They put him in the police car and he was hitting his head on the window," said the suspect's mother Regina Lewis.
Deputies want to know if the suspect was involved in the shooting just down the street.
"Because it was unsafe not knowing, BSO SWAT was called in. They entered and found a shooting victim," said Moschella.
The unidentified shooting victim was rushed to Broward Health North in serious condition.
Morris said her nephew didn't recognize the intruder but later learned that the shooting had occurred at his cousin's home a block away.
Investigators urge anyone with information about either incident to call Broward Crime Stoppers at 954-493-8477.
