Doral police fatally shoot man following home invasion, officials say
DORAL -- Residents of the Amli Apartments in Doral had a rude awakening Saturday morning.
"I thought it was very strange, I saw the police come in at a high rate of speed, but I never imagined it would be an event like this," said resident Reynaldo Perez.
According to Doral Police, they received a call about a home invasion-robbery around 4:20 Saturday morning.
When officers arrived, they found an elderly couple and a middle-aged man inside a second-floor apartment who told them a middle-aged Hispanic man forced himself inside.
"These victims sustained minor injuries in addition to items from the apartment that had been taken," said Doral Police Chief Edwin Lopez.
The victims told police the suspect took off. As officers were investigating, something unexpected happened about an hour later the suspect returned to the scene in his underwear.
"Officers made contact with this individual who after loud verbal commands failed to comply to the officer's request. After the altercation, the officers shot the individual, the individual collapsed and was pronounced dead on the scene," said Chief Lopez.
"It's not comfortable knowing that you can get home and somebody's trying to knock your door down," said resident Randall Pineda.
Pineda lives in the complex and says this isn't the first time something like this has happened in his neighborhood.
"It's been happening for at least 5 months,"
In fact, he says burglars have tried to get into his apartment several times.
"It could be 4 o'clock, it could be 3 o'clock in the afternoon, it could be 4 o'clock in the morning, but they don't care," said Pineda.
Those who live in the area tell us Saturday's incident has put them on edge, and that going forward, they'll have their heads on a swivel.
"We often leave our doors open of our homes, but we have to take more precautions," said Perez.
"You cannot be as relaxed as you used to be," said Pineda.
It's unclear how many officers shot at the suspect, if the suspect was armed or if he knew the victims.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is leading the investigation and have not released the name of the suspect.
