Man dead after police say he threatened to kill someone, pulled weapon on officers
MIAMI – A man is dead Tuesday night after police say he threatened to kill someone and then pulled a weapon on officers.
Police said he was pointing a rifle at officers when the shooting happened.
The man has been identified as Ernesto Battle, who's in his 70s. His family is shocked. They told CBS4's Ashley Dyer, they never knew he owned a weapon.
"We never saw it. Not even my husband. We've never seen that," says Mayelin Ortega. She and her husband lived with Battle for the last 6 years.
"We've been as a family since his mother died," she says. Ortega says Battle suffered from epilepsy and she would care for him. The two were very close.
"Every time he was in the hospital, I was with him because he gets seizures. So, I was taking care of him," Ortega explains.
Police say Monday night Battle called 911 around 6 p.m. He said he was going to kill someone if police didn't show up immediately. Two officers arrived on scene and saw Ernesto Battle, carrying a rifle.
"He said this in Spanish, and he was very clear that he was going to cause harm, that he was going to kill somebody and if officers and police didn't respond immediately, somebody would be dying," says Interim Director of Miami PD George Perez.
Perez says officer body camera captured Battle, who appeared to be agitated, holding the weapon. Officers asked him to drop the gun several times, but he continued to point it at them. That's when shots were fired, and Battle was killed. Family members say despite the 911 call, Battle never threatened to kill them directly.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating the shooting.
Here is a picture of the rifle authorities said the man was carrying at the time of the shooting:
