Lauderhill man runs for his life, hides from gunman in neighbor’s laundry room

Matthew Flash faces attempted murder charges in violent shooting of unarmed man

Matthew Flash (WPLG)

LAUDERHILL, Fla. – A Lauderhill man hid from a gunman in a neighbor’s laundry room with a bullet wound to the face until police officers arrived.

Last Sunday, Lauderhill police officers responded to a shooting call just before 6 p.m. and found the victim with a gunshot wound to the lower chin "bleeding profusely," investigators said. The victim was rushed to Broward Health Medical Center.

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According to witnesses, Matthew Flash, 28, was waiting for a ride outside a Lauderhill residence when the victim arrived and entered the home. Flash fired his 9 millimeter handgun in the direction of the victim after he entered the residence, hitting him.

Upon being struck, the victim fled the scene to neighbor’s house in what officers described as "well-founded fear for his life." The victim left a trail of blood across the neighbor’s lawn, entryway and west side of the residence, investigators said.

Flash followed with his gun in hand and at one point took aim and fired at the victim unsuccessfully from behind while the victim attempted to enter the neighbor's garage, investigators said. Eventually the victim was able enter the neighbor’s garage and hunker down in a laundry room until police officers arrived.

Flash was eventually taken into custody and Lauderhill Fire Rescue took the victim to the hospital.

Officers were able to review a copy of video surveillance that captured the incident, in addition to several sworn statements from neighbors, to piece together the shooting, officers said.

Officers returned to the hospital just before midnight to find the victim in stable condition with his jaw wired shut and unable to provide a sworn statement at the time, investigators said.

According to officers, they were able to confirm that the victim would like to press charges against Flash, and also learned that on several occasions Flash took aim at and tried to fire toward the victim's head, however, the gun malfunctioned.

The firearm was found at the scene of the incident with blood on it.