HIALEAH, Fla. – A South Florida family is demanding answers after a man was fatally shot over the weekend by Hialeah police.
"Why is there a need to shoot someone 50 times? Why?" Lester Machado's girlfriend, Yolaisy Perez, said.
Authorities said Machado, 24, was fatally shot by Hialeah police officers early Sunday after a police chase.
Police said the incident began after shots were fired at 4 a.m. Sunday outside the Heads or Tails Gentlemen's Lounge at 766 E. 25th St.
Officers ended up following Machado, who was in a white Honda, along Northwest 79th Street, police said. The chase came to an end at Northwest 35th Avenue.
Authorities said at least one officer opened fire during the incident.
The side of Machado's white car was hit with dozens of bullets after the brief pursuit ended with the rear-end of the vehicle smashed in.
At least one other Hialeah police cruiser sustained front-end damage and the windshield of another cruiser was riddled with bullets.
Police did not say who shot at the police cruiser.
Machado's family said he suffered from Addison's disease, and the medication he was on often made him paranoid.
"He gets panic attacks -- everything gets him scared, so he was probably scared, and he just didn't stop," Perez said.
"I'm really frustrated because he wasn't a bad guy," Machado's cousin, Lesley Gonzalez, said through tears. "He was really friendly with everybody. As you can see, he was a really smart kid."
Police have not yet identified the officers involved in the shooting.