Man grazed by bullet after confronting car burglars in Lauderhill

LAUDERHILL, Fla. – Lauderhill police blocked off the entrance to an apartment complex Tuesday morning after receiving reports about a shooting.

The shooting was reported shortly after 5 a.m. in the 4800 block of Northwest 22nd Street.

The victim’s girlfriend told Local 10 News that she and her boyfriend were sleeping when they heard two people trying to break into a pickup truck.

“When I peeped through my blinds, I realized that I see one guy with (a) ski mask running over (to) my neighbor’s house, and one with a drill, and there was a black car parked, waiting,” she said.

According to Lauderhill police Maj. Mike Santiago, two males were trying to break into a vehicle at the apartment complex when the owner exited his home and fired a warning shot in the air.

He said the car burglars then began firing their own gun at the owner, grazing him.

“He just came out and did a warning shot, and then they just started -- it was really horrible,” the victim’s girlfriend said.

Officers arrived at the scene and found the victim suffering from a non-life-threatening injury.

He was transported to Broward Health Medical Center for treatment, but has since been released from the hospital.

Santiago said the suspects fled the scene in an unknown direction.

A description of the suspects was not immediately released.

Anyone with further information about the shooting is asked to call the Lauderhill Police Department or Broward Crime Stoppers at 954-493-8477.


About the Authors:

Amanda Batchelor is the Digital Executive Producer for Local10.com.

Annaliese Garcia joined Local 10 News in January 2020. Born and raised in Miami, she graduated from the University of Miami, where she studied broadcast journalism. She began her career at Univision. Before arriving at Local 10, she was with NBC2 (WBBH-TV) covering Southwest Florida. She's glad to be back in Miami!