FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Retired Miami-Dade police Officer Wayne Black says it wasn’t just a ballistic vest, it was decades’ worth of experience that saved Fort Lauderdale police Officer Jack DiCristofalo after he was wounded in a hotel shootout last Thursday.
Local 10 News spoke to Black on Friday, one day after Fort Lauderdale police released body camera footage of the incident. The 46-year-old suspect, Karl Chludinsky, of Margate, was killed.
“It was an ambush,” Black said. “Thank God that Jack Dicristafalo was there, 31-year SWAT member.”
The shooting happened in a room at the Holiday Inn Express at 1500 SE 17th St., in the city’s Harbordale area, according to police. Chludinsky had claimed in texts to 911 that someone had been murdered.
The video shows officers walking into harm’s way.
“Remember the dispatch was that someone else was in the room, so (the officer’s) goal was to rescue that other person,” Black said.
In the video, Chludinsky opens the door with a phone in his left hand and a gun in his right. He then points it at officers, who opened fire and eventually killed him, but not before Officer Jack DiCristofalo was hit by a bullet during the gun battle.
“The understanding that day was that the suspect opened fire first, based on what we see in the video, that’s not what happens,” Black said. “The man pointed the gun at the officer and you can’t wait for the seconds it takes to pull a three-pound trigger to fire.”
Black called Chludinsky’s actions “deliberate.”
“He brought the gun down right at the officer,” the retired officer said. “Remember, the bad guy controlled the situation. He made the decision; not the officers.”
Black added, “This is a perfect example of officers putting themselves in the line of fire every day.”
He said the shooting also stresses the importance of SWAT training for officers.
Authorities haven’t released Chludinsky’s suspected motive.