HOMESTEAD, Fla. — Newly-released video shows a deadly interaction between Homestead police officers and an armed suspect.
The shooting happened at a home located along the 400 block of Sunrise Boulevard, inside the Villas of Sunrise community.
In the video, you can hear officers telling 34-year-old Leandro Chong to put the gun down. When he failed to follow their commands, they opened fire.
The fatal shooting happened back in March of 2024 after neighbors called police multiple times that day to report Chong acting erratically and appearing to be carrying a gun.
Video from that day shows Chong talking to himself in the front doorway while carrying a red fanny pack, and where officers were seen with their guns drawn.
While that incident ended peacefully, hours later, Homestead police and SWAT were called back to find Chong armed and throwing rocks at officers. It’s when they said he failed to follow their commands that they shot and killed him.
“Why did you kill him?” a woman is heard screaming moments after the shooting.
In March. Local 10 News spoke with Chong’s girlfriend, who said her boyfriend had just been in court, where a judge ordered that he undergo mental health treatment.
He would never get the help his family said he so desperately needed.
According to a closeout memo for this case from the state attorney’s office, the suspect was carrying a BB gun.
That said, the four officers who fired their guns were found to be legally justified.
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