Miami

Armed Suspect Killed in Police-Involved Shooting on Alton Road in Miami Beach

A bank robbery suspect armed with a straight razor was killed in a police-involved shooting Saturday morning on Alton Road in Miami Beach, officials said.

Miami Beach police officials said they received a 911 call just before 10:30 a.m. for a holdup alarm at the Bank of America at 1414 Alton Road.

The 911 caller said a suspect was armed with a bomb and passed a note to the teller, officials said.

According to the FBI, the suspect displayed a note to an employee and made a verbal threat that he would shoot a customer. The FBI released a photo of the note, which appears to have been written on the back of a deposit slip.

"Give me all of your 50s, 100s & 20s please," the note reads. "I have a bomb, so please be careful."

Officers responded and were told the suspect had fled the scene and was seen entering a barbershop at 1530 Alton Road.

"My understanding is that he did not get any proceeds; he left without the money," Miami Beach police Chief Daniel Oates said.

Police said the suspect refused to exit the barbershop, then emerged holding a straight-edged razor. Officers fired shots and the suspect was killed at the scene, officials said.

"He had armed himself in the barbershop with a straight-edged razor and after a period of time, he came out — he took his shirt off and he came out," Oates said. "He was challenged by the officers in the street and at some point, during that confrontation, he did raise his hand with a straight-edged razor in it, and he was shot."

The suspect's identity hasn't been released, but Oates said he is Hispanic. Oates said the officer who fired the shots is also Hispanic.

A bystander posted footage of the incident to the photo-sharing app Instagram, which shows officers surrounding the man, who is then shot and falls to the ground.

"I know that there are videos out there in the media; if you slow those videos down carefully, you will see that the weapon is raised at the moment at which the shot takes place,"Oates said.

A woman who works at a nearby animal hospital said she saw the shirtless man yelling and banging on the glass of the barbershop. She said when he came out, he was yelling at officers.

"He was gesturing for them to like come at him," Stephanie Dsoto said. "The shooting part, it was really fast, I just heard the two gunshots and then I saw him go down and then I saw the cops doing CPR."

Dsoto said she saw the man with the weapon.

"He did have a knife in his hand and he was going toward the police," she said.

Miami Beach police later released a photo of the razor they said the suspect was holding.

Oates said one of the officers at the scene was wearing a body camera, but police haven't yet looked at the footage, which won't be released.

"It's horrible; it's an isolated incident and it's tragic for everybody involved," Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine said.

Miami-Dade County Police are investigating the shooting and the FBI and Miami Beach police are investigating the bank robbery, officials said.

"Our nation is enduring very troubling times and as law enforcement officers, we must take every threat very seriously," Miami Beach Fraternal Order of Police president Robert Jenkins said in a statement. "The Miami Beach Fraternal Order of Police is confident that all involved acted bravely in order to protect the Miami Beach community and our visitors. We fully support a third party investigation by the Miami Dade Police Department's Homicide Bureau in order to make a fair and just assessment."

Alton Road between 15th Street and 16th Street was closed while police investigated.

Check back with NBC 6 for updates.

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