Boynton Beach police said officers shot and killed a man outside a Publix who robbed a Dollar Tree at gunpoint Sunday.
Police said the man robbed the Dollar Store located at 4641 N. Congress Ave., WPTV reports.
Witnesses described hearing gun shots around 5:15 p.m. near the Publix.
"I started running away when I ran out of my shoes," John Jennings said. "I thought it was firecrackers until I saw the man laying down with the gun in his hand."
Boynton Beach police released a picture of the gun they say the robber was holding while refusing to obey officers' commands. After several attempts to have the man drop the gun, Gregory said the officer did what they are trained to do.
"Officers who were already in this plaza identified and located that subject walking through the shopping plaza here and approaching the Publix building," Boynton Beach Police Chief Michael Gregory said.
"The employees were at work. The other stores were filled with shoppers and employees, and it was hectic and chaotic to hear those rounds going off, but it would have been a catastrophe if that subject would have gotten inside that Publix," Gregory said.
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Police later identified the suspect as 62-year-old Adalbert Wolmar Rodriguez. Authorities said he has a criminal history.
No officers were hurt.
