A Fort Lauderdale Police officer was shot and a suspect was killed during a shootout at a hotel Thursday morning, officials said.
The incident happened around 7:30 a.m. at a Holiday Inn Express in the area of Southeast 17th Street and Southeast 15th Avenue.
Sources told NBC6 the officer who was shot was hospitalized in stable condition. Police later confirmed the officer suffered non-life threatening injuries.
Get South Florida local news, weather forecasts and entertainment stories to your inbox. Sign up for NBC South Florida newsletters.
Footage from Chopper 6 showed a massive police presence in the area, with officers swarming the Holiday Inn Express.
A police armored truck could be seen parked outside the hotel. Other footage showed an officer sitting in the back of an ambulance nearby.
At a news conference, Fort Lauderdale Police Chief Bill Schultz said officers responded to the hotel after receiving a call from someone who said he'd killed someone inside a hotel room.
Local
Authorities responded to the room and tried to make contact with the caller but when they entered the room, the suspect opened fire on the officers, who returned fire, Schultz said.
The suspect became barricaded inside the room and SWAT officers responded and entered the room, where they found the suspect dead. Police said no one else was in the room with him.
The suspect was later identified as 46-year-old Karl Chludinsky, a resident of Margate. Records showed Chludinsky has had previous run-ins with police.
In 2022, Margate Police obtained a risk protection order against him, saying they believed he was a significant danger to himself or others. A judge also ordered that he surrender his firearms. After receiving mental health treatment, the risk protection order expired and it appears Chludinsky was able to get his firearms back a year later.
The wounded officer was taken to Broward Health Medical Center, where other law enforcement officers gathered to show their support.
The officer was later released from the hospital and was expected to make a full recovery, officials said.
A second officer who wasn't shot suffered minor injuries and was treated at the scene.
The shooting unfolded as spring breakers and other guests were told to take cover inside the hotel.
“One of the staff members, there was a lot of people, she was Iike 'get into this conference room,' they locked it and turned the light off, we don’t know what’s going on," hotel guest Luis Castaneda said.
Multiple bullet holes could be seen in the window of one of the hotel's rooms.
Schultz said the three officers who fired their weapons will be placed on administrative leave while the incident is investigated, which is department policy.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement will investigate the shooting, which is also standard practice.
Roadways in the area were shut down and traffic was being diverted but Schultz said police were working to reopen the roadways as soon as possible.
