The suspect who was killed in a shootout with police after he fired at officers Thursday at a hotel in Fort Lauderdale had a history of mental health issues and previous run-ins with the law in the past.
Karl Chludinsky, 46, of Margate, was identified by Fort Lauderdale Police as the suspect who shot at them when officers tried to enter his room at the Holiday Inn Express.
That morning, officers responded to the hotel after receiving a text from someone who said he'd killed someone inside a hotel room. During the shootout, the suspect barricaded himself in the room. He was later found dead.
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A records search found that Chludinsky had several arrests, including one dating back to 2006.
Chludinsky was Baker Acted as recently as January 2022. His mother and his girlfriend reported he held a gun in his mouth and threatened to kill himself. They convinced him to put the gun down and took him to a hospital to get help.
Margate Police obtained a risk protection order against him, saying he posed "a significant danger of causing personal injury" to himself or others, that he "may be seriously mentally ill or have recurring mental health issues" and had "recklessly used, displayed or brandished a firearm." The risk protection order was in effect until Jan. 31 of this year as the law requires, unless it's extended further.
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A judge ordered Chludinsky to surrender to police his two handguns, magazines and ammunition from his car and a shotgun and shells from his home closet.
In December 2022, a Margate detective spoke with Chludinsky, who said, "his life had been progressing forward." He had been under care since July 2022 with a psychiatric nurse, who said he had "good judgment, is making good progress, and has the capacity to make independent legal, medical and financial decisions."
“Karl would like to have his firearms returned,” Det. Megan Britt wrote in that affidavit to the court.
It appears Chludinsky got his firearms back after the risk protection order expired.
How or why Chludinsky ended up in the hotel room Thursday morning is unclear. A Fort Lauderdale Police officer was also wounded in the shootout but was released from the hospital later in the day.
