Fort Lauderdale

Police ID Man Shot and Killed by Tow Truck Driver During Repo in Fort Lauderdale

Police said Thursday that they're working with the Broward State Attorney's Office to determine if charges will be filed against the tow truck driver

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Police have identified a Fort Lauderdale car owner who was shot and killed during a confrontation with a tow truck driver who was trying to repossess his vehicle.

The incident unfolded around 10 a.m. Wednesday at a neighborhood in the 100 block of Carolina Avenue.

Fort Lauderdale Police said the vehicle's owner, 38-year-old Clarence King, got into a confrontation and altercation with a tow truck driver who had arrived to repossess a vehicle.

Shots were fired and King was killed at the scene.

"You gonna shoot my son down like that? It’s not gonna happen," Shirley Horsford King told NBC 6 over the phone. "That’s a coward. He’s a punk."

Surveillance footage from nearby captured the sounds of multiple gunshots being fired. It also showed part of the altercation and aftermath.

A man can be heard frantically yelling for help in a 911 call from the scene released by police Thursday.

"I need police right now!" the man says. "I need an ambulance right now!"

A neighbor said King was visiting his girlfriend with his young daughter when he was killed.

"I didn’t see him moving so it took me for a loop because his daughter was actually just standing by the car by herself so it hit me hard," neighbor Robert Sowell said. "I watched the tow truck driver get out and make sure his forks were under the vehicle. He got back in his car and lifted it up and drove southbound. As I get back, I see the tow truck is actually facing this way. So he came back. I don’t know why."

The tow truck driver, whose identity wasn't released, was detained and was cooperating with the investigation, police said.

Police said Thursday that they're working with the Broward State Attorney's Office to determine if charges will be filed against the tow truck driver.

Editor's note: Early versions of this article used a photo and information not relevant to the story have been removed.

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