Two tourist brothers visiting Miami Beach were looking for trouble before one of them was shot and killed by police, according to a taped police statement from one of the brothers' grilfriends.
The tape, acquired by the Miami Herald, details the series of events that led to the shooting of 29-year-old Husien Shehada by Officer Adam Tavss on June 14.
According to the girlfriend of Husien's brother Samer, the Shehadas were out for revenge after Samer had been roughed up by a group of men outside a club Sobe Live, after he had put his arm around the waist of a girl.
"You guys, this is not Virginia. This is Miami. You don't know Miami," Karpel pleaded with the pair, according to her taped police statement.
But they didn't follow her advice, and after grabbing some items in their hotel room which they planned to hide under clothing as fake weapons - Husien a beer bottle and Samer a wooden coat hanger - the two set out on their tragic mission.
"His pride was hurt, he was upset at what happened. It's always when he drinks," Karpel said of Samer. "They were going to get the guys. They were going to beat them up."
Karpel said Samer blamed the beating on her, and started hitting her in their room at the Loews Hotel, before he and Husien took off in search of the men.
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Minutes later, after a confrontation with Officer Tavss, Husien lay dying.
A coat hanger and green bottle were recovered at the scene. Investigators think Tavss fired at Husien when he reached for the bottle, though the Shehada's attorney said that's not the case.
Samer, who had been charged with domestic battery, had the charges dropped last week after Karpel refused to cooperate with the investigation. Her police statement was released after the charges were dropped.
Police union president Alejandro Bello believes the statements confirm that Officer Tavss was in danger.
"It validates why they were called out there to the scene," Bello told the Herald. "[The brothers] did not have the typical tourist intentions to go out there and have fun. They were out there to rough people up."
