Written by Last night, a Coral Springs police officer was caught trying to apprehend armed robbers in the generally quiet Florida town of Coral Springs. I grew up in that town, and remember well when cows still grazed there under the hot sun. Though the town has since boomed, thugs possibly armed with AK-47s is not what I call progress. If the initial details of this crime are accurate, I hope the justice system deters future criminal behavior in South Florida with harsh sentences to the people that terrorized the town. The article below from the Miami Herald details what may have occurred. ~Tara Overzat
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Coral Springs officer shot Saturday recovering
BY DAVID SMILEY, ROBERT SAMUELS AND JULIE KNIPE BROWN
dsmiley@MiamiHerald.com
A Coral Springs police officer is recovering well after he was shot Saturday night while chasing a group of armed robbers, officials said.
Two men have so far been charged with ”a litany of crimes” in connection with the incident, Coral Springs spokesman Bob Behan said on Sunday morning. Details on the charges were not immediately available.
The shooting set off a massive manhunt that ended with a hostage situation in an upscale Coral Springs neighborhood. By the end of the night, three men were in police custody and the officer was in North Broward Medical Center with a gunshot wound to the abdomen, Behan said.
”What we believe to be the last suspect has been arrested,” Behan said. “We’re actively searching the home right now to ensure there were only three. All the hostages have been released and none were harmed.”
Police have not yet released the name of the officer.
Neighbors in the 10200 block of Vestal Court, located in the gated Maplewood Isles community, hid in their homes during the ordeal, worried about nearby gunfire.
Greg Angelo, 19, said he heard shots that sounded like they came from the home next door. Only minutes earlier, his girlfriend heard someone trying to get into his house, he said.
”Our garage door was open and my girlfriend said she heard someone knocking on the door trying to get in,” he said from his bathroom, where he, his girlfriend and two others were sheltered.
Two houses down from Angelo, Felix Campos said officers knocked on the windows of his home and surrounded his house. Campos said he heard five or six gunshots about 8 p.m. and officers have told him not to come outside.
”There are cops everywhere,” he said.
According to Behan, the shooting began after at least three men, armed possibly with AK-47s, robbed an Advance Auto Parts store in the 300 block of University Drive around 6:45 p.m.
Officers responding to the call gave chase and the pursuit came to a head at Coral Springs Drive and Ramblewood Drive, where several shots were fired.
One officer, who according to Coral Springs Fire Rescue is in his late 20s, left his vehicle and was shot, possibly in the abdomen, Behan said. The officer was taken to North Broward Medical Center as a trauma alert.
Police have shut down almost a full square mile surrounding the area of Coral Springs Drive and Ramblewood Drive searching for two or three armed robbers involved in the shooting.
Behan said police agencies throughout the county responded to the shooting, including several SWAT units. Helicopters hovered overhead. He said it was unknown how many hostages were in the house.
Miami Herald Staff Writer Diana Moskovitz and freelance photographer R.C. White contributed to this report.
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