Guard Shot; Gunman Killed: A BankAtlantic Guard Was in Serious Condition With Chest Wounds After He

Oct 06, 04:45 AM

Current Headlines: By Trenton Daniel and Jennifer Mooney Piedra, The Miami Herald

Oct. 6--A security guard was shot twice in the chest during a Lauderhill bank robbery Friday afternoon, police said. A gunman was later found dead in a nearby apartment complex after firing several shots at officers.

It wasn't immediately clear whether the man shot himself or was shot by officers.

Miami Herald news partner WFOR-CBS4 identified the guard as Lenford Mills, 51, of Coral Springs. The uniformed guard was in surgery Friday night at Broward General Medical Center, said Lt. Rick Rocco, a Lauderhill police spokesman. The guard was in serious condition and his son was with him, police said. The incident happened about 4 p.m. at a BankAtlantic at Northwest 19th Street and U.S. 441. Several shots were fired; two struck the guard.

A gunman carrying a black bag was seen running away, leading police on a chase through nearby neighborhoods. Soon after, police surrounded the Brampton Court Apartments complex at Northwest 43rd Terrace and 19th Street.

Officers saw a man running up and down the stairwell from the second to the third floor. The man fired on officers from a breezeway in the complex, forcing them to take cover. Then the gunfire from the apartment complex abruptly stopped, Rocco said.

Shortly before 5 p.m., a Lauderhill detective saw a man lying dead in a pool of blood in the stairwell. The man's identity has not been released, but police believe he's in his mid-20s.

Detectives "very strongly believe this is the same individual" from the bank robbery, Rocco said.

Rocco said he did not believe any Lauderhill officers fired on the gunman. Asked whether the gunman's wounds were self-inflicted, Rocco said that was under investigation.

A SWAT unit from the Broward Sheriff's Office was called in for backup. Several other law enforcement agencies, including Fort Lauderdale police and the FBI, also responded.

Police were searching through the complex late Friday to make sure that all residents were safe. No one else, including residents and police officers, is believed to have been injured.

BSO said late Friday that it had been asked to take over the investigation. Until recently, the sheriff's office handled homicide investigations in Lauderhill.

As police surrounded the complex, traffic on U.S. 441 crawled. Police and TV helicopters hovered above.

The bank, where the guard was shot, was roped off for hours afterward. Meanwhile, investigators interviewed bank employees and viewed surveillance videotapes to determine how the security guard got shot.

Barbara McCalla had just stepped off a southbound city bus near the bank when she heard three shots fired. 'I just stood there and thought, 'This is crazy,' " she said.

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