A robbery suspect was shot and killed by Miami Beach police Saturday morning, as the city was in the midst of the international Art Basel festival. An alleged video of the incident has circulated widely on social media, though it remains unconfirmed by police officials.
The city’s police has said the man was suspected of attempting to rob a Bank of America branch just before 10.30am, just blocks from some of the city’s most popular tourist destinations of South Beach and the Art Deco district.
Clerks at the bank’s Alton Road location triggered a silent alarm after a suspect passed a note to a teller that said he was armed with a bomb. A 911 caller later told police that the suspect fled north on Alton Road and was seen going into a barber shop.
Miami Beach police said that the man first refused to come out of the barber shop, and then exited carrying a straight razor.
A graphic video, which circulated widely on social media on Saturday, appears to start showing a standoff between police and a shirtless man purported to be the suspect, outside of the apparent barber shop. In the video, the man appears to be holding an object, and is surrounded by at least three police officers. The man places his hand on a nearby police car, a pop is heard and police fire. The man then falls to the ground.
The owner of the video could not immediately be reached by the Guardian. Miami Beach police have not addressed the footage, nor have they named the man killed by police.
“The subject refused to exit the barber shop. The subject emerged with a straight edge razor in his hand. Shots were fired and the subject is deceased,” Miami Beach police spokesperson Kathleen Prieto said in a statement emailed to The Guardian.
Prieto said the Miami-Dade County police would investigate the shooting, and the FBI and Miami Beach police would investigate the bank robbery.
The shooting comes less than 24 hours after a woman allegedly stabbed another woman, believed to be a stranger, with an X-Acto knife inside the Miami Beach Convention Center at an Art Basel exhibit. Some bystanders told the Miami Herald they thought the stabbing was initially performance art.
