As gunshots echoed across the sixth floor of a Florida hotel, a police officer shouted, “We’re hit. We’re hit pretty hard.”
At 7:39 a.m. on March 21, Fort Lauderdale police received an unrelated 911 text message from a hotel guest that said “murder,” but the caller did not respond to law enforcement follow-up inquiries. Ta.
By 8:42 a.m., the Holiday Inn had been evacuated, and responding officers could see the suspect with his hands up, newly released body camera video shows, although it’s unclear if anyone else was in the room. and ordered him to come out.
When the door opened, a gunman opened fire on a squad of police officers, who were trapped on a small hotel floor with no space to hide.
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Video from the body cameras of various Fort Lauderdale officers shows police responding to a call about a man killing someone at a hotel. It turned out that the 911 call was a fake call. (Fort Lauderdale Police Department)
The gunman, later identified as Karl Klodinski, slammed the door, but the gunfight continued behind the closed door.
As the hail of gunfire intensified, Fort Lauderdale Police Officer Jack DiCristofaro was shot and killed.
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Before police arrived, a 911 call alerted responding officers that Kurdinski was seeing a therapist and was rambling, claiming his wife was being raped. did.
“He states he owns a fully automatic handgun and three handguns…The caller states he is not afraid to kill anyone,” according to the caller’s audio. .
Response forces swarmed the hotel, and body camera footage from various angles showed police opening doors and shouting orders for people to come out with their hands up.
The first 911 message on March 21 alleges a “murder” at a Fort Lauderdale hotel. (Fort Lauderdale Police Department)
Karl Kurdinski, the gunman who opened fire on Fort Lauderdale police on March 21, has been found dead. (Fort Lauderdale Police Department)
Maj. Patrick Hart, who narrated the body camera footage, said Officer DiCristofaro tried to peacefully remove the suspect from the room.
Officers in bulletproof vests stood behind him with their weapons pointed at the door, and DiCristofaro repeatedly yelled, “Hands up and get out!”
Kurdinski was on the phone with a 911 caller and relayed the suspect’s statement.
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“I see the door moving and they’re about to shoot,” Dispatch told officers, according to a video released in response to a public records request and uploaded to YouTube on Thursday.
Mr. Kurdinsky’s reaction was muffled, but he appeared to refuse to open the door. When he finally did so, he was seen holding a gun in his right hand.
Body camera video shows him lowering his weapon and firing at police.
Body camera video shows the gunman pointing his weapon (circled in red) at police before opening fire. (Fort Lauderdale Police Department)
After firing several shots, he hid behind the door and went back inside the room.
For the next 15 seconds, gunshots rang out incessantly until officers yelled, “We’re out, we’re out.” Action paused while officers reloaded.
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Officer DiCristofaro said, “I was hit. I was hit pretty hard.”
The video switched to only DiCristofaro’s point of view, shown in slow motion as Major Hart explained what was happening.
“The suspect opened the door with a phone in his left hand and a gun in his right hand,” Hart said. “The suspect swung the gun at the officer, and Officer DiCristofaro fired at the suspect with his military-issued rifle.”
Body camera footage from the injured officer showed the suspect (in slow motion) opening the hotel room door. (Fort Lauderdale Police Department)
The suspect is holding a cell phone in his left hand and a gun (circled in red) in his right hand, and is lowering the gun toward the police officer. (Fort Lauderdale Police Department)
The man yelled “gun, gun, gun” and fired at the door, according to body camera footage.
“It is important to note that the officers were acting on information that the victim may have been in the hotel room with the suspect,” Major Hart said. “As the officers attempted to enter, the suspect fired shots at the officers through the door.”
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After the initial gunfight ended, the SWAT team gave chase and entered the room, where they found the gunman’s body, Hart said.
It is unclear whether the gunman died during the gunfight or by suicide.
DiCristofaro was injured, but his vest saved his life. Police said the man was treated at a hospital and released the same day.
The bullet that hit Fort Lauderdale Police Officer Jack DiCristofaro lodged in his vest, saving his life. (Fort Lauderdale Police Department)
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The state Law Enforcement Division took over the investigation and the three officers who fired the shots were placed on administrative leave, all standard procedure in officer-involved shootings.
Fox News Digital’s Elyse Perry contributed to this report.
