Fort Lauderdale police officer shot in line of duty released from hospital, expected to make full recovery
FORT LAUDERDALE - A Fort Lauderdale police officer who was shot Thursday morning in the line of duty was released from the hospital and is expected to make a full recovery.
Police said the shooting happened at around 7:30 a.m. after a man, later identified as Karl Chludinsky, 46, Margate resident, called from the Holiday Inn Express, on 17th Street just west of the causeway, stating that he had killed someone inside the room. Authorities said multiple attempts were made to contact him to no avail.
"Based on the nature of the call and the information provided officers responded directly to the room where they again attempted to make contact with the caller. At that time the suspect was unable to make contact so we entered the room. Shots were fired at the officers at that time. Our officers exchanged gunfire with the suspect at which time the suspect barricaded himself in the room," said Fort Lauderdale Police Chief William Schultz.
A SWAT team was called in. When they entered the room, they found Chludinsky. There was no one else in the room.
Schultz said the cause of death will be determined during the Florida Department of Law Enforcement's investigation into the shooting.
A male officer involved in the gunfire was taken to Broward Health Medical Center with non-life-threatening injuries. A second officer, who was not shot, was treated at the scene for a minor injury.
Schultz said three officers fired their service weapons and are on administrative leave pending the results of the FDLE investigation.
One guest said he heard approximately 15 gunshots
"An automatic gun, it sounded like someone banging on the door. We heard it, we jumped on the floor, and we just laid there. We were scared," he said.
Some guests at the hotel told CBS News Miami's Ted Scouten that they weren't quite sure what was going on. They said they were moved to a room and held there. They said they were told there had been a shooting, possibly involving a police officer.
One hotel guest said she was shocked.
"I went downstairs to see all the police officers, he stayed inside. And right when he was inside that's when he saw the bullet holes, they started pushing him into a room. I was out here, people were telling me there was an active shooter inside," she said.
Traffic on 17th Street was diverted for a time due to the police investigation.
