Sunrise detective shot serving a warrant in Fort Lauderdale is in surgery, cops say
.jpg "A police officer was shot and wounded in Fort Lauderdale Tuesday afternoon, Jan. 2, 2024, according to paramedics.")
A police officer serving an arrest warrant on a man wanted on attempted murder and carjacking charges was shot and wounded Tuesday afternoon in Fort Lauderdale, law enforcement said.
The officer, a detective with at least 10 years on the department, was in surgery for a gunshot wound to the leg, Officer Otisha Browning-Smith, a Sunrise police spokeswoman, told the Herald Wednesday morning.
The department has not released his name.
Around 2:30 p.m., he was with a group of other detectives looking for the suspect, 31-year-old Romuliss Jarquives Hicks, at the 200 block of Northwest 22nd Avenue when gunfire erupted.
“It’s a person we’ve been looking for,” she said.
Both the Sunrise officer and Hicks were hit by bullets, but police have not released details about what led to the gun fight or the exchange of fire.
The officer and Hicks were taken to Broward Health Medical Center in stable condition. Broward County jail records show Hicks has since been released and is in custody.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement will be conducting the investigation into the shooting, Casey Liening a Fort Lauderdale Police Department spokeswoman, said.
Why he was wanted
According to a Dec. 31 Sunrise police probable cause affidavit, detectives were looking for Hicks to arrest him on attempted murder and carjacking charges.
Police say that on Dec. 29, he pushed the mother of his child to the ground and shot her in the left arm and left shoulder blade outside the Sunrise home they share. She was treated at the hospital for her wounds.
He then drove off in her 2003 silver Mercury Sable, according to the report.
Hicks also faces charges of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and violation of felony probation.
A judge placed him on probation in June 2022 for a robbery conviction, a sentence that was scheduled to run through 2032. In addition, the report states that Hicks was designated by a judge as a “Career Offender” and a “Habitual Violent Felony Offender.”
Information about Hick’s legal representation was not immediately available. He is being held without bond in Broward County jail.
This story was originally published January 2, 2024 at 3:23 PM.
