Man using pole ‘like a spear’ fatally shot in Broward SWAT standoff, sheriff’s office says
A man who barricaded himself inside a Hollywood home, which he later set on fire, was fatally shot by officers Thursday after he “aggressively came toward” a SWAT team with a long pole, “using it like a spear,” authorities said.
Around 9 a.m. Wednesday, the Broward Sheriff’s Office was made aware that Matthew Hyde, a 36-year-old Hollywood man, was making threats to kill several people, according to the sheriff’s office.
Hyde barricaded himself in his home, at 2720 Dewey Street. When arriving detectives tried talking to him, they say he threatened to hurt himself and the officers.
BSO detectives and Hollywood Police Department’s SWAT team cordoned off the area. Several hours later, BSO SWAT relieved Hollywood SWAT and prepared to execute a search and arrest warrant
For more than twelve hours, investigators tried to deescalate the situation, including using a crisis negotiator, the sheriff’s office said. But Hyde continued to become more hostile, throwing Molotov cocktails at the SWAT team.
Hyde even set his own home on fire, according to authorities. Using the smoke as cover, he ran into his backyard and hid.
Grabbing a pole and heating it with fire, the sheriff’s office noted, Hyde tried to attack deputies.
“When SWAT operators attempted to take the subject into custody, the subject aggressively lunged toward SWAT using the long pole as a spear,” BSO said in a release.
BSO added that a SWAT member who BSO said “feared for his life” subsequently shot Hyde.
He was taken to Memorial Regional Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, BSO said.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating the shooting, which is standard whenever there is a shooting involving police.
The SWAT member who shot Hyde was put on administrative assignment pending further investigation, per BSO policy.
This story was originally published July 14, 2022 at 11:07 AM.
