A Lauderhill man was shot and killed by a police officer Monday afternoon while attempting to break into a West Palm Beach condominium, authorities say.
John Allen McKinzie Jr., 27, was trying to force his way into a condo at The Pointe Condominiums in the 1200 block of The Pointe Drive a little after 3 p.m., according to a media release from Mike Jachles, a spokesperson for the West Palm Beach Police Department. Two 911 callers reported that a man with a gun was trying to break into a first floor unit.
West Palm Beach police officers responded and gave McKinzie “repeated warnings” to put the gun down, the release said, but he refused. He then “aggressively moved towards the officers with the gun,” when one of the officers fired at him, striking him once. McKinzie collapsed. Officers attempted to revive him before paramedics pronounced him dead at the scene. The officer who shot McKinzie was not injured.
The Palm Beach County Medical Examiner’s Office performed an autopsy on McKinsey along with toxicology tests to determine if he had drugs in his system, the release said. The results are pending.
McKinzie had a criminal history, court records show. Last year, he pled no contest to charges of carrying a concealed firearm without a permit, and was sentenced to state probation, which he was still serving at the time of his death.
“The investigation is ongoing to determine how and where he obtained the gun” he was carrying during the break-in Monday, the release said.
In 2019, McKinzie pleaded no contest to charges of grand theft and resisting an officer after he stole over $400 worth of Red Bull from a Publix in Coral Springs, according to the probable cause affidavit. When officers confronted him, he tried to run away. They tackled him to the ground and placed him in handcuffs “after a brief struggle.”
Three West Palm Beach officers were placed on leave Monday evening while the Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigates the shooting. The Palm Beach County State Attorney’s Office will also conduct its own investigation.
All of the officers have invoked Marsy’s Law, a 2018 constitutional amendment that allows crime victims to shield their name and personal information from the public. The amendment is often invoked by police officers after use-of-force incidents.