Family seeks answers after Oakland Park standoff ends with deputy-involved shooting death

OAKLAND PARK, Fla. — Family members of Dominick “Kevin” Almonte say he was loving and cared for by many people, and they are mourning his death following an hours-long standoff with deputies in Oakland Park.

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Maria Almonte said she knew something was wrong when authorities asked her to sit down.

“They tell me to sit down. When they tell me to sit down I already knew that they killed my baby. My baby died,” she said.

Maria Almonte said her son was killed after a standoff with deputies.

“But he was a good kid. He just had mental issues, but he was a helpful, kind person,” she said.

Investigators said deputies responded to the Racquet Club community in Oakland Park on Friday night after receiving reports from neighbors about a man armed with a knife.

According to Maria Almonte, her son had argued with a neighbor before the incident.

“He had an argument with a neighbor and that neighbor always antagonized him,” she said. “And I guess he kind of just went off and came out chasing with a knife, but he went back in the house. And that’s when the neighbors are calling the cops.”

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Deputies evacuated the area and spent several hours attempting to negotiate with the barricaded man.

Investigators said the situation escalated at one point, and deputies opened fire.

“They shot him four times and he doesn’t even have a gun. You’re going to shoot somebody with a knife?” Maria Almonte said.

She said she is still searching for answers and has not yet been allowed to see her son’s body.

“But I want to see it for myself. Just to have some closure that I see my baby. That it is him,” she said.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating the shooting. No other injuries were reported.

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