It’s Friday, April 1st - and NBC 6 has the top stories for the day.
No. 1 - A suspect who was somehow able to arm himself while police and federal agents were executing a search warrant at a southwest Miami-Dade home was shot and killed by officers Thursday, officials said.
The incident happened as Miami-Dade Police officers were assisting Homeland Security Investigations agents and U.S. Marshals in executing the warrant at a home in the 1900 block of Southwest 127th Court, officials said. Footage showed a large police presence outside the home, and the area closed off with yellow police tape. Miami-Dade Police spokesman Alvaro Zabaleta said authorities had made contact with the home's residents and had taken the 53-year-old man who was the subject of the investigation into custody when he said he began to feel ill. Authorities had fire rescue respond to the scene and while they were checking him out, he was somehow able to arm himself, Zabaleta said. Officers shot the man, who was killed inside the home, Zabaleta said.
No. 2 - Police released officer body camera video that shows a different perspective of a brawl at a Fort Lauderdale hotel between an employee and a guest.
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The incident happened back in January at the Best Western on Seabreeze Boulevard. Previously released surveillance footage from the hotel shows 28-year-old Raymond Rachal working at the desk in the lobby when a man walks up to him, pushing past a stanchion. Rachal eventually put the man in a headlock and held him for several minutes until police officers arrived. The video shows the officers immediately approach Rachal, pushing him before taking him into custody. The newly released bodycam showed officers responding before the brawl, when the employee and the guest were already in a dispute. Rachal had told officers that the guest was making comments about MLK Day. Click here to see the video in a report from NBC 6’s Jamie Guirola.
No. 3 - The U.S. will release 1 million barrels of oil per day from its strategic reserves to help cut gas prices and fight inflation across the country, the White House announced Thursday.
President Joe Biden plans to tap the nation's Strategic Petroleum Reserve for the next six months as domestic producers ramp up production, according to a fact sheet released by the Biden administration. A senior administration official told reporters Thursday morning that, in combination with similar actions in other countries, the average daily amount released from global strategic reserves should exceed 1 million barrels. Oil prices dropped Thursday after reports surfaced Wednesday evening suggesting such a move was imminent.
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No. 4 - A man is still healing months after he was mauled by a dog while trying to protect his nieces.
Ivania Perez wants justice for her nephew, Salvador Martinez. Martinez was visiting his family in North Miami Beach on July 18 when he was viciously attacked by two bulldogs. The bite marks are still healing on his head, feet, arms and legs. Perez says Martinez went outside with his two nieces Hannah and Grace to help them walk their Shih Tzu. Minutes later, she says she heard chaos. Click here for more in a report from NBC 6’s Kim Wynne you’ll see Only on 6.
No. 5 - A South Florida woman is off for a historic journey as she embarks with the first all-Black team to take on Mount Everest.
Abby Dione is challenging herself and all of us to cast away any fears and go for it. She spoke exclusively with NBC 6 about the climb aimed at opening the outdoors to people of all backgrounds. "A stillness — calm. That’s how I feel," Dione said as she prepares to take on 29,032 feet of Mount Everest. Dione spoke to us between training kids and adults at her Coral Cliff’s rock-climbing center near Fort Lauderdale’s airport. She’s out to do something that’s never been done — make it to the summit of Mount Everest with an all-Black team. Click here for more in a report from NBC 6 investigator Willard Shepard you’ll see Only on 6.
No. 6 - He got the attention of casting directors playing TV roles as a cop, a coroner and cartel member, according to his online filmography.
But now Jose Alfredo Fernandez’s role in $1.2 million in Paycheck Protection Program loans has gained the attention of the NBC 6 Investigators. And, he says, of the FBI. Fernandez, 35, who grew up in Miami-Dade and previously ran a tax return preparation company here, moved to Georgia in 2017. That’s when he organized the first of three companies that years later would obtain more than $1.2 million in PPP loans over 24 days in 2020, according to data from the Small Business Administration. The NBC 6 Investigators found several apparent problems with loans awarded to the companies connected to Fernandez and his family. Click here for more in a report from NBC 6 investigator Tony Pipitone.
