NBC 6’s Steve Litz has more on the investigation into a threat from a former pro-boxer who is accused of planning a mass shooting at a gym in Miami.
A professional boxer known as the "Haitian Hitman" who once competed in the Olympics is facing charges after authorities said he bought an AK-47 and planned a mass shooting at a Miami gym.
Azea Augustama, 39, was arrested and booked into the Miami-Dade jail early Wednesday on two counts of making written threats to commit a mass shooting and one count of making a written threat to kill or cause bodily injury, records showed.
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Augustama was born in Haiti but grew up in Miami and boxed as a light heavyweight, notching 18 wins as a professional, mostly at local venues including Miami Jai Alai and the Magic City Casino.
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In 2008, he represented Haiti at the Olympic Games in Beijing, China, the same year he won a gold medal at the National Golden Gloves tournament.
The incident began when Augustama, who works as a personal trainer, had his membership revoked and was given a trespass warning earlier this month from BOXR Gym on Northeast 1st Avenue in Miami, after he got into an argument with someone, an arrest report said.
On Tuesday, he called police so he could return to the gym to get some personal items. Afterwards, he began making threatening posts on Instagram, the report said.
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In one of the posts, he included a picture of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School gunman with a long caption that he was "considering shooting" multiple people at the gym, the report said.
Augustama added that he was "willing to shoot with a actual gun or bazooka for righteousness sake," the report said.
He also sent a message to a witness with a photo of one of his intended victims that said "he's first when I get my gun or with something else first (RIP)," the report said.
Augustama then went to a pawn shop in Opa-locka, where he placed a $150 deposit on an AK-47, the report said.
Surveillance footage showed him handling the weapon inside the pawn shop.
The report said he was taken into custody at the pawn shop.
At a court hearing Wednesday, Augustama was ordered held on $3 million bond.
Mateo Attalla, who owns the gym, said police were quick to respond to the threats.
"Police automatically, they saw what was going on, because he was tagging the gym and stuff, so they immediately jumped on it quickly," Attalla said.
