Suspect in shootout with Sunrise officer was wanted in girlfriend's shooting: Police

A suspect who was involved in a shootout with a Sunrise Police officer in Fort Lauderdale Tuesday afternoon had been wanted in the shooting of his girlfriend days earlier, records showed.

The shootout left the officer and 31-year-old Romuliss Jarquives Hicks hospitalized, both in stable condition.

Sunrise Police said the officer was trying to take the 31-year-old Hicks into custody on an arrest warrant when the shootout happened in the 200 block of Northwest 22nd Avenue in Fort Lauderdale.

According to the warrant, Hicks faces charges including attempted murder, armed carjacking, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, and probation violation in the Dec. 30 shooting of his girlfriend, who is also the mother of his infant daughter.

Broward Sheriff's Office

The girlfriend said she and Hicks live together but had gotten into an argument a day earlier, so she left their apartment with their daughter and spent the night at her step-mother's home, the warrant said.

She said she had to get supplies for the baby and returned to the apartment the next day, where she encountered Hicks, who she thought wouldn't be there, the warrant said.

The girlfriend ran back to her car as Hicks chased her down, grabbed her keys from her hand and knocked her to the ground, the warrant said.

While she was on the ground, Hicks pointed a gun at her and shot at her at least twice, hitting her in the arm and shoulder blade, the warrant said.

The girlfriend "recalled the firearm being pointed directly at her upper torso and head as she moved side to side to avoid being shot," the warrant said. "…during this ordeal, she thought she was going to be killed by Hicks."

Hicks then stole the girlfriend's car, crashing into a parked car as he fled the scene, the warrant said.

The girlfriend was taken to a local hospital for treatment.

Video showed Hicks later abandoning the car in the parking lot of a shopping plaza, the warrant said.

Hicks had been previously convicted in 2014 of robbery by sudden snatching and burglary, and in 2021 of robbery with a firearm and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, the warrant said.

He was on probation until 2032 for robbery, and had been designated a "career offender" and "habitual violent felony offender," the warrant said.

Police haven't released the identity of the officer injured in Tuesday's shooting. He remained hospitalized with a gunshot wound to the leg.

It's unknown what charges Hicks will face in Tuesday's shootout. He was released from the hospital and appeared in court Wednesday, where he was ordered held without bond.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement will investigate, which is standard practice in police shootings.