Source South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Employees at the Broward County Copans Regional Transit Center in Pompano Beach were sent into a panic Wednesday night after one of their colleagues shot and killed another employee inside their work building, then was killed in a shootout with deputies.
Rafael A. Molina, 59, of Lake Worth Beach, was identified by the Broward Sheriff’s Office as the county employee who shot at deputies, prompting three deputies to shoot back nearly 50 times, killing him. Molina shot and killed his coworker Warren H. Chambers, 42, of Apopka in Central Florida, before the shootout with deputies, the Sheriff’s Office said.
Both Chambers and Molina were employees at Broward County Copans Regional Transit Center, a gated facility with a guardhouse that contains county buses at 3201 W. Copans Road. Chambers was hired in 2018, and Molina was hired in 2007, a county official told the South Florida Sun Sentinel on Friday.
About 20 minutes of 911 calls released Friday show a horrific scene of employees who locked themselves inside an office in the building after Chambers was shot, unsure of where Molina had gone, while others called 911 after running outside. One caller reported seeing Molina walking around the building with the gun still in his hand. In one call, a man could be heard in the background apparently saying he witnessed Chambers be shot.
Surveillance video inside the building showed Molina waiting outside of a room for Chambers shortly before11:30 p.m. He pulled a gun out of a lunchbox and shot his coworker multiple times at “point-blank range,” Broward Sheriff Gregory Tony said at a news conference Friday afternoon.
One employee who called 911 told the dispatcher he and several others were locked inside an office, surrounded by glass, after hearing the gunshots. The caller told the dispatcher he at one point saw Molina walk by the office but did not know where he went. The victim was alone, the caller told the dispatcher when asked if anyone was around him to answer questions.
“Everyone is in fear for their life,” the caller said.
An armed security guard was in the building, outside of the office where some of the employees were locked inside, the caller told the dispatcher. More gunshots then erupted about four minutes into the call.
“Is he shooting right now? Is that gunshots I hear?” the dispatcher asked.
“Yeah, those are gunshots, yeah,” the caller said.
Another louder round of consecutive gunshots were heard about a minute later.
“Is that them shooting more?” the dispatcher asked.
“Yeah,” the caller said.
By the time deputies arrived, Molina was hiding in an empty bus on the property, Tony said at the news conference Friday. He stepped out of the bus and shot about six times at the deputies. Three of the deputies shot back a total of 49 times.
Nearly two minutes of body-worn camera video released Friday showed at least six deputies running toward an open garage of buses with guns drawn. A volley of gunshots could be heard for about 10 seconds. A gun could be seen on the ground near Molina after he was shot outside of one of the buses in the garage.
Another employee who called 911 anxiously rattled off where he was, stuttering as he gave the address and asking the dispatcher to hurry. The dispatcher told him to calm down.
“Tell me exactly what happened, sir,” the dispatcher said.
“He just came — I don’t know what happened. I’m down in my office … I hear gunshots going off, and then I see the guy, he’s just laying here on the floor,” the caller said.
Deputies kill man who shot Broward Transit co-worker to death, Sheriff’s Office says
Moments later, the caller said, “Oh s—, he still in here shooting!”
The dispatcher asked the caller if he was in a safe place. He said he supposed he was.
He also identified the gunman as Molina. He told the dispatcher he didn’t know where Molina went but seconds later said he saw Molina again.
“Oh no, he’s still in here, he’s still in here, he’s still in here, he’s still in here,” the caller said quickly. “He’s walking around. He has a white shirt on, khaki pants … He’s walking around here. He’s got the gun in his hands.”
The dispatcher told him to stop talking and put his phone on silent. The caller saw him only briefly before telling the dispatcher that he walked out to a back parking lot.
Moments later, the caller told the dispatcher the gunman was shooting again.
“He shooting again! He’s outside shooting! He’s outside shooting!” the caller said.
“He’s shooting? OK, OK, OK, stay with me,” the dispatcher said.
The man told the dispatcher he heard about three more shots. Just over a minute later, more gunshots interrupted the dispatcher’s question.
“It’s a gun shootout!” the caller shouted.
“Sir, are you in a safe place?” the dispatcher asked.
“Yes,” the caller said, choking up.
“Tell me what’s happening,” the dispatcher said.
“I don’t know if it’s the cops or somebody,” the caller said. “Somebody’s shooting, but they shot up the bus!” he said.
In the third 911 call released by the Sheriff’s Office, a man could be heard in the background of the call shouting, “Right in front of me, bro! Right in front of me, bro!” Sirens were heard passing by in the background.
The caller told the dispatcher Molina was still inside the building, that he and the others he was with had run outside after hearing gunshots.
“There’s more shooting going on now,” the caller told the dispatcher. A man in the background could be heard apparently describing witnessing the shooting of Chambers to the group of people he was with.
“I don’t know who was shooting, but we’re all outside. Once the police all got here, then more shots rang out,” the caller said.
“Do you think it might have been the officers shooting at him?” the dispatcher said.
“Yeah, because as soon as they got here, it just started going off,” the caller said.
Tony said at the news conference Friday that they did not yet have any information about a motive for the shooting.
The three deputies who shot at Molina were identified Friday as Crime Suppression Team Sgt. Noel Mercado, 44, a veteran who has been with the Sheriff’s Office for more than two decades; Crime Suppression Team Deputy Joseph Sherbo, 31, who is approaching his fourth year with BSO; and Deputy Richard Delgaudio, 30, who was hired in January 2023.
They are on administrative assignment as the investigation continues, as is the Sheriff’s Office policy. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating the shooting with the deputies.
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