Architect shot by officers, charged

Police say he was firing gun from his balcony

A 68-year-old man who police say was firing a gun from a fourthfloor balcony Monday evening is in critical condition after police in Fort Lauderdale shot him.

Charles J. Schweickert faces two charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and one charge of shooting a deadly missile into a vehicle. Television footage showed a Hertz van being towed from the crime scene.

The shooting began about 7 p.m. in the 600 block of Northeast 14th Avenue in the Victoria Park neighborhood.

Police in Fort Lauderdale have not released the name of the police officer who shot Schweikert.

WSVN-Ch. 7 reported that Schweickert was shot in the stomach. A statement from the police department said that Schweickert is expected to recover from the shooting. Schweickert was a local architect. Four years ago he won a Master Prize award through the Guggenheim Foundation and Museum for his work with the Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport customs facility.

What caused Schweikert to start firing his weapon in the direction of people and vehicles remains unclear at this time as police are still trying to piece together any sort of chain of events that may have triggered the situation, said Ali Adamson, a spokeswoman for the police department.

Adamson she said did not know where the police officer was when he shot the man. For now, what is known is than an officer was flagged down after the shooting started.

The officer’s “response was quick and thankfully no innocent bystanders and no police officers were injured and hopefully, the subject makes a full recovery as well,” Fort Lauderdale Police Chief Rick Maglione told the station.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating the police shooting.