A 52-year-old woman was fatally shot and several other people arrested during a Broward Sheriff's Office SWAT raid on a suspected drug house in Pompano Beach early Saturday.
BSO said deputies fired at Brenda Van Zwieten after she refused to drop her loaded .357 magnum handgun.
Van Zwieten's family said she kept the gun out of fear because of a violent burglary in her home last month.
BSO said the investigation began when it got an anonymous tip that Van Zwieten's home in the 300 block of Southwest 18th Court was a drug house. BSO's Selective Enforcement Team got a search warrant for Friday.
First, BSO arrested three people on drug charges: Chaylenne Pallazzo, 21, of Pompano Beach, Patrick Banks, 18, of Pompano Beach and Jorge Lopez, 23 whose home address was unknown.
Then BSO went to the Van Zwieten house.
First deputies burst into the bedroom and found Van Zwieten's boyfriend. The BSO said Gary Nunnemacher, 47, gave himself up "without incident."
Then they moved to the back bedroom, a small blue room where Van Zwieten stayed. She refused to drop the handgun, BSO said, which lead them to fire.
Inside the home, deputies found two shotguns, a rifle, heroin, crack cocaine, marijuana, and marijuana plants, Alprazolam and more than $500 cash.
Read more of this story at MiamiHerald.com