Police Brutality / Individual record
Fritz Severe
The Washington Post's Fatal Force database records Fritz Severe in a fatal on-duty police shooting on 2015-06-11 in Miami, FL. Individual circumstances and legal outcome require case-specific review.
- Record ID
- PB-193
- Incident date
- June 11, 2015
- Outcome
- Fatal
- Location
- Miami, FL
- Agency
- Miami Police Department
- Category
- Fatal on-duty police shooting
- Age (reported)
- 46
What happened
Fritz Severe was killed by Miami police Officer Antonio Torres on June 11, 2015, in a park beside the Culmer/Overtown library, where children were attending a summer program. Police responded after a report that Severe, who often spent time in the park, was behaving in a concerning manner. Witnesses described him carrying a stick or metal pipe. Torres fired ten shots as children and other witnesses were nearby. Severe's family challenged the claim that he presented an immediate lethal threat and sued Miami in 2017, alleging the shooting was unjustified. In April 2020, the city agreed to settle the family's case for $300,000. The settlement confirms a legal resolution of the civil claim, not a criminal determination that the officer committed an offense.
Investigation & findings
Individual legal and investigative outcome not yet reviewed.
Washington Post Fatal Force v2; 2015–2024
Source record details
- Source incident ID
- 543
- Race code in source
- B
- Race source method
- not_available
- Gender (source)
- male
- Armed status (source)
- undetermined
- Flee status (source)
- not
- Agency IDs (source)
- 957
Sources & records
- Primary source
- Additional source
- Methodology and national police killings trackingMapping Police Violence · Dataset/methodology
- Fatal Force v2 — fatal on-duty police shootings, 2015–2024The Washington Post · Dataset