Police arrested a former professional boxer Tuesday after they say he threatened to commit a mass shooting at a Miami gym, then purchased an AK-47 at an Opa-locka pawn shop.
Azea Augustama, 39, known as the “Haitian Hitman,” competed for Haiti at the 2008 Beijing Olympics as a light-heavyweight boxer.
He currently resides in North Miami and works as a personal trainer.
According to an arrest report, Augustama had his membership revoked at the BOXR Gym at 1310 NE First Ave. on Nov. 11 for getting into a verbal argument.
On Tuesday, after calling police asking to retrieve property from the gym, police said Augustama launched into a social media tirade.
Police said he posted a picture of the Parkland school shooter to his Instagram account, with a caption threatening to shoot a number of people, including one person he said accused him of “touch(ing) a girl,” as well as the gym itself.
Instagram post:
Police said he then sent a photo to someone of the person he got into an argument with at the gym, saying “he’s first when I get my gun or with something else first. (RIP)”
According to the report, Augustama then drove to Auto Pawn & Jewelry, located at 2170 Opa-locka Blvd., and placed a $150 deposit to buy an AK-47 rifle.
Police said they arrested him about three hours later.
The owner of BOXR Gym, Mario Attalla, shed more light on the incident that police said sparked Augustama’s rage.
“I think it was just a small incident inside the gym where he was just being very rude to one of the trainers that work(s) here and the trainer basically said to him ‘Look, I’ve got a class running, we’ve got people here, I just need you to finish up your training,’” Attalla said. “He got a little bit upset and aggressive, so we had to pull him aside and say ‘Look, you can’t be talking to people like this,’ and he basically just got angry.”
Attalla said he told Augustama “I can’t have you here” and said he had to revoke his membership, but promised to give the former pro boxer his money back.
Augustama faces two charges of written threats to commit a mass shooting and a charge of written threats to kill or cause bodily injury.
He was being held at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center.
Augustama appeared in Miami-Dade bond court Wednesday, where Judge Mindy Glazer ordered him to stay away from the alleged victims and the gym, as well as another gym mentioned in his Instagram post.
She also imposed a $3 million total bond and strict, “total lockdown” house arrest requirements if he were to post bond.
Augustama’s attorneys objected, saying he couldn’t afford the bond. Glazer, however, maintained her decision was warranted owing to the serious nature of the allegations.
“I believe he poses a great danger to the community, as well as the victims, based on his actions and the threats that were made,” Glazer said.
