Fort Lauderdale detention officer accused of killing woman told police he had an argument with his girlfriend

Late Monday night, a man in the Coral Springs apartment complex called the police to tell them he heard a gunshot and a child screaming. Then he heard three more shots.

Officers arrested Chase Harder, 21, a Fort Lauderdale Police Department detention officer, on charges of first-degree murder Monday night following the shooting in the 9200 block of Ramblewood Drive. Witnesses had seen him running from the scene, carrying a child.

Harder turned himself into the Coral Springs Police Department, according to a heavily redacted probable cause affidavit. He told police that he had had an argument with his girlfriend.

Police responding to several 911 calls at the apartment building found a red substance, likely blood, coming from the balcony of the apartment and pooling at the ground of the first floor, the affidavit states. Then they found the woman, dead, with multiple gunshot wounds inside of the apartment.

Harder shared the apartment with a woman whose name is redacted but is possibly his stepmother, according to the affidavit.

“It was later learned that [redacted] resides at the location with Chase Harder,” the affidavit states. “I further learned that [redacted] is the stepmother of Harder.”

Weeks prior to the shooting, a woman at the apartment had reported Harder had been sending her text messages threatening to kill her.

It is unclear whether the victim was his girlfriend or his stepmother because their names are redacted in the affidavit.

Meanwhile, Harder had escaped the scene in a white Mercedes, carrying a small child over his shoulder. Later that night, the child’s father called Coral Springs Police and told them that “[redacted]’s boyfriend, Chase Harder, had showed up at his residence in Rivera Beach.”

He saw scratches on Harder and requested a welfare check.

Soon after, Harder turned himself in at the lobby of the Coral Springs Police Department. He had blood spatter on his arms and legs and scratches on his arms.

Police searched court records but were unable to find whether Harder and the victim were married, according to the affidavit.

Harder was hired by the Fort Lauderdale Police Department in June of 2022 as a detention officer, records show. He has been placed on administrative leave without pay during the investigation, Det. Ali Adamson, a spokesperson for the department, said in a media release. He is an Army Reserves veteran.