Gas Station Horror: Fort Lauderdale Cops Release Shocking Bodycam Footage of Fatal Shooting

On a bright afternoon in Fort Lauderdale, what began as a seemingly standard traffic stop quickly escalated into a deadly encounter that left 24-year-old Chad Mabray Jr. fatally shot — and a community grappling with yet another controversial police shooting.

The Incident: From Traffic Stop to Tragedy

It all unfolded on January 19, 2025, at a Chevron gas station located near Davie Boulevard. Fort Lauderdale police officers attempted to stop a vehicle driven by Mabray, a young man with a complicated history but no known violent record.

According to police, Mabray fled on foot, running into the parking lot of the gas station as officers pursued him. What happened next was caught on body-worn cameras and gas station surveillance footage now released by authorities.

Body Cam Breakdown: A Split-Second Decision

The footage shows Mabray turning toward officers during the chase. In that moment, officers say he reached toward his waistband — a movement they interpreted as him drawing a firearm.

In the video, a Fort Lauderdale sergeant opens fire. Mabray collapses just feet away from a fuel pump. He was rushed to the hospital but did not survive.

The object retrieved from his waistband? It wasn’t a real firearm. It was later confirmed to be a replica airsoft gun — unmarked and nearly indistinguishable from an actual handgun in high-stress conditions.

Family and Community React

To Mabray’s family, the video and the weapon explanation feel like déjà vu — another case of mistaken threat, another young Black man killed by police. “He didn’t deserve to die like that,” said one family member through tears. “He was scared. That’s why he ran. But he wasn’t a threat.”

Activists have echoed the family’s sentiments, demanding accountability, more transparency, and better training to distinguish real weapons from replicas.

The Police Side: Justified or Preventable?

Fort Lauderdale Police say the sergeant acted within protocol. They cite “reasonable fear of imminent harm” due to the suspected presence of a weapon.

Legal experts say the case sits in a gray area: officers are trained to treat all perceived weapons as real until proven otherwise. In high-stress, fast-moving situations, decisions are made in seconds — sometimes less.

Still, the case raises hard questions:

• Should officers be expected to make life-or-death decisions that quickly?

• Are replica guns too realistic for public safety?

• Could de-escalation or non-lethal force have prevented this?

A Broader Conversation

This isn’t just a story about one man and one shooting. It’s part of a growing pattern of incidents involving replica guns and young men of color, where fear — from both sides — ends in fatality.

Residents of Fort Lauderdale and civil rights groups are calling for:

• Stricter regulations on replica firearms

• Mandatory identification markings on non-lethal weapons

• Reforms in police training protocols under real-time pressure

Chad Mabray Jr. is gone. But the bodycam footage he left behind may play a role in how future encounters unfold — pushing the city, and perhaps the nation, to reconsider what safety, training, and accountability truly mean in the modern age of law enforcement.