MARGATE, FLA. – State authorities have launched an investigation into a police-involved shooting in Margate that left an elderly man dead.

Police responded to reports of someone pointing a gun at people near Northwest First Street and Rock Island Road, at approximately 12:46 p.m., Sunday.

Surveillance video showed about 50 children at a nearby baseball field running when the shots rang out.

Police said the shots were fired about 50 yards away from the children.

“I was at the pool and just lounging, and all of a sudden, I hear three big loud gunshots,” said neighbor Luanne Cosgrove. “I said, ‘I think something happened.’”

When officers arrived on the scene, police said, they saw 82-year-old Jose Antonio Suarez waving a firearm and firing rounds into the ground.

Area resident Leela Roopnarine said she watched the incident unfold.

“He had on a shirt, and he had the gun waving like this. All the police officers from Margate, everyone was there,” she said.

After being instructed to drop his weapon several times, Suarez pointed his gun at officers, forcing an officer to discharge his weapon.

“It was like a standoff, and they told him to drop the gun, and he would not drop it,” said Roopnarine.

Suarez’s family said he was hard of hearing and had been going through a lot of stress in recent weeks. They believe he might have had a mental break.

Witnesses said Suarez shot the gun twice before an officer shot him.

“They were pleading with him, ‘Drop the gun, drop the gun.’ He was [still holding the gun], and he did like two shots first in the air, so they had no alternative but to shoot him,” said Roopnarine.

“We heard all the sirens and the ambulance and fire trucks, and it’s just a sad thing to hear,” said Cosgrove.

7News cameras showed the elderly man’s body covered with a yellow tarp. His visor and sunglasses could be seen next to it.

Parents said the situation could have been much worse had Margate Police not arrived.

“There was three pops real quick, and it couldn’t have been two, three minutes later that we heard the sirens,” one man said.

Investigators said Suarez was shot once, and they immediately rendered aid. He was pronounced dead on the scene.

“I think it’s a body covered over there. Lots of police cars, the tape and everything’s around,” said Cosgrove. “It’s just sad. It’s just so sad, because this is such a quiet community right here.”

No officers or civilians were injured.

“The officer that discharged their weapon has been placed on administrative leave,” according to a police spokesperson.

Suarez’s family is traveling to South Florida from New York. They said they want to meet with police to get some clarity.

Suarez’s son said he wants to see the officers’ body camera video to see what happened in the moments leading up to the shooting.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is now leading the investigation.