South Florida corrections officer accused of fatally shooting woman

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — A South Florida corrections officer accused of fatally shooting a woman was seen carrying a child and fleeing the scene on Tuesday, authorities said.

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Chase William Harder, 21, of Coral Springs, was arrested Tuesday and charged with one count of premeditated first-degree murder and one count of written threats to kill or do bodily injury, according to Broward County Sheriff’s Office online booking records.

The woman was pronounced dead at the scene. Her identity has been withheld pending notification of her family, police said.

According to the Sun-Sentinel, Harder was hired as a detention officer for the Fort Lauderdale Police Office in June 2022.

Harder, a U.S. Army reserve officer, has been placed on administrative leave without pay, according to Fort Lauderdale Police Department spokesperson Ali Adamson.June of 2022 as a detention officer, records show.

According to the Sun-Sentinel, officers with the Coral Springs Police Department responded to a scene at an apartment in Coral Springs at about 8:30 p.m. EDT and found a woman inside with a gunshot wound to her head.

Witnesses told police that they saw Harder carrying a child over his shoulder and running to a white Mercedes SUV in the parking lot of the apartment complex, WFOR-TV reported. Harder allegedly drove away from the scene, according to the television station.

Harder dropped off the child to the care of their biological father at 11:03 p.m., according to a news release from the Coral Springs Police Department.

“Harder later contacted the Coral Springs Police Department to turn himself in and was subsequently arrested in the lobby of our Police Station,” the news release stated.

It was unclear what Harder’s relationship was with the victim, the child or the child’s father, according to the Sun-Sentinel.

“The details surrounding these allegations are very difficult to hear and do not reflect the character and professionalism expected of the men and women of our agency,” Adamson said in a news release on Wednesday.

Harder remains in the Broward County Jail without bond, online records show.