ABC25 WPBF – A Delray Beach man was shot and killed by SWAT team members on Thursday morning after turning toward them with a handgun during an attempted narcotics arrest.

Multiple detectives from Broward County Sheriff’s Office, along with SWAT team officials and ATF agents, tried to arrest Zy Shonne Johnson shortly before noon. The investigators had a warrant for the 23-year-old’s arrest for narcotic charges.

Officials report that Johnson believed he was meeting up to do an illegal drug transaction.

The officials were surveilling a parking lot near Broward Boulevard and Northwest 27th Avenue in Central Broward.

When deputies moved in to take Johnson into custody, he fled in an Infiniti sedan.

BSO reports that Johnson crashed into multiple vehicles before the sedan stopped working at an entrance to the Broward Boulevard Public Safety Building.

At that time, Johnson got out of the Infiniti and fled on foot.

Officials say when investigators gave Johnson verbal commands to surrender, west of the intersection of Broward Boulevard and Northwest 27th Avenue, he turned toward the deputies armed with a handgun … READ MORE. 

The Health Risks Are Real

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) – The regular or habitual use of drugs can also cause  harms including:

Cocaine: Highly addictive, cocaine is involved in nearly one in five overdose deaths; its health effects include asthma, bowel decay, and increased risk of HIV.

Methamphetamine (Meth): Meth causes devastating health effects, and sometimes death, even on the first try. Meth speeds up the body’s systems to dangerous levels. Chronic users experience anxiety, confusion, insomnia, paranoia, aggression, and more.

Prescription and illicit opioids: Highly addictive, the substances are the top cause of overdose deaths; health effects include confusion, nausea, constipation, coma, and brain damage.

Marijuana: Even though it is legal in many states, studies link marijuana use to various negative outcomes.

Before the risks become real and before drugs turn your life—and your family—upside down, know there is help. You can quit.

The Rise of Drug Use for Adults Ages 26-49

While young adults ages 18-25 have the highest rates of drug use across the board, drug use among adults ages 26-49 is on the rise:

• The percentage of adults age 26 and older using marijuana daily or almost daily has nearly doubled since 2015.
• Cocaine use and death rates have risen; cocaine-involved overdose rates in the U.S. have risen annually since 2012.
• Meth use is on the rise and overdose death rates climbed more than five-fold for those ages 25 to 54 between 2011 and 2018.

The nation remains in a prescription and illicit opioids crisis, as 81,230 drug overdose deaths occurred in the U.S.—the highest single year ever reported—in the 12 months ending in May 2020; most of the overdose deaths involved a prescription or illicit opioid. READ MORE.