A former Olympic boxer was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of planning to commit a mass shooting at a Miami gym — the same week that mass killings in Colorado Springs and Chesapeake, Va., left at least 11 people dead.
TAMPA, Fla. — Former boxer Azea Augustama was arrested on Wednesday after he allegedly made plans and threatened to shoot up a Miami-area gym, according to the Miami Herald.
Augustama, 39, was charged with two felony counts of issuing written threats to commit a mass shooting and one count of threatening to kill. According to the Herald, Augustama was working as a personal trainer and was a member at the BOXR Gym in Miami, but he had his membership revoked earlier this month after an alleged argument at the facility.
Then on Tuesday, Augustama called police in an attempt to get his belongings from the gym, as he was issued a trespass warning. Later that day, however, he posted a photo on Instagram of the man who shot and killed 17 students and teachers at Parkland High School in South Florida in 2018. He wrote that he was “considering shooting” people for being kicked out of his gym and “saying I touched a girl,” and that he was “willing to shoot with an actual gun or [bazooka],” per the report.
Police said he then drove to put a deposit on an AK-47 rifle at a local pawn shop. Augustama was detained at the pawn shop before he could take possession of the gun.
Augustama, who was born in Haiti and moved to Florida when he was a child, finished his boxing career with a 20-3-0 overall record with 12 knockouts. He last fought in 2017 when he fell to Gusmyr Perdomo. Augustama, who earned the nickname the “Haitian Hitman,” also competed in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing for Haiti.
According to court records obtained by WFLA, Azea Agustama, 39, was arrested on Tuesday on two counts of making written threats to commit a mass shooting/terrorism and a county of making a written threat to kill or cause bodily harm.
According to WFLA, authorities say Agustama had made multiple threats on Instagram to harm or kill employees at the BOXR Gym in Miami, Florida, on Tuesday. Reportedly, the threats came about 11 days after Agustama’s membership to the gym was revoked and he was given a trespass warning.
His membership was revoked and the trespass warning came after Agustama reportedly got into an argument with someone, according to an arrest report obtained by WTVJ. At the time, he was working as a personal trainer.
Agustama reportedly called the police on Tuesday prior to the threats to see if he could go back to the gym to get his personal items, according to WTVJ.
In one of the posts, Agustama allegedly had a picture of the gunman from the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School with a long caption that said he had been thinking about shooting multiple people at the gym, according to an arrest report obtained by WTVJ. He added that he was “willing to shoot with a actual [sic] gun or bazooka for righteousness sake.”
According to court records obtained by WFLA, Agustama allegedly also sent a photo of one of his intended targets to a witness that said, “He’s first when I get my gun or with something else first (RIP).”
Following the multiple threats, Agustuama allegedly placed a $150 deposit on an AK-47 at a pawnshop in Opa-locka. According to WTVJ, he was taken into custody at the pawnshop. At a court hearing on Wednesday, Agustama was ordered to be held on a $3 million bond.
According to WTVJ, Agustama was born in Haiti and then grew up in Miami. He was a light heavyweight boxer with about 18 professional wins at venues in the area called Miami Kai and Magic City Casino.
WTVJ said that in 2008, Agustama represented Haiti at the Beijing, China, Olympic Games. Also in 2008, Agustama won a gold medal at the National Golden Gloves tournament.
WTVJ reported that Agustama was known as “Haitian Hitman.”
No further information has been released.