Previously Praised Florida Detention Officer Charged With Premeditated Murder

Florida authorities have accused a detention officer — commended by his bosses months ago via social media — of committing the premeditated murder of someone he had previously threatened to kill.

Coral Springs Police arrested Chase Harder on Tuesday, after he allegedly confessed to shooting someone multiple times.

Harder is a detention officer for the Fort Lauderdale Police Department. Authorities did not release Harder's age, and specific information about the victim was also not provided.

Calls started pouring into 911 around 8:26 p.m., and Coral Springs officers raised to the area were people had reported hearing shots.

One caller actually reported seeing a man hoist a child over one of his shoulders before fleeing from the victim's home, and speeding off in a white Mercedes Benz SUV.

Officers entered the home, and found the victim dead "with multiple gunshot wounds."

A statement from police claims that "through investigative resources, we were able to quickly obtain a license plate for the vehicle Harder was observed fleeing in and started our investigation."

Then, a call that came in just after 11 p.m. from the child's biological father, "saying that Harder had dropped the child off at his residence."

Harder later contacted the Coral Springs Police Department "to turn himself in and was subsequently arrested in the lobby of our Police Station. When Detectives were interviewing Harder, he confessed to the incident."

Harder was charged with single counts of premeditated murder and second-degree written threats to kill or do bodily injury. It was unclear if he had appeared in court to enter pleas to those charges. Information on his lawyer was also unavailable.

A motive, if known, was not disclosed by detectives. It was also unclear how Harder knew the child's father.

Back in December, Harder was singled out in a Facebook post on the Fort Lauderdale Police Department's page. The department noted it was "proud to announce our first graduate from Broward College / Institute of Public Safety's Basic Corrections Academy in nearly 20 years."

Harder was hired as a detention officer and worked in the department's Prisoner Intake Processing Facility. The post notes that he "was the recipient of the Academic Excellence Achievement Award for his time" in the police academy.

Prior to joining the department, Harder served as an Army Reserve military police soldier.