A police-involved shooting in northwest Miami-Dade County resulted in officers discharging their weapons at an armed suspect while responding to a multidimensional incident on Wednesday evening. According to Local 10, the confrontation took place at around 7 p.m. along Northwest 24th Avenue, near 40th Street.
Witnesses reported a chaotic scene where children, unwittingly playing nearby, could have been caught in the dangerous exchange. Running from a multi-vehicle crash that police were also investigating, the armed man fled over NW 50 Street & NW 24 Avenue. Officers captured on a bystander's video could be heard commanding the suspect to "drop the gun" prior to the gunshots, as stated in the video footage obtained by Local 10 News.
The sequence of events escalated from a basic traffic violation according to Miami-Dade Police. "Police officers in marked units observed a vehicle that committed a traffic infraction, they activated their emergency equipment to conduct a traffic stop. That's when the subject refused to stop and fled," Miami-Dade Police Public Information Officer Alvaro Zabaleta detailed in a press briefing covered by CBS Miami. The suspect's vehicle was later involved in an accident, colliding with another vehicle before hurdling into a fence.
Following the crash, the armed suspect vacated the vehicle, with his gun, and attempted escape through a park where the children were playing. "The officers immediately gave chase on foot. They gave him multiple verbal commands to put the gun down. Shots were fired, the subject was struck," Zabaleta said in statements that were independently confirmed by CBS Miami. Miami Dade Fire Rescue promptly transported the man to JMH Ryder Trauma Center, where he is currently in critical condition.
No officers were harmed during the exchange, and, fortunately, neither was any child at the park. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement will be conducting a thorough investigation into the shooting, as is routine in officer-involved shootings. The identity of the armed man has not yet been revealed by police, nor any further details on his health status, as confirmed by authorities.
