A man in West Miami is currently recovering after shooting himself in the groin during an alleged attempt to kill his girlfriend's ex-boyfriend outside of an apartment complex, police reported earlier this week. The incident, which unfolded just before 3 p.m. on July 4 in the vicinity of Southwest 63rd Avenue and Ninth Street, led to Liban Guerra-Prado, 36, being identified as the man who fired the weapon, Local 10 News disclosed following a police statement.
Guerra-Prado is said to have fired twice at the intended victim, missing him and eventually shooting himself while trying to put the gun away; this sequence of events was captured on nearby surveillance footage, which showed the near-victim conversing with another person at the time of the shooting when Guerra-Prado discharged the weapon and one round grazed the man’s right pant leg without causing physical harm, authorities noted. Following the incident, both the victim and his associate fled the scene while Guerra-Prado went to an apartment, where he disposed of the gun and later was found by police lying in the parking garage.
Pete Delgado, the city’s acting police chief, told iHeart's Z105, shootings in the city are rare, emphasizing the locality's historically low incidence of such violent events by saying, "In fact, this is likely the first actual shooting we've had here in over 12 years." West Miami, flanked by Miami and Coral Gables, is a relatively small city of just over 7,000 residents where occurrences of this nature are unusual.
According to West Miami police, after leaving the hospital, Guerra-Prado was taken into custody and, having waived his Miranda rights, was interviewed with the audio recording of his statement included in the report that has been made public; he is facing charges of attempted murder with a firearm and illegal possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, although his mugshot was not immediately available on the Miami-Dade Corrections’ website, and his bond amount had not been set at the time of this report. The investigation into the circumstances leading up to the shooting continues.
