A Miami-Dade Sheriff's Office deputy who opened fire on a fleeing stolen vehicle outside Miami Central Senior High School has been cleared of any criminal wrongdoing, with prosecutors determining the shooting was legally justified. The suspect behind the wheel took off during the December 28 traffic stop and was never found, leaving the case unresolved more than seven months later.
The confrontation began around 6 p.m. near Northwest 17th Avenue and Northwest 95th Street in West Little River, directly outside the high school campus, when a deputy attempted to stop a vehicle suspected of being stolen, according to WPLG Local 10. The driver fled and, in doing so, almost struck the deputy, who then opened fire on the vehicle. Miami-Dade prosecutors have since determined the deputy was legally justified in firing his weapon, and body camera footage of the encounter has now been released.
The suspect fled on foot and has never been identified. Deputies later located the abandoned vehicle a short distance from the stop and recovered a firearm from inside it, according to the Miami-Dade Sheriff's Office, which logged the case under number PD251228378345 and immediately referred the officer-involved shooting to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement for independent review, per state protocol for deputy firearm discharges.
The Legal Standard Behind the Clearance
Under Florida Statute § 776.05, a deputy is legally justified in using deadly force when they reasonably believe it is necessary to defend themselves or others from imminent death or great bodily harm while making an arrest, according to the Office of Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle. Separately, Florida law enforcement use-of-force standards categorize a driver's deliberate use of a vehicle to strike or threaten an officer as deadly force in its own right, which is why a car nearly hitting a deputy can justify a firearm response, per Florida Atlantic University Police Department's general order on use of force.
The State Attorney's review is narrowly focused. It determines only whether a shooting meets the criminal threshold for justified force, and it does not evaluate whether the deputy's actions complied with internal department policy or whether the department could face civil liability, according to the same state attorney's office guidance. That distinction leaves open the question of whether the Florida Department of Law Enforcement or MDSO's internal affairs bureau will separately review the shooting for policy compliance, an outcome that remains unresolved.
A Pattern Emerging in West Little River
This is not the only West Little River deputy shooting prosecutors have cleared this year. In May, Miami-Dade prosecutors ruled that a different deputy was legally justified in another West Little River incident, after a driver fleeing a traffic stop ran toward the deputy carrying a handgun, according to CBS News Miami. Hoodline also reported on a deputy shooting during a February traffic stop just blocks away near Northwest 17th Avenue and 87th Street.
The December shooting also unfolded against a backdrop of heightened risk for MDSO deputies working traffic stops. In November 2025, 26-year-old Deputy Devin Jaramillo was killed in the line of duty during a traffic response in Kendall, a loss the community and department mourned in coverage of his death. That danger has been cited as context for why deputies are trained to treat vehicles used as weapons with the same seriousness as firearms.
A New Agency Facing Its First Test Cases
The shooting occurred during the first year of the newly re-established Miami-Dade Sheriff's Office, which officially replaced the Miami-Dade Police Department on January 7, 2025, after voters restored an elected sheriff for the first time since 1966, according to WLRN Public Media. The agency, now led by Sheriff Rosie Cordero-Stutz, has faced a string of officer-involved shooting reviews in its inaugural year, including this case and the incidents referenced above.
Authorities are asking anyone with information about the suspect's identity or whereabouts to contact Miami-Dade & The Florida Keys Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS (8477), which offers cash rewards of up to $5,000 for information leading to an arrest. More than seven months after the shooting, the driver who fled the scene has not been identified, and whether tips ultimately lead to an arrest remains an open question.
