A person was airlifted to a trauma center Thursday afternoon after a reported shooting in Miami Gardens sent officers rushing to the 20300 block of Northwest 35th Avenue. Miami-Dade Fire Rescue said one person was flown by helicopter to HCA Florida Aventura Hospital as a trauma alert, according to details from the scene.
Officers surrounded a vehicle found with its driver's side door open and several items scattered on the ground nearby, according to WPLG Local 10. Sky 10 was over the scene around 2:15 p.m. Thursday as investigators worked to piece together what happened. Authorities have not released information on the circumstances that led to the shooting, and Miami-Dade County authorities are investigating.
The decision to airlift the victim reflects Miami-Dade County's emergency medical protocols, which call for a trauma alert designation when an adult patient shows severe physiological distress alongside physical trauma, according to Miami-Dade County guidelines. That designation triggers priority transport meant to prevent trauma-induced mortality. Miami-Dade Fire Rescue's Air Rescue Bureau, which flies Leonardo AW139 helicopters out of bases including Opa-locka Airport, handles these rapid aero-medical transports for trauma-alert patients across northern Miami-Dade County, per AirMed&Rescue.
Why Aventura Hospital
HCA Florida Aventura Hospital, located on Biscayne Boulevard in northeastern Miami-Dade, is a state-designated Level II Trauma Center that has served northern Miami-Dade and southern Broward counties since 2015. The facility's specialized trauma capabilities explain why paramedics chose to fly the victim there rather than to a standard emergency room.
Miami Gardens, incorporated in 2003, is the third-most populous municipality in Miami-Dade County, spanning roughly 19 square miles with more than 111,000 residents in the north-central part of the county. The city sits between Fort Lauderdale and Miami and borders Broward County to its north. The Miami Gardens Police Department, led by Chief Delma K. Noel-Pratt since May 2017, oversees a force of more than 230 sworn officers handling criminal investigations and patrols across the city.
Surveillance Tools Available to Investigators
The city operates a Real Time Crime Center equipped with automated license plate readers, municipal video surveillance feeds, and ShotSpotter acoustic gunshot detection technology, according to Police1. Those tools could help detectives determine whether the abandoned vehicle found at the scene belonged to the victim or a suspect, and whether nearby cameras or license plate readers captured useful leads. Investigators have not said whether footage from the system has factored into the case so far.
Thursday's shooting adds to a string of gun violence that has rattled Miami Gardens throughout 2026. In April, a late-night shooting near Northwest 27th Avenue and Miami Gardens Drive sent another victim to a regional trauma center by helicopter, as Hoodline previously reported. In March, police responded to a midday street ambush on Northwest 167th Street where multiple rounds struck a moving vehicle, injuring an adult occupant. And in February, a 45-year-old father was fatally shot outside his residence, prompting a neighborhood canvass by homicide detectives.
If a suspect is identified and arrested, Florida law treats battery with a firearm as a second-degree felony punishable by up to 15 years in prison, with mandatory minimum sentencing enhancements applied when a firearm is discharged, under Florida Statutes covering battery and firearm offenses. The state's 10-20-Life law reclassifies violent felonies and imposes strict mandatory minimums when firearms cause injury. No arrests have been announced in Thursday's shooting, and the motive remains unknown.
