Man shot his cousin after quarrel over a parking spot, Miami cops say. He’s locked up

Adlai Coleman
·2 min read
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A man was arrested after police say he shot his cousin multiple times during a dispute over a parking spot outside a Miami home.

Elder Cruz faces charges of attempted murder, discharging a firearm and grand theft. The 51-year-old is being held at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center without bond.

Just before noon Saturday, police responded to reports of a shooting on the 2700 block of Southwest 31st Place. When officers arrived to the home, located minutes away from Coral Gables Hospital, they found a man who had been shot several times.

The man told police that he and Cruz — his cousin who had been living with him for the past year — had a quarrel about a parking spot. According to an arrest report, Cruz’s cousin asked him move his car from the spot, but Cruz refused.

The victim then said he didn’t know why Cruz was “acting so tough when your wife runs this house,” according to police. Enraged, Cruz pulled a Glock-19 pistol from his waistband and pointed it at his cousin’s neck.

“You want to see what kind of man I am?” Cruz asked in Spanish, the report states.

“Don’t do this, you’re going to kill me,” his cousin responded before, police say, Cruz fired the gun at his cousin’s arm, a bullet grazing him on the wrist.

“I’m going to kill you,” Cruz said, according to the report.

Shortly after, Cruz fired at his cousin three more times, the report says. Bullets hit the man’s leg, though he was able to run into his bedroom and lock himself inside. Cruz, pounding on the bedroom door, told his cousin to leave — or else he would kill him.

That’s when, the report says, Cruz’s wife called police. The man was taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Ryder Trauma Center, where he was treated for the four gunshot wounds. His current condition is unknown.

At the scene, investigators found a pistol and three magazines of ammunition, the report states. Records revealed that the gun used in the shooting was reported stolen from Palm Beach Gardens in 2021.