Officers shoot man who was shooting a rifle into the air in Miami. He’s in critical condition
A Miami police officer shot a man who was shooting a rifle into the air at Northeast 10th Avenue and 79th Street Friday night.
According to Officer Michael Vega, police got several calls about a man firing a rifle in the West Little River neighborhood shortly after 8 p.m. Friday.
When police got there, they confronted the unidentified man and an officer, whose name was not released, fired his weapon and hit the man in the torso, Vega said in his report.
City of Miami Police Chief Manuel A. Morales conducted a brief press conference at the scene Friday night, Miami Herald news partner CBS News Miami reported.
“There was an exchange of gunfire from the officers striking the subject. There is a rifle on the scene. The offender is in critical condition at Jackson Trauma Center,” Morales told reporters.
“We don’t know why the man was armed,” Morales said.
Officers were not injured.
“I heard about 10 to 12 gunshots like before even the police got here,” a witness told WSVN Friday. “It’s crazy because innocent people live there, people work every day and some crazy guy just comes with a gun and shoots, like somebody could’ve got hurt.”
Florida Department of Law Enforcement detectives now lead the investigation, as is customary following a police shooting, Vega said.
“Agents are conducting interviews with officers and witnesses, and our forensic scientists are processing evidence,” Dana Kelly, FDLE’s communications coordinator, said in an email to the Miami Herald. The agency would not release further information Saturday afternoon.
