Driver hits several cars, threatens woman with knives before cop kills him, police say

A disoriented driver spooked by an ordinary traffic detail, ran a red light, slammed into several cars and threatened a woman with a pair of kitchen knives before being shot and killed Friday morning by a Miami-Dade police officer, police said.

The shooting death was at least the fourth time a local police officer has fired his weapon in less than a month. The first two deadly shootings were by Miami police. A Miami Gardens officer got into a shootout on a busy roadway Wednesday, but no one was injured.

Friday’s fatal encounter in Miami Lakes was unprompted, police said. The man was never approached by an officer or told to pull over and police never turned on sirens or chased him before he was gunned down in a strip mall parking lot.

“There was a pedestrian within a few feet [of the suspect] and the sergeant tried to de-escalate the situation,” said Interim Miami-Dade Police Director George Perez, at the scene. “From what I’ve seen, there was not a pursuit and there was never a chance to pull him over.”

Police had not named the dead man by early Friday afternoon. They said he was a Latin male in his 30s. They also did not name the police officer. Perez said the officer was a 20-year veteran who was supervising the motorcycle patrol unit’s seat-belt detail Friday morning.

A law enforcement source familiar with the incident said the sergeant who fired his weapon was shot in the back more than a decade ago during a call to service in Cutler Ridge.

Several law enforcement sources later identified the officer as Sgt. Chad Murphy. In 2003, Murphy was shot in the back by a homeowner who claimed he saw two silhouetted figures in his yard, one of them holding a shotgun, before he fired. The officers, who returned fire but missed targets, said they were searching for a vandal. Murphy was injured, but survived because he wore a protective vest.

Murphy, who was not injured during Friday’s encounter in Miami Lakes, will be placed on administrative leave for a few days and offered counseling. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement will investigate the shooting.

Police said Friday’s incident started during a very typical morning rush hour seatbelt traffic initiative on Northwest 67th Avenue near the Palmetto Expressway. During the enforcement, motorcycle cops on the sidewalk walk out to the street and observe through windows if driver’s were wearing seatbelts. If not, an officer knocks on a window and gives a warning or in some cases asks a driver to pull over to ticket them, Perez said.

But, the interim director said, a man driving a Honda shot by police sped off in traffic, crashing into cars and running a red light long before an officer even had a chance to peek into his window. It happened so quickly, Perez said, that the only thing the officer at the scene could do was radio ahead about the driver who had sped off.

Not long after, Murphy spotted him turning west onto Northwest 186th Street and tried following him. Perez said he never got on his loudspeaker or turned on his lights or siren. But before Murphy could stop him, the driver turned into a strip mall, hit another vehicle and was headed towards a Denny’s when he hit a pole and came to a stop. Police said they identified at least five cars he hit.

By then, Perez said, Murphy had pulled up on his motorcycle and the man had jumped out of his Honda. Perez said Murphy was still on his bike when he reached for his gun after seeing the man with a pair of kitchen knives get too close to a woman in the parking lot. Then the officer fired, striking the man. It wasn’t clear if Murphy even got off his motorcycle before firing.

Perez said the sergeant tried to resuscitate the man before he was transported to Jackson Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Murphy, Perez said, was wearing a body camera that is set up to automatically turn on when his gun is taken from its holster.

The mall where the shooting happened is not far from the Country Club of Miami and American Senior High, which was briefly placed on lockdown.

Stedman Stahl, president of the South Florida Police Benevolent Association, said Murphy had no choice but to draw his weapon and discharge.

“No officer ever wants to take the life of somebody,” said Stahl.

The earlier police shootings:

▪ On Feb. 14, a Miami police officer killed 70-year-old Lazaro Vargas-Yera in his home during a domestic violence call and after he found the man’s wife severely injured inside the home. Police said there was an exchange of gunfire.

▪ Another man was killed by Miami police on Tuesday afternoon just outside of Miami Northwestern Senior High after a traffic stop. Police said an officer spotted a weapon in the vehicle and the two men struggled before he was shot.

▪ On Wednesday, an officer and a group suspected of shooting two kids while they were in a classroom, got into a shootout on a busy Miami Gardens roadway. Miraculously, no one was injured.