‘We started running.’ 1 dead, 1 hurt in shooting inside a Miami-Dade Walmart, cops say
One man was killed and an innocent bystander was injured Wednesday afternoon after police say an argument escalated to a barrage of bullets being sprayed inside a Walmart near the entrance to the Florida Keys.
Nathaniel Baez died, Miami-Dade police said. He was 23. One database said Baez lived in Homestead.
Several others were caught in the ensuing chaos, suffering minor injuries.
Detective Alvaro Zabaleta, a Miami-Dade police spokesman, said the shooting stemmed from an argument between two groups of three people in the Walmart, 33501 S. Dixie Highway, in Florida City. One person was arrested, with authorities looking for five more suspects.
Just before 3 p.m., this argument turned into a physical fight. One of the men subsequently pulled out a gun and started firing.
A bullet struck Baez, who was in the other group, as well as a shopper who had nothing to do with the altercation, Zabaleta said. The second man was shot in the foot.
Both men were taken to Jackson South Medical Center, where Baez died, Zabaleta said
Zabaleta said earlier reports saying that the melee was an active shooter situation were not true.
“This was not an active shooter,” he said. “It was an isolated incident between two groups.”
Dozens of police cars from multiple agencies — Miami-Dade, Homestead, Florida City, and even the FBI — flooded the Walmart parking lot following the incident. Officers with MDPD’s Priority Response team came in and arrested one of the men who were fighting.
It’s not clear whether he was the shooter, Zabaleta said, adding investigators need to review the security camera footage. Other individuals in the two groups fled and were not caught, he said. Police are still searching for five more suspects.
There were others injured in the mayhem, including a woman who slipped, fell and hit her head. Miami-Dade Fire Rescue treated five other people at the store who had cuts and scrapes. Another woman was treated for heat exhaustion.
Given the amount of people in the store at the time, and the fact that one of the wounded was an innocent bystander, Zabaleta said the incident “could have been all the more tragic.”
‘I heard the shots’
The Florida City Walmart is more than just a local grocer for area residents. Travelers and tourists on their way to the Florida Keys, as well as Keys residents, pick up cheap essentials at the southernmost Walmart in the United States.
There are no Walmarts in the Keys and few regular big box stores. Foot traffic is particularly heavy at this Walmart store compared to other south Miami-Dade locations. Even a weekday afternoon could see lines of grocers.
Residents and employees watched as paramedics and officers worked the scene. At least one witness was also in the crowd.
A woman, who did not want to be named, was inside the store when shots rang out, although she said she did not see who pulled the trigger.
“I heard the shots, and I ran out,” the woman said.
Two 15-year-old friends, whom the Miami Herald chose not to name because they’re minors, went to Walmart to check out some video games. But their plans quickly changed. Just as they entered the store, chaos ensued.
“They started shooting, and we saw the blood and we started running,” one of the boys said.
An Instagram video shows screaming and shouting inside the Walmart — moments after the shooting. A person can be seen lying on the ground, motionless, being attended to by bystanders.
The caption of the video read, “Witnesses say it was an argument and then gunshots.”
Miami Herald reporter Omar Rodriguez Ortiz contributed to this story.
