Officers Injured Outside Miami-Dade Police HQ; Suspect Fatally Shot

By David Ovalle and David Goodhue

Source Miami Herald

MIAMI—A gunman opened fired on Doral police on a busy road Friday morning, wounding two officers before they returned fire and killed him, the department said.

Both officers are expected to survive. One officer was injured in the face by shrapnel or broken glass. The other was shot in the chest, arm and leg — but he was saved by his bulletproof vest, Doral spokesman Rey Valdes said. That officer was rushed to Jackson West, and then later transported to Ryder Trauma Center in serious but stable condition.

The shooting happened just past 11 a.m. on Northwest 25th Street at 92nd Avenue — right next to Miami-Dade police headquarters.

The bizarre incident was the result of one car chasing another car along the thoroughfare after “some kind of dispute” between the drivers. “These two gentlemen had some kind of beef between them,” Valdes said.

One of the cars was actually driving to Miami-Dade police headquarters to seek safety. The other car — driven by the gunman — spun off the road and crashed into a tree, Valdes said.

“From what the officers are telling us, he crashed his vehicle and without any hesitation jumped out of the vehicle and opened fire on the officers,” Valdes said.

The gunman peppered one Doral officer’s car with at least six shots. During the firefight, a bystander who happened to be nearby was shot in the leg. He too is expected to be OK.

Video obtained by the Miami Herald from a bystander shows people cowering behind their cars in the parking lot of Miami-Dade police headquarters, as armed officers hustle toward the shooting.

The identity of the gunman was not immediately clear. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating the shooting, which happened less than a week after Hollywood police Officer Yandy Chirino, 28, was shot and killed during a scuffle with a teenage suspect.

“It’s just a stark reminder of the dangers our officers face every day,” Valdes said.

Doral Mayor Juan Carlos Bermudez called the incident along one of Doral’s main roads “unusual.”

“We are very lucky there were no other casualties,” Bermudez said.

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