Holly MatkinMiami, FL – A Miami-Dade Police Department (MDPD) detective was clinging to life early Tuesday morning after being shot in the head while trying to apprehend a robbery suspect hours earlier.
Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava and MDPD Director Alfredo Ramirez spoke with reporters about the attack shortly after midnight on Aug. 16, the Miami Herald reported.
They said the wounded hero was in “very, very critical condition,” according to FOX News.
“He was critically shot by an armed subject while protecting his community,” Director Ramirez told reporters, according to the Miami Herald. “We need the community to please stand as one and pray.”
South Florida Police Benevolent Association (PBA) President Steadman Stahl acknowledged that the detective’s prognosis was “not looking good.”
The detective, who is in his late 20s, is a member of the MDPD’s Robbery Intervention Detail (RID), which focuses of apprehending fugitives and those accused of committing violent offenses, the Miami Herald reported.
RID detectives generally patrol the city’s high-crime areas and use unmarked vehicles.
Law enforcement sources said police were searching for a white car on Monday night after an armed robbery took place at a convenience store in Dania Beach, the Miami Herald reported.
Police said they ultimately located the suspect vehicle at a Miami Springs Hotel.
Detectives stopped the vehicle near 67th Street and Northwest 17th Avenue in the Liberty City neighborhood at approximately 8:15 p.m. on Monday, FOX News reported.
Police said the suspect refused to exit the vehicle and “barricaded” himself inside before he began slamming the car into multiple MDPD vehicles “in an attempt to flee,” according to the Miami Herald.
A brief pursuit ensued, but the gunman ultimately crashed into a passing vehicle and a pole near 7th Avenue and Northwest 62nd Street.
Police said the RID detective pulled his SUV within inches of the suspect’s vehicle in an attempt to block him in and had just gotten out of his patrol unit when he was shot in the head, according to the Miami Herald.
The alleged gunman was fatally wounded by police moments later.
His identity was not immediately released.
Investigators said it was unclear how many rounds were fired in the shootout.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) is handling the ongoing investigation into the incident, the Miami Herald reported.
Three people who were inside the vehicle the suspect slammed into were transported to the hospital in stable condition, according to the South Florida Sun Sentinel.
The wounded detective was immediately rushed to Ryder Trauma Center at Jackson Memorial Hospital, where he continued to cling to life early Tuesday morning.
His identity was not immediately released.
Law enforcement officers from multiple jurisdictions flocked to the hospital in the wake of the shooting, the Miami Herald reported.
Multiple streets near the scene of the shooting remained shut down on Tuesday morning, according to the Miami Herald.
— Miami-Dade Police (@MiamiDadePD) August 16, 2022
As a Miami-Dade resident, I am saddened to hear about one of our @MiamiDadePD heroes who was shot last night.
Every day, the men and women in blue put on the badge not knowing if they’ll make it home. Please pray for the family and their loved ones.
— Jeanette Nuñez (@LtGovNunez) August 16, 2022
I can confirm a police-involved shooting of a Miami Dade county police officer at 62 street and NW 7 Ave in the City of Miami. @MiamiPD assisting county police in the investigation. I ask everyone in our city and county to please pray for the officer and his family.
— Mayor Francis Suarez (@FrancisSuarez) August 16, 2022
PRAYERS FOR OUR BROTHER IN BLUE
The men and women of Constable Mark Herman's office extend our prayers to the Miami Dade Police Officer who was shot in the head last night and is fighting for his life.
The robbery suspect was killed, following a car crash pic.twitter.com/YwSsjaRm7t
— Mark Herman, Harris County Constable Precinct 4 (@Pct4Constable) August 16, 2022
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