‘Like something you’d see in the movies.’ Man wounded after firing at Gardens cops in car chase
A man was wounded after a car chase, crash and gunfight with Miami Gardens police officers Monday afternoon, the department and a union official said.
The shooting happened at about 2 p.m. Monday on the 2200 block of Bunche Park Drive, near Bunche Park.
According to officials, Miami Gardens officers on a detail tried pulling over the car when someone inside the vehicle opened fire.
The president of the South Florida Police Benevolent Association, Steadman Stahl, told the Herald that two men were hanging out of the passenger side of the car as it sped off — firing at officers.
“Like something you’d see in the movies,” Stahl said.
“A subject within that vehicle started shooting at my officers,” Police Chief Delma Noel-Pratt told WFOR-CBS4. “Gunfire was exchanged between my officer and one of the subjects in the car.”
The car crashed, and at least one man emerged firing, Stahl said. He said only one Miami Gardens police officer opened fire after the crash, wounding the gunman.
News helicopter footage showed a white car that crashed into a chain-link fence.
Miami Gardens did not release the name or condition of the alleged gunman wounded in the incident. One law-enforcement source said the wound was considered minor. All three men in the car were taken into custody.
The department did not say what, if any, charges the men will face.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement, as it does for all Miami Gardens police shootings, will investigate the case. Ultimately, the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office will decide whether the Miami Gardens officer was justified in firing his weapon.
