Miami-Dade

Crime

Reward offered for information in Miami-Dade correction officer’s death

 

The Dade Police Benevolent Association hopes reward money will lead to more tips in the case of a slain corrections officer.

 

Andrew Johnson
Andrew Johnson
Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers

dmoskovitz@MiamiHerald.com

The reward for information leading to an arrest in the case of a corrections officer shot to death in his driveway grew Wednesday, while police continued to search for the killer.

Officer Andrew Johnson, 46, was off-duty when he was shot dead Saturday night outside his Miami Gardens home near Northwest 211th Street and 27th Avenue.

He was married, had three children and had been with the Miami-Dade Corrections and Rehabilitation Department for a decade.

On Wednesday, the Dade County Police Benevolent Association announced it had raised $5,000 to put toward the reward for information that leads to an arrest.

PBA President John Rivera said the money came from fellow officers and members of the community. They hope the money and ability to remain anonymous would encourage people with information to come forward.

“Someone has to have seen something,” Rivera said.

Miami-Dade police are investigating. But what motivated the killer — and if that person even knew Johnson was a corrections officer — remained unclear Wednesday.

Johnson graduated from Miami Central Senior High School, the PBA said, and received an associate degree from Miami-Dade College.

He started with Miami-Dade corrections in 2001, according to the corrections department, and worked the day shift at the Metro West Detention Center.

Outside of work, Johnson served as an elder, head deacon and drum player at Razor Sharp Ministries in Miami. He volunteered to feed the needy and mentor youth.

On Saturday night, according to the PBA, Johnson’s wife, Ebony, was out getting her nails done. He dropped off his daughter at a movie theater and came home, where he was shot in the driveway.

“They killed a life. And let’s assume for a second that they didn’t know he was a corrections officer, they are still a danger to the community,” Rivera said. “And if they knew he was a law enforcement officer, it only intensifies that danger. If you’re willing to kill a law enforcement officer, you still surely will kill anybody.”

Anyone with information is urged to call Miami-Dade County Crime Stoppers, anonymously, at 305-471-8477.

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