Broward sheriff’s detectives looking for hijacked bus after gunfight near the airport
Broward Sheriff’s detectives are looking for a county para-transit bus and the man involved in hijacking it Friday morning following a shooting with deputies.
The shooting happened shortly before 5 a.m. in the 1400 block of Perimeter Road, said BSO spokeswoman Claudinne Caro. The sheriff’s office did not release details of the shooting by the deputy, but Miami Herald news partner CBS Miami took an aerial image of a Mercedes-Benz sedan riddled with bullet holes on the driver’s side windshield.
One of the people involved in the gunfight then hijacked the bus, removed the driver, and left the area in the bus, Caro said in a statement. There were no passengers on the shuttle, according to the sheriff’s office.
The shooting and search for the hijacker prompted authorities to close several roads near Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport., shutdowns that lasted until noon, the airport said in a statement on Twitter.
Later in the afternoon, BSO said the suspect got away on the bus.
Detectives are searching for Leandro Fernandez Sanchez, 33, and the 2019 Collins bus, which is part of the county’s TOPS para-transit program. It is designated bus number 309. The license plate number is T10261.
Deputies advise not to approach Sanchez, but instead alert authorities.
Anyone with information about the bus is asked to call Broward Crime Stoppers at (954) 493-TIPS (8477). Or, go online at browardcrimestoppers.org.
“Deputies are actively searching for the hijacker. At this time, the circumstances of the shooting are under active investigation. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is on scene and will investigate the shooting,” Caro said.
This developing story will be updated.
This story was originally published February 17, 2023 at 7:54 AM.
