Police fire at Mercedes SUV during traffic stop in Miami Gardens

Two Miami-Dade police officers opened fire on an SUV during an attempted traffic stop Monday morning in Miami Gardens.

Police said two male officers tried to stop a black Mercedes SUV near the Burger King at 17951 NW 27th Ave. A man was driving the SUV with three females, one of them a juvenile, inside.

Without giving details, officials said the officers were forced to fire at the SUV when the traffic stop went awry. Witnesses inside the Burger King said they heard three gunshots outside during the incident.

“Shots were fired,” Miami-Dade Detective Marjorie Eloi said. “We don’t have all the details as to where and how many people were struck and the injuries they incurred.”

The SUV fled and was later found abandoned at Northwest 177th Street and Seventh Avenue.

Police later located two of the people in the car and took them into custody. Two others, including the juvenile, were found in nearby hospitals with non-life-threatening injuries. It is not clear how they got to the medical facilities.

Police initially reported the two officers had fired after the SUV rammed into the officers’ patrol car and then drove directly at the officers. Police later said that information could not be confirmed.

Few other details were available Monday night. Miami-Dade police did not identify the officers or anyone in the SUV, and no charges have been filed. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is leading the investigation into the incident.

According to department policy, Miami-Dade officers can shoot at a vehicle if they consider it a threat to their lives or others.

This is the latest in a series of traffic stops in Miami Gardens that erupted in gunfire. Early Sunday, a Miami man wearing a bulletproof vest was shot by a Miami Gardens officer after police said he pulled out a gun during a traffic stop. Four days earlier, a Florida Highway Patrol officer killed a man during a Miami Gardens traffic stop after the man drove away with the officer clinging to the hood of his car.

This story was originally published May 30, 2016 at 7:17 PM with the headline "Police fire at Mercedes SUV during traffic stop in Miami Gardens."