South Dade gunman claims self-defense, but video tells different story: MDSO
.jpg "Brian Douglas Laoz was charged after surveillance video showed him firing aggressively at two men despite claiming self-defense, Miami-Dade deputies say.")
A man shot in the leg Tuesday night says he and another wounded man were ambushed in a Naranja neighborhood. However, the gunman painted a different picture to deputies: He was the victim defending himself, authorities say.
Brian Douglas Laoz, 22, was charged with two counts attempted premeditated murder and one count each of shooting a deadly missile, tampering with physical evidence and criminal mischief.
Laoz walked into the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office South District Station on Thursday, two days after the shooting, to speak to detectives who were looking for the man who shot a man in the leg and another in the face and leg, both of whom haven’t been identified.
READ MORE: South Miami-Dade shooting leaves two men injured, deputies say
According to deputies, Laoz described his coming forward as an act of goodwill as he told them he already made steps to be off the grid: he got a rental property in someone else’s name, stopped using his phone and planned to run away to Georgia.
Laoz said he and the men he shot had an “ongoing dispute” from two weeks prior, his arrest report read. On the morning of the shooting, one of the men confronted Laoz about a problem over a gun at a home in Naranja. An argument followed with the man holding a different gun as he spoke to Laoz. The other injured man was nearby when the confrontation happened.
Laoz said he stayed in the home for several hours before leaving to get food. When he came back, he saw the two men, one of whom pointed a gun at him and shouted, “I’m going to kill you,” deputies said. Laoz pulled out a gun and shot him and the other man before running away.
Detectives said Laoz’s claim of self-defense didn’t line up with what surveillance footage showed.
On camera, Laoz is seen shooting at both men, who try to take cover before running away. One of the men drove them both to Baptist Health Homestead Hospital as they were bleeding from their wounds.
Deputies said Laoz’s posture when he was pulling the trigger at least 20 times was aggressive and not defensive.
“There was no apparent indication of fear by [Laoz] and the movement of [Laoz] to continue moving forward at the victims while shooting appears intimidating and forceful, with premeditation,” deputies wrote in his arrest report.
Laoz was arrested and charged shortly after his talk with detectives. He still remains in the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center and was denied bond on the attempted premeditated murder charges. He is being represented by a Miami-Dade County public defender.
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