After being shot by cops, driver careens into home as family slept, police say

Two Miami Gardens police officers were injured after being struck by a vehicle trying to flee police, before they shot and killed the driver, Miami Gardens police said Friday.

After the suspect was shot, the black SUV he was driving careened across the street and into a home where a family was sleeping. No one in the home was injured, according to police.

Officers “approached the car and got the driver’s attention,” said Miami Gardens Police Chief Delma Noel-Pratt. “The vehicle tried to flee and struck my officers. The officers discharged their weapons.”

Noel-Pratt said an officer was on routine patrol at about 4 a.m. when he spotted the vehicle on Northwest 189th Street, between First and Second avenues. The officer ran the license plate, and it came back stolen. The officer called for backup. When backup arrived, the officers approached the vehicle.

As they got the man’s attention, Noel-Pratt said, he tried to flee and struck two officers. Both received leg injuries. One of the officers was released from the hospital later in the morning. A second officer with a knee injury remained hospitalized.

By late Friday morning police had not released the names of the officers or of the man shot to death. Police said that the suspect was the only person in the vehicle and that a gun was recovered from the scene. It was not immediately clear if the suspect fired the weapon.

“The subject succumbed to his injuries. We’re still trying to identify him,” said Miami Gardens police spokeswoman Carolyn Frazer.

Andy Axelrad, an attorney with Miami-Dade’s Police Benevolent Association, which represents Miami Gardens police, called the shooting justified and said the incident was recorded on a camera worn by a cop.

This story was originally published October 19, 2018 at 8:42 AM.