Suspected gunman in Aventura Mall shooting jailed, claims he fired in self-defense

Authorities have arrested a man they say shot and wounded two unarmed men after a fistfight inside the Aventura Mall.

Jose Belony, 22, was booked into a Miami-Dade jail early Saturday on two charges of attempted murder with a deadly weapon.

Police believe Belony and another man got into a heated brawl with another pair of men at the entrance of Nordstrom at the popular mall in Northeast Miami-Dade County on Friday morning. Moments after the brawl was over and the men had separated, Belony took out a gun and fired a flurry of rounds at the man.

Belony, during questioning by police, claimed that he was “in fear for life” when he fired at the men, even though he admitted the men were not armed, according to an arrest report.

But the the shooting was captured on mall surveillance video and showed the victims were “beyond arms reach,” according to the arrest report.

The two victims, who have not been identified, were rushed to the hospital by paramedics. One was in stable condition. The other was in critical but stable condition on Friday. Both are expected to survive.

Police officers assigned to the mall chased Belony and his friend, Jimmy Georges, into a parking garage, where they were arrested without incident.

“The general public was in no danger,” an Aventura police spokesman, Hans Maestre, told reporters on Friday afternoon. He called the actions of the officer “heroic.”

This story was originally published May 30, 2020 at 8:30 AM.