Security guard wounds two men who tried to rob him at gunpoint, MDSO says
.jpg "Miami-Dade deputies say two robbers were casing a parking lot before getting into a shootout with a security guard on Feb. 16, 2026.")
A security guard at a Miami-Dade County apartment complex shot two men who tried robbing him early Monday morning, according to the sheriff’s office.
READ MORE: Triple shooting during an attempted robbery in Miami-Dade, police say
The guard — who was sitting in his car in the parking lot of the Regency Pointe Apartments at 1901 Northwest 79th Street moments before the violence broke out — was also wounded with a gunshot to the back of the head. He was taken to a hospital and was in stable condition Tuesday, according to the sheriff’s office.
Deputies arrived at the complex around 4 a.m. and found the wounded guard holding one of the men, 20-year-old Frederick Pickens Jr., who was shot several times, according to Pickens’ arrest report.
Before arriving at Regency Pointe, deputies found the other suspect, 20-year-old Javarus Manuel Hernandez, wounded in the parking lot of a Church’s Texas Chicken, two blocks away, according to the report.
Deputies say Hernandez and Pickens were casing the apartment complex’s parking lot trying to get into unlocked cars before the shooting. They tried opening the driver’s side of the guard’s car door, but it was locked, according to the report. The guard confronted the men and asked them what they were doing on the property, the report states.
Hernandez and Pickens pulled out guns and robbed the guard and took items from his car, according to the report. As they were going through his car, the guard disarmed Pickens and shot him, deputies say.
He then exchanged gunfire with Hernandez. The guard was hit in the back of the head, but he also struck Hernandez. Deputies found a trail of blood drops and bloody footprints leading from the apartments to the Church’s Chicken parking lot, according to the report.
All three men were listed in stable condition when they were taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital. Hernandez has been released from the hospital and was booked into the Miami-Dade Pre-Trial Detention Center late Monday night. On Tuesday, he was being held awaiting bond on charges of attempted murder, armed robbery and carjacking.
According to his arrest report, Pickens faces the same charges.
