MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – Miami-Dade police are searching for two people who were caught burglarizing a home Monday morning in southwest Miami-Dade.
According to police, a man returned to his home in the area of Southwest 285th Terrace and 143rd Court just before 9:30 a.m. and found two people inside.
Detectives said the crooks had smashed a rear window to get inside the home.
Police said the man, identified as Filmon Ortiz, 37, chased the burglars down the street and tried to corner them while he called 911.
Police said one of the burglars pulled out a gun and fired at the victim, striking his truck. Ortiz was not hit.
"They jumped the fence to the neighbor's home," Ortiz told Local 10 News reporter Glenna Milberg. "I went around the front. I saw them and when I tried to catch them, he pulled out a gun and fired at me seven times. I hid behind the palm tree."
"I would be scared," neighbor Cassandra Blake said. "I mean, what, I'm going to run behind them? I don't even own a weapon, so I thank God nothing happened because I wouldn't have known what to do."
Another neighbor said residents should be armed or have some kind of protection in case they come face to face with a burglar.
"If he'd been legally armed, he may have been able to take care of his own problem," Garry McKeehen said. "I carry my weapon everywhere I go."
Detectives continue to search for the burglars, who are described as black men in their early 20s. They were wearing hooded sweatshirts at the time of the burglary, police said.
Anyone with information is asked to call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS.