MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – A man believed to be responsible for killing two family members and shooting an attorney at his Kendall law office was shot and taken into custody after a long standoff with police, Miami-Dade police Detective Alvaro Zabaleta said.
Fadel Jabado, 54, was shot by police Wednesday in a southwest Miami-Dade County field after he pointed his gun at officers who were attempting to get him to surrender, Zabaleta said.
"The individual did tell our negotiators that he intended to die today," Miami-Dade Police Director Juan Perez told reporters during a news conference.
Perez said Jabado attempted to bait officers into shooting him.
"He did not want to do it to himself because of his religion," Perez said.
Sky 10 was above the scene as the suspect was placed onto a stretcher and loaded into the back of an ambulance. He was then flown to Jackson South Community Hospital, where he was listed in critical condition.
Police said Jabado walked into the Law Offices of Larry A. Harshman, P.A. hours earlier and shot attorney Larry Harshman. The 58-year-old attorney was taken by ambulance to Kendall Regional Medical Center in critical condition.
Further investigation led officers to Jabado's last known address at 13570 SW 192nd St., where they found the bodies of Jabado's wife and adult son. Police said Bassima Jabado, 43, and Ahmed Jabado, 26, had been shot to death.
Police later found Fadel Jabado sitting inside a red SUV in a nearby field, where he was armed with a gun and refused to surrender.
Officers at a distance had their guns drawn and pointed in the direction of the SUV. Jabado got in and out of his vehicle several times before he was shot.
A motive for the shootings was not immediately known, but records show that Harshman prepared the deed to Jabado's home in 2013 when he and his wife sold it.
File: Jabado family's warranty deed
Gonzalo Cordova told Local 10 News that he works in the building where Harshman was shot.
"The secretary was coming out screaming to somebody, 'Please call 911,' that Mr. Harshman had been shot," Cordova said.
Cordova said the secretary told him that Harshman looked "very, very pale."
"They did say that he got shot five times," Cordova said.