FLORIDA CITY, Fla. – Miami-Dade Police Department detectives were searching Friday for three possible witnesses who they want to question, as they continue to investigate why a Florida City Police Department officer decided to shoot and kill 23-year-old Juvon Simon.
Miami-Dade Detective Lee Cowart reported officers said they found an Intratec, TEC-9 next to Simon, and an AK-47 rifle "readily accessible" inside the apartment. Police said there is a public photo on Facebook that shows Simon with what appears to be a TEC-9.
"The preliminary investigation revealed Mr. Simon was armed with a firearm at the time of the confrontation with the Florida City Police detectives," Cowart wrote in a statement.
The officer killed Simon Wednesday at the Gateway Apartments, 155 NW 14 St. There were still two bullet holes on the door of apartment 4 Thursday when his friends talked about his death.
Simon's friend Breon Lester said that he was in the kitchen when Simon came in running into the apartment yelling that he was being chased by police officers. Lester said Simon was not threatening the officers -- the officers were threatening him.
"He tried to close the door," Lester said. "They were touching through the door, so the police shot, BOOM! And then, when he shot, the police like yanked the door open and he tried to run and they hit him in the back."
Hours after he talked to Local 10 News, Miami-Dade detectives released a flyer saying Miami-Dade Detective Zubair Khan wants to question John Clemont, 29, James Villanueva, 26, and Lester, 18, about what they witnessed.
Simon's relatives say the officer had it in for Simon and had arrested him several times before and the Florida City Police Department often decided to let him go. An uncle said that even though he was out there "hanging out" in the neighborhood, Simon didn't deserve to die.
The Miami-Dade Police Department has yet to identify the officer who killed Simon pending the results of their investigation. Khan was asking anyone with information about where Lester, Clement and Villanueva are to call him at 305-471-2400 or call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 1-866-471-8477..
