MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – Hours after a shootout that killed a fugitive wanted by police, a bullet-riddled car believed to have been driven by the suspect was placed on a flatbed truck, covered up and towed away.
Police and federal agents from the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were gathering evidence Friday at the intersection of Northwest Seventh Street and Northwest 72nd Avenue, where the suspect was fatally wounded the evening before in a shootout with authorities.
FBI Special Agent Brian Waterman said the suspect was armed with a rifle and exchanged gunfire with officers from the Miami-Dade and Miami police departments.
The suspect was pronounced dead at the scene. His identity was not immediately made available.
"He was involved in a hate crime investigation," Waterman said, declining to provide specifics.
Miami-Dade police Detective Alvaro Zabaleta said the suspect fled from officers and a police pursuit ensued, during which time shots were fired.
A high-powered rifle was recovered at the scene.
Waterman said nobody else was wounded in the shootout.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating the police-involved shooting.
Although authorities have not confirmed the identity of the suspect, a 36-year-old openly gay man told Local 10 News that Alexander Carballido, a 40-year-old convicted felon on probation, attacked him inside his home.
The victim, who said he drives for Uber and works as a security guard, said Carballido probably spotted him at the XXX store on LeJeune Road by the airport "because a lot of gay men go there." He said he was there Monday.
He said Carballido likely got his phone number from a fellow Uber driver. The victim gave Carballido his address and invited him inside his home Wednesday in Allapattah.
The victim said once he was inside his home, Carballido forced him to take off his clothes, pointed a gun at him and said, "All gay men should be dead." The victim said he continued to insult him, and as he got dressed, Carballido pistol-whipped him and took $500 in cash and thousands in jewelry.
Florida Department of Corrections records show Carballido was released from prison July 1, after serving time for kidnapping, aggravated battery, carjacking with a deadly weapon, fleeing and eluding police and aggravated assault on a police officer.