MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – A South Florida woman spoke to Local 10 News Thursday about witnessing her son being shot by one of three men believed to be involved in the theft of their car.
The shooting was reported about midnight Tuesday at a Shell gas station at North Miami Avenue and Northwest 82nd Street.
Miami-Dade police said the victim, identified as Lazaro Manuel Arencibia, 26, and his family members discovered that their gray 2009 Ford Fusion had been stolen from their home so they went out looking for it.
Police said they went to pump gas in their other car when they saw three men putting gas into their stolen Fusion.
Police said Arencibia approached the backseat of a Hyundai that one of the thieves was sitting in and punched him. Police said that man then pulled out a gun and shot the victim in the stomach.
"When you see the video, are you shocked?" Local 10 News reporter Todd Tongen asked.
"I can't (watch it)," Rosemary Gonzales said. "It is over and over and over."
Gonzales said she turns her head away from the TV when surveillance video of her son getting shot is played on the news. She said living through it once was bad enough.
"I was panicked," Gonzales said. "My other son was in shock. I was in shock. I was trying to dial 911. It was surreal. I just couldn't assimilate it at the moment. Thank God my other son was there."
Arencibia's brother, Xavier, was there to apply pressure to his brother's wound to try and stop the bleeding until paramedics arrived.
Gonzales said her family went to fill up their other car with gas because she had to work later that morning.
"We just happen to pass by and they were pumping gas into my car," Gonzales said.
Police said two of the young men who allegedly stole their 2009 Ford Fusion were caught on camera inside the convenience store.
Arencibia was shot moments later when he confronted one of the men.
"What happened was, I am thinking in his mind he wanted to hold one of them down until the police got there. That was the idea I guess in his mind," Gonzales said. "But it turned out to be something else."
Arencibia was taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital, where he is still recovering from his injuries.
Police are searching for the three men who fled the scene in a blue Hyundai Sonata.
Anyone with information is asked to call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS.