MIAMI, Fla. – A man wanted in Atlanta has been identified as the person responsible for a shooting death in October aboard a Miami-Dade County bus.
Miami police said that Malik Osiris Horton was charged with one count of second degree murder for killing 33-year-old Brandon Lamar Bennett.
Horrified witnesses said they saw Bennett hanging out of a Miami-Dade County Transit bus on Wednesday, Oct. 21 at 7 p.m. According to investigators, they received a call to the area of Northwest 36th Street and 30th Avenue and found Bennett hanging halfway outside the bus.
(Surveillance video shows moments before shooting aboard Miami-Dade bus. Horton was identified from this video.)
“He was with his feet in the bus, and his torso was outside the bus,” said Officer Michael Vega of the Miami PD.
Miami Fire Rescue workers arrived and declared Bennett dead at the scene.
Investigators said that the incident began when Horton started arguing with Bennett while they were riding the bus. As Bennett tried to exit the bus, Horton fatally shot him and then fled westbound on Northwest 36th Street, police said.
The argument and subsequent shooting was captured on video surveillance inside the bus, and the gunman was later identified as Horton, according to police.
Witnesses who work nearby say the bus was crawling down the road.
“We saw the bus and all of a sudden it’s swamped with officers,” witness Yvette Navarro said. “It was crazy. We were just like, ‘What’s going on?’ We were all scared.”
Miami police obtained an arrest warrant for Horton for his involvement in the murder of Mr. Bennett. On Nov. 13, 2020, detectives from Atlanta Police Department executed a fugitive arrest warrant for Horton for a shooting that occurred on Sept. 19, 2020, in Atlanta.
Police in Atlanta said Horton surrendered “peacefully” and was taken into custody.