MIAMI – Miami police are still looking for leads as an afternoon shooting has now turned into a homicide investigation. Four people were struck by gunfire Saturday. One of the victims, a man in his 20s, according to Miami police, has died from his injuries.
Frederick Smalls heard the shooting and wasn’t sure if he might get hit with gunfire. “I heard the bullets going . . . so I got down. I was in my room.” Smalls said he got down on the floor.
“It is unconscionable that at 1:30 in the afternoon on a Saturday, when children should be enjoying the holiday weekend, the day right after Christmas, that they have to be subjected to this violence,” City of Miami Police Assistant Chief Manny Morales said.
Police received a Shotspotter alert and rushed to the scene on Northwest 13th Avenue, between 60th and 61st streets. “Our officers immediately started performing first aid, we got Fire Rescue and got the victims transported to Jackson Memorial Hospital,” Morales said.
Neighbors in the Liberty City neighborhood told Local 10 News that at least one of the victims was a young girl.
Crime scene investigators laid out about 70 evidence markers among shell casings scattered across the road. Detectives said they do have one major lead.
“At this time, we have located some video and it appears that a vehicle was traveling in the area when they started to fire from a high-capacity rifle,” Morales said.
They still, however, need help from anyone with information who may have been in the area and saw something or from someone that may have more details about the persons responsible.
“The only way we’re going to begin to make an impact in our communities and make all our neighborhoods safe is when he folks that live here, the folks that are more deeply impacted, the folks that have historically been impacted by these types of incidents step forward and say ‘no more.’ This is where it stops, right here and right now,” Morales said. “So if any of the folks in the area or outside have any information that might help us catch the individuals that are responsible for this heinous crime, please step up. Please give a call to the police.”
Anyone with information can also contact Miami-Dade Crimestoppers at (305) 471-8477.