MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – Miami-Dade police say 30-year-old Alfonzo Amaker is the gunman who shot and injured four people over the weekend at a house on Pierce Street.
The victims are a 4-year-old girl, 6-year-old boy, 28-year-old woman and 42-year-old man.
“Whenever one person gets shot, it’s something that as a community, it not only angers me, but it breaks my heart,” Detective Angel Rodriguez said. “And when you add the component of children, innocent children, to this type of tragedy, it takes it to a whole new level.”
It all started at a family gathering around 2 a.m. Sunday.
Police say an argument broke out in the roadway in front of the house, during which the 28-year-old victim pulled out a gun and pointed it toward the ground.
Police say after she put the gun away and the victims began walking toward their car, Amaker pulled out his gun and started shooting.
After the 28-year-old woman was shot, she took her gun out again and returned fire, police said.
Amaker appeared before a judge in bond court Monday morning, where his public defender Roy Ugarte argued that his client only shot in self-defense and tried to get him released on house arrest.
Judge Mindy Glazer said in disagreement with Ugarte’s defense of his client: “Let me ask you this: Did the children have a gun? Did the 4-year-old and 6-year-old have a gun?”
Ugarte said his client possessed a firearm legally and had a right to defend himself. On behalf of Amaker, Ugarte said: “Am I supposed to wait to be killed because there happens to be children around?”
Miami-Dade Fire Rescue crews transported all four shooting victims to the hospital.
“One of the victims went to Jackson South and the other three victims, I believe the female and the two children, went to Kendall Regional Medical Center. Everyone is in stable condition,” Rodriguez said.
Police said Amaker took off after the shooting, but they caught up with him later in the day.
Witnesses identified him as the suspect.
Police said he admitted to his involvement.
“We want to do everything, not just as a department, but as a community, to reduce and to eliminate the gun violence,” Rodriguez said.
Glazer ordered the 30-year-old to stay behind bars and set bond at $25,000 for each count — Amaker faces four counts of second-degree attempted murder.