MIAMI — A 29-year-old security guard at a restaurant in Miami’s Allapattah neighborhood shot and wounded a patron after a December dispute, police said. He’s now accused of attempted murder following his arrest on Thursday.
According to Miami police, the shooting happened at about 11:30 a.m. on Dec. 14 at the Republica Food & Lounge. The Dominican eatery, located at 1260 NW 36th St., was the site of another shooting in October.
Investigators said the victim had been barred from reentering the establishment after getting into an altercation with someone who was dancing with his girlfriend. According to an arrest report, the victim said he and a security guard, later identified as Dairon Gonzalez Pena, began pushing each other.
The victim then claimed he was “jumped” by Gonzalez and a group of the security guard’s friends. According to the report, the victim told investigators that he went behind a vehicle and Gonzalez followed him and pointed a purple gun at him.
The report states that Gonzalez asked the victim, in Spanish, “Tu quieres esto?” ― translating to, “Do you want this?”
According to police, the victim thought that because of the gun’s color, it was fake, so he replied, “Si, dame,” or “Yeah, go ahead.”
Police said the man quickly found out the purple pistol was real when Gonzalez opened fire. The victim ran after the first shot and said he heard four more and was hit once in the lower left leg. Authorities said Gonzalez got into a gray vehicle and took off.
Authorities said they responded and found the wounded victim at a nearby bus stop; medics took him to Jackson Memorial Hospital for treatment.
Police said they were able to identify Gonzalez as a suspect and the victim picked him out of a photo lineup. They said they took him in for questioning on Thursday.
According to the report, Gonzalez told police that he went to get his Taurus 9 mm gun after the man retreated to his vehicle, since he didn’t know what the victim was doing.
Authorities said that Gonzalez claimed he only shot once in the air “to scare the victim since he was coming toward him with a knife” and said “he did not call the police since he did not think that police were needed.”
Detectives evidently did not agree with Gonzalez’s claim of self-defense and arrested him on charges of attempted murder and using a firearm in the commission of a felony.
As of Friday morning, Gonzalez was being held in the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center, with a bond listed as “to be set” in online records.
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