Miami-Dade police officer shoots, kills shotgun-wielding kidnapping suspect

Woman calls 911 after being forced into car, police say

MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – A Miami-Dade police officer fatally shot a shotgun-wielding man who kidnapped his ex-wife and forced her into the a stolen car, police said.

Miami-Dade police Detective Jennifer Capote said officers were called Wednesday evening to a report of a woman who had been kidnapped by an estranged domestic partner.

Capote said Francis Scot Dufore, 41, forced the woman into the car, but she was able to call 911.

When officers arrived, they found an abandoned car in a vegetable field near Southwest 180th Avenue and Southwest 355th Street.

Police began a search of the area, and a K-9 officer was confronted by the suspect.

Capote said Dufore pointed a shotgun at the officer, forcing him to shoot. Dufore was pronounced dead at the scene.

The 38-year-old woman, who has not been identified, was found safe soon after.

Detective Alvaro Zabaleta said the suspect drove from Louisiana in a stolen car and contacted the woman at a grocery store in Homestead, where he ordered her into the car at gunpoint. Zabaleta said there was a struggle, and at one point the suspect strangled her until she lost consciousness. When she woke up, she found herself in a wooded area and called 911.

Police said the couple were divorced with four children. Police said the children were in the custody of the Department of Children and Families.

The officer involved in the shooting is a 23-year veteran of the Miami-Dade Police Department.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating the shooting.


About the Authors:

Peter Burke returned for a second stint of duty at Local 10 News in February 2014.