Suspect at The Falls pulls out knife shaped like gun, that’s when officer shoots, police say

KENDALL, Fla. – A gun-shaped knife led police to shoot a shoplifting suspect Friday night at The Falls in Kendall, according to the Miami-Dade Police Department.

Just before 8:30 p.m., police were called to a possible shoplifting incident near the Macy’s store, according to Detective Alvaro Zabaleta, a spokesman for the department.

“As the subject was walking out of the store, they attempted to detain the individual and that’s when he produced what appeared to be a firearm,” Zabaleta said.

A shoplifting suspect was armed with a gun-shaped knife on Friday at the Falls in Kendall, police said. (Copyright 2020 by WPLG Local10.com - All rights reserved.)

The shooting was at the exit door of Macy’s on the northwestern side of the shopping mall at 8888 SW 136 St.

“You can clearly see that this thing, this object, looks identical to a firearm, but it was later determined that it was in fact not a firearm, it was a knife,” Zabaleta said.

Miami-Dade Fire Rescue personnel responded and took the wounded man to Jackson South Medical Center. Zabaleta said his condition was critical but stable.

“(The) officer discharged his firearm striking the subject in the lower extremity,” according to Zabaleta.

Despite the incident happening so close to one of the mall’s exits, the store or the mall was never placed on lockdown.

Officers used yellow crime scene tape to block the parking lot outside of Macy’s near Southwest 136th Street and Southwest 92nd Avenue.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigation because a police officer was involved.

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Local 10 News Assignment Desk Editor Emily Hales contributed to this report.


About the Authors:

Trent Kelly is an award-winning multimedia journalist who joined the Local 10 News team in June 2018. Trent is no stranger to Florida. Born in Tampa, he attended the University of Florida in Gainesville, where he graduated with honors from the UF College of Journalism and Communications.

Joseph Ojo joined Local 10 in April 2021. Born and raised in New York City, he previously worked in Buffalo, North Dakota, Fort Myers and Baltimore.