Vacationing NYPD Cop Shot on South Beach
It is unclear what led to the shooting in a boutique rental building on Collins Avenue
More than a dozen bullet holes mark the corridor where a New York City police officer was shot around 7 a.m. Sunday morning. The shooting closed a block of Collins Avenue all day, while the injured man has reportedly undergone surgery.
A New York City cop vacationing in South Beach has undergone emergency surgery after being shot Saturday morning by at least one gunman still at large.
It is not yet known what led to the shooting of Detective Harold Thomas, which happened around 7 a.m. in the outdoor corridor of the 123 Lofts at 1288 Collins Avenue, where he was staying.
More than a dozen bullet holes mark the corridor, and Miami Beach police believe the off-duty officer may have fired at least one shot from his own gun.
"I was sleeping and then all of a sudden I just heared like six or seven rounds in a row," said neighbor Alicia Joseph.
"I thought it was firecrackers, because they just went 'pop-pop-pop-pop-pop-pop-pop.' And then it stopped, and then you heard 'pop-pop-pop-pop-pop-pop.'...And then you didn't hear anything."
Thomas was rushed to Jackson Memorial's Ryder Trauma Center, where he underwent emergency surgery.
"I thought he was dead, actually," said a resident who responded to the scene with a cousin who called 911. "He had to stop breathing for a minute because his eyes was gone. But then I looked at him for 15, 20 minutes and his eyes came back and I said, 'Okay, he's still alive.'"
The ensuing investigation shut down a busy block of Collins Avenue on Saturday, snarling traffic and re-routing cars down side streets.
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