Cops Shoot Carjacking Suspect on Causeway
Miami Beach police shoot and kill a suspect for the second time in the past week
By STEVE LITZ and BRIAN HAMACHER
Updated 11:23 AM EST, Fri, Jun 19, 2009
A suspected carjacker went down in a hail of bullets after he started firing at officers in the second deadly police shooting in Miami Beach in the past week.
The latest incident started late last night when the armed suspect carjacked a taxi then sped off in the wrong direction on the Macarthur Causeway, traveling west on the eastbound side.
He didn't get far however, and collided with another car. The man hopped out of the taxi and started taking shots at cops. He was pronounced dead at Ryder Trauma Center early this morning.
The taxi driver was taken to Mt. Sinai with injuries to his head. The driver of the car the suspect hit wasn't injured.
"I heard gunfire and basically I just ignored it,I didn't think it was gunfire but I saw all the cops and realized it was a big deal," said Steven Espinoza, who works nearby.
Internal affairs is investigating last night's shooting, as well as another fatal shooting involving police outside a nightclub in Miami Beach six days ago.
In the earlier shooting, a police officer shot and killed 29-year-old Husien Shehada, a tourist visiting from Virginia, after Shehada and the officer reportedly got into a confrontation. Shehada was unarmed.
Shehada's family claims the shooting may be the result of discrimination.
The officers involved in the latest shooting will be put on paid administrative leave as cops investigate. The shooting investigation caused backup on the Causeway for several hours last night and into the morning.
Copyright Associated Press / NBC Miami
First Published: Jun 19, 2009 5:48 AM EST
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