Police Make Arrest in Attempted Cop Killing
But police are still looking for the actual shooter
By CARLOS MILLER
Updated 4:49 PM EDT, Sat, Oct 3, 2009
A man with an assault rifle fired at a Miami police officer Friday night, prompting a massive multi-agency manhunt throughout the night that eventually led to an arrest of an 18-year-old man.
Sabian Thomas Godfrey was charged with attempted first degree murder of a police officer.
It appears that he was driving the car in which the passenger stepped out and opened fire on the police officer.
The actual shooter is still at large.
The incident began at 9:05 p.m. near North Miami Avenue and NW 56 St when an officer attempted to pull over a car for erratic driving.
The passenger hopped out the car and began firing at the officer, shattering the windshield and riddling the hood of the car. The officer returned fire but the suspect fled into a Little Haiti neighborhood, prompting a massive manhunt.
The driver sped off, eventually ending up near his home 1100 block of 199 St. where police saw him park his car a block away and placing a cover over it, according to the arrest affidavit.
Although he denied involvement in the shooting, police said they found bullet casings in his car, which also matched the license plate number of the suspect vehicle.
For several hours last night, police dressed in camouflaged military gear searched yards and rattled gates with the assistance of a helicopter light from above.
Jim Winters, a photographer who lives in the area, said there were hundreds of officers at the scene, including from Hialeah, Miami-Dade and Miami-Beach.
“They had a whole square mile area covered," he said. "They had a helicopter in the air for three hours. Cop cars were cruising up and down the streets and they had the dogs out. They had cops in full military gear.”
First Published: Oct 3, 2009 10:16 AM EDT
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