A City of Homestead police officer was forced to shoot the driver of a reportedly stolen truck Sunday afternoon when the man attempted to run him down, according to Miami-Dade police spokesman Javier Baez.
The 15-year veteran of the force was looking for the stolen Ford F-150 when he spotted it around 1 p.m. in a driveway near the intersection of SW 277th Street and 132nd Avenue, police said.
"The officer approaches the vehicle, and that's when, out of nowhere, the suspect lunges the vehicle at the officer," said Det. Baez. "The officer had no choice but to shoot at the vehicle.
"It is something that happened very very quickly. Thankfully he acted very very fast and was defended himself. Because, if not, we could have been talking about an injured or possibly dead officer."
The injured suspect was airlifted to Homestead Hospital before being transferred in critical condition to Ryder Trauma Center at Jackson Memorial in Miami.
The unidentified officer was not injured.
It is not yet known if the wounded man had a gun in his possession, but police say using the truck as a weapon is reason enough to open fire.
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"We can talk about training all day long," said Fernando Morales of Homestead PD, "but one thing is training and one thing is what you encounter out here on the streets."
Officers from Miami-Dade police will join City of Homestead police in the investigation.
