Police say they were forced to open fire on one of five men who posted a fake ad on the Internet to sell a car with the intention of robbing whoever showed up to buy it.
The incident began when two Hispanic males interested in the car agreed to meet the suspects for the purchase at around 11 p.m. Wednesday at the corner of 44th Street and Northwest 22nd Avenue in North Miami-Dade.
When the two Hispanic males arrived, they were allegedly robbed of their cash. Miami-Dade police responded to the robbery and their investigation led them to a house a couple of blocks away at 1879 Northwest 45th Street.
"As our units approached we were able to identify these subjects, the subjects immediately fled from us into the house. We followed them into the house where one of the subjects approached the officer and went for his weapon," said Detective Javier Baez with Miami-Dade Police.
The suspect who was shot was taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital in critical condition. NBC Miami spoke with the suspect's cousin near the scene of the shooting.
"He got shot in my mama's house," said Michael Parker. "He was shot four times inside the house. They say the police ran in the house and shot him. They are not telling us what's going on, they're not giving us any information."
Police say the suspect who was shot, who is in his 20's, had an extensive criminal record in Miami-Dade and Broward Counties for a prior robbery and battery on a police officer.
Local
The other four suspects involved were taken into police custody.
Police say if you are purchasing an item through an Internet ad, make sure you make arrangements to do the transaction in a well lit public area.
