The mystery surrounding the death of Miami Police officer Carl Patrick continued to swirl Tuesday. Pembroke Pines Police now say they want to hear from Tiniko Thompson, who was with Patrick at the time of the shooting.
Thompson’s family arrived late Tuesday afternoon to speak to investigators, but as of 4 p.m., Tiniko had yet to speak to authorities.
“We’ve stated that to her and she’s aware of it, but we still haven’t had the opportunity to question her in this case,” said Captain Al Xiques of Pembroke Pines Police.
Tiniko spoke to NBC 6 Monday with her attorney, Rod Vereen, by her side. She described an abusive relationship that ended last Wednesday morning after what she said was another argument. Thompson told NBC 6 Thompson attacked her with his gun drawn, she grabbed it, and during the scuffle, Patrick accidentally fired the gun at himself.
“He scared me. I feared for my life and I held on,” Thompson said. “And we struggled because I wasn’t gonna let go.”
Thompson showed NBC 6 bruises and scrapes she has on her chin, around her eye, on her arm, and more saying they were inflicted by Patrick during the scuffle. Despite the claims of domestic violence, she said that she “really loved him (Patrick)” and said she was “still in shock.”
When asked by NBC 6 if it has been determined that Thompson was to blame for Patrick’s death, Pembroke Pines Police said the investigation was still open.
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“We’re taking every possibility into consideration,” said Captain Xiques. “We’re not focusing solely on one suspect, perhaps more than one suspect. More than anything, we’d like the opportunity to question Ms. Thompson and we’ve attempted to do so, but as of now, we haven’t received any return calls from her attorney.”
Vereen maintains that Patrick fired the gun and that Thompson was defending herself.
“He pulled that trigger. He pointed the gun at my client,” Vereen said. “She defended herself by holding on to that gun. Listen, she has three daughters, you put that gun in her face, this is what she thought about (holding up picture of her daughters).”
