Miami

Armed Carjacking Suspect Who Jumped in River is Dead After Pursuit, Police-Involved Shooting: MDPD

Bank robbery suspect involved in two armed carjackings in Miami-Dade

A suspected bank robber who carjacked two people at gunpoint as he led officers on a high-speed pursuit and dove into a Miami river to try to escape is dead after a police-involved shooting Friday morning, officials said.

The incident began sometime around 7 a.m. when FBI agents working with Miami-Dade Police officers attempted to execute a search warrant at a northwest Miami-Dade home for the suspect, 52-year-old Ernesto Padron, who was wanted in the robbery of a Wells Fargo bank in Kendall on Sept. 29, officials said.

Padron, armed with a handgun, fled the scene on foot and immediately was involved in an armed carjacking at a nearby gas station, officials said.

A pursuit began near 36th Street and the armed suspect was seen breaking through a railroad crossing near a scrap metal area by South River Drive in the stolen BMW.

Aerial footage captured Padron ditching his vehicle, pulling out what appeared to be gun and carjacking another driver in the area of Northwest 21st Street and 14th Avenue in Miami.

The second carjacking victim, Minerva Castellano, was headed to work at the VA hospital when she was forced out of her Mazda SUV, her friend said.

"She was hysterical, extremely hysterical. The guy put the gun to her car and she was screaming and she was just absolutely hysterical," the friend said.

Padron was involved in a countywide pursuit for nearly two hours before ditching the second vehicle near a bridge and jumping into the Miami River near Northwest 20th Street and 27th Avenue.

"This pursuit that ensued lasted for quite some time, from the north Dade area of Miami-Dade into the jurisdiction of Miami Police," Miami-Dade Police Director Juan Perez said at a news conference Friday.

Officers surrounded Padron with guns drawn and tried to negotiate with him. He was seen speaking with officers in neck-deep water for at least 20 minutes.

The incident resulted in a police-involved shooting, according to Miami-Dade Police Department. Officials later confirmed Padron was dead.

"Our hostage negotiators did begin to communicate and try to negotiate with this individual who was still armed at the time," Perez said. "Unfortunately, after, I can't tell you how long it was but it was quite some time, of negotiating with the individual to come out of the water and to drop the weapon, he did not and the end result is that we have a police-involved shooting."

Nine officers fired their guns at the suspect, seven from Miami-Dade and two from City of Miami, officials said. Police say no injuries to officers were reported as a result of the incident.

Padron was given an ankle monitor after he was arrested in July for a robbery at a Home Depot in Davie that happened in June. According to the arrest report by the Davie Police Department, Padron stole more than $1,000 worth of power tools and then got into an altercation, pulling out a gun and pointing it at a loss prevention officer.

Family members said Padron had a history of drug use and had been in and out of prison for some time, but they hadn't heard from him in years.

Records showed Padron had been in prison dating back to 1989, with most charges for robbery and grand theft. He was most recently released in 2015.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement will be investigating the police-involved shooting.

Check back with NBC 6 for updates on this developing story.

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