A man who advanced toward a sergeant with two large knives after he almost struck another officer with his car was shot and killed by police Friday in northwest Miami-Dade, officials said.
The incident began near the intersection of Miami Gardens Drive and Northwest 67th Avenue, where Miami-Dade Police were conducting a seatbelt educational campaign, police said.
As a motorman was walking through the vehicles at a red light, a driver revved his engine and accelerated past the officer, almost striking him.
"How is it that, on site, of seeing a law enforcement officer, you are going to rev your engine and cut through an intersection?" Miami-Dade Police Interim Director George Perez said. "What is the why? What is happening in this person‘s life?"
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A nearby sergeant began to follow the driver, who was moving erratically through the streets and crashing into vehicles, Miami-Dade police said in a statement.
The driver eventually crashed into a pillar in front of a Denny's and into several other vehicles at a shopping center at 18600 NW 67 Avenue. That's when the driver came out of his vehicle, armed with two large kitchen knives, police said.
"As this individual continued to advance aggressively, armed with these two large kitchen knives towards the sergeant, despite numerous, numerous commands clearly on body-worn camera to please drop the knives, he failed to do so," Perez said.
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The sergeant then shot the man. Cellphone video of the scene shows the man lying on the ground as one officer uses his foot to move a knife out of the man’s hand.
The driver was given CPR and later transported to Jackson Memorial Hospital, where he died. He was described as a man in his 30s, and his identity has not been released at this time.
"A traffic stop, you’ve got people coming out with knives, on officers, it could’ve really turned tragic for the officer, but at the end, the officer did what he was trying to do, shot the subject," police union president Steadman Stahl said.
Miami Gardens Drive was closed between Northwest 67th Avenue and 73rd Avenue as the investigation continued. Police have not released the identity of the sergeant who opened fire at this time.
Editor's Note: A previous version of this story indicated the wounded man was riding the motorcycle at the time of the shooting. The motorcycle was driven by the Miami-Dade Police Department officer.
