The owner of a car dealership in southwest Miami-Dade was gunned down by his brother in a triple shooting at the business that prompted a massive law enforcement response Thursday afternoon, officials and family members said.
The shooting happened at Priced Right Motors at Southwest 73rd Avenue and 45th Street.
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WATCH HEREFamily members said the owner of Priced Right, Eduardo Rivero, was shot by his brother, Roberto Leyva.
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Miami-Dade Sheriff Rosie Cordero-Stutz said three prople were hospitalized from the scene, including a man and his half-brother.
One of the victims died at the hospital while the second victim was in stable condition.
The shooter was in critical condition, Cordero-Stutz said at a news conference Thursday night.
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The sheriff said there had been an ongoing family dispute and that the shooter arrived at the business and got into a confrontation then shot both victims.
Deputies arrived and there was an exchange of gunfire, Cordero-Stutz said. No deputies were injured.
"This unfortunate situation is domestic-related and not a random act of violence," Cordero-Stutz said. "We are very grateful that there were not more or additional victims due to this situation and that our deputies were not injured during this situation."
The sheriff said a pistol and rifle were recovered at the scene, which matches what at least one witness said he saw the gunman holding.
Carlos Martinez, the owner of Edda's Cake Company which is next to the dealership, said his sales manager saw the owner of the dealership speaking with a man who had a handgun pointed at him.
"He's telling the guy 'don't do it, don't do it, you don't have to do this,'" Martinez said, adding that the gunman had something covering his face. "He says 'all I could see was his eyes and his nose.'"
Martinez said a female deputy arrived but was apparently not aware it was a gun situation.
"My sales manager screams out, 'he's got a gun!' Apparently the shooter then turns around and is pointing the gun at the cop and talking to the cop, can't hear anything, but I guess he turns back to the owner and shoots the owner I believe twice," Martinez said. "The police officer takes off, the shooter grabs a rifle…and starts shooting towards wherever the cop was. And so I don't know, and then everyone went inside and all the sudden they started hearing all kinds of gunfire."
Witness Lidia Amoretti-Morgado was dropping her daughter, Camila, off at cheer practice nearby when the gunfire broke out.
"The shooting was just non-stop, and it was just, you know, you can just hear the guns like the, I guess the bullets flying. And then at that moment, I just didn't know, because I wasn't sure, do I get out and risk my life of getting shot? But staying in, I could still get shot if a bullet hits my car, so there was a pause, and for last second I thought, oh, it's done, and that's when I got out. But then as we're running out, it began again, and it went on for a while," she said.
The shooting prompted a massive police response from multiple law enforcement agencies.
Aerial video from Chopper 6 showed deputies with shields and guns drawn surrounding buildings in the area with rifles, taking cover behind vehicles.
Multiple deputies in tactical gear were seen running into buildings with weapons drawn, and at one point, a person was seen on the ground outside a building in a pool of blood.
Minutes later, footage showed several people as they appeared to be evacuated, running out of the building with their hands in the air.
Cordero-Stutz said that since deputies opened fire, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement will be investigating the incident, which is standard practice in police shootings.
