Two Miami-Dade police officers trying to clear a Redland property of squatters were shot and injured Wednesday night after knocking on a door of a home on the property, police and sources said. A third officer, a female, was taken to the hospital as a precaution when blood was spotted on her.
The gunman, who hasn’t been named, was shot and killed when police returned fire. It wasn’t immediately clear how many officers fired their weapons. The two officers were shot in the arm and upper body areas and are in stable condition, police said. They are expected to be released from the hospital Wednesday afternoon.
Police said the three officers were wearing a protective vests that likely protected at least one of the officers. That’s because a fragment of buckshot fired from the shotgun used by the man who was killed, struck a police body camera that would have been worn near the center of his body.
“This type of violence toward the officers will not be tolerated,” Miami-Dade Police Director Stephanie Daniels said in a prepared statement. “By the Grace of God, they are alive today.”
Steadman Stahl, president of the South Florida Police Benevolent Association, said the protective vests might have saved a life and called it a shaky way to begin 2024.
“The vest definitely made a huge difference in what could have been a terrible situation,” Stahl said. “We’re 18 days into the New Year and we already have officers who have been gunned down. This is not the way to start the year off.”
According to police, it was just before 11 p.m. Wednesday when four uniformed patrol officers approached the front door of a home at 22291 SW 162nd Ave. The homeowner had called police complaining of squatters. As soon as the door opened, a man inside opened fire with a shotgun. Police described the ammunition as one-quarter inch round balls, bigger than pellets.
A 57-year-old officer on the force for 15 years was shot in the face and arms, police said. His partner, a 35-year-old male who has seven years with the agency, was also shot in the arm. Officers drove the cops to Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Ryder Trauma Center, where police and family gathered throughout the night.
The armed man was killed on sight, police said.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating the shooting.
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