Miami Gardens mom on police-involved shooting, "I watched them kill my son"
MIAMI – After a sleepless night, a grieving mother came out to speak with the media to share her side of what happened.
Angela Lewis says her son was shot and killed shortly after Miami Gardens police arrived in the backyard of her home.
"I want my baby," said Lewis. "I wish this never happened."
She shared her grief after watching her son take his last breath.
"I watched them kill my son, and they didn't even help him," she added. "They didn't administer CPR, nothing. They just stood over his body."
Fighting through tears, she provided a much different account from law enforcement in this Miami Gardens fatal shooting on NW 27th Place at her home.
Family members identified the man who was killed as 27-year-old Daniel Lewis.
Multiple law enforcement agencies swarmed the area quickly late Thursday night after it happened. The city's police chief told us her officers were doing a joint detail with ATF. And while on patrol in the area, that group responded to shots fired at 10:48 last night.
"Officers responded to the area, at which time they were fired upon by subjects," said Miami Gardens Police Chief Delma Noel-Pratt. "Currently have three in custody, one deceased on the scene on the scene."
Chief Noel-Pratt added that no ATF agents or Miami Gardens officers were injured.
"If folks are brazen enough to fire upon our officers and are out here doing violent crime, they will be dealt with accordingly," added Noel-Pratt.
The mother describes a much different encounter.
"Commotion at the backdoor," described Angela. "And my daughter was beating on the door and said someone was chasing them from the store. It turned out to be the police. And when they got here, my son, naturally he was in the house, came outside to see the scene; he took two steps off the back porch and [officers] shot him five times."
Angel said the police never identified themselves.
We reached out to Miami Gardens police to ask about what exactly led up to the shooting, but they have not returned our calls or emails.
As for Angela, she's left to grieve and care for her son's daughter.
"She's not taking it well," said a tearful Angela. "She can't sleep at the moment. We all haven't been to sleep."
Besides asking Miami Gardens Police for more information, we requested body cam footage relating to the shooting.
Steadman Stahl, the President of the South Florida PBA, said "There is a message for the bad guys. If you are going to shoot at police officers, we are going to shoot back and come back hard."
Stahl told CBS News Miami's Peter D'Oench "These officers did identify themselves. They did shoot at then after identifying themselves. This will be a multi agency investigation right now. You have just seconds to react when you are being shot."
Stahl said "These officers are out there looking for people shooting at police for no reason at all. They find themselves in the middle of a gunfight."
ATF was with Miami Gardens police after a recent surge in violence and shootings in that city.
Neighbor Jennifer Rojas said "We were scared, honestly our family was scared."
Another neighbor, Marcus Marshall, said "It is just sad and depressing. Obviously police are trying to do their job. Nobody wants to wake up and worry about getting shot. You have to applaud police for what they are doing, putting themselves in danger when someone is running around doing things with a gun."
Another unidentified neighbor said "It is a little terrifying. I have a daughter. She heard the commotion and the next thing you know there is gunfire. Basically I just hit the floor."