Miami chief of police issues strong statement on police-involved shooting
MIAMI - A man is at Ryder Trauma in critical but stable condition after City of Miami police officers opened fire on him Thursday afternoon.
Police said the officer (s) actions were the best option for everyone's safety.
The shooting of Donald Armstrong took place outside of a home on Northwest 57th Street and 7th Court.
On Friday, Miami Chief of Police Manuel Morales issued the following statement:
"This incident has been an event that impacted our entire community. Transparency and accountability to our community will always remain our goal."
"Communication is paramount to our communities, and we want to ensure all information we disseminate is accurate. The community needs to hear directly from me about the situation."
"We have two parallel investigations going. One by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, an outside agency that investigates all police-involved shootings, and a second by Miami PD. We are already in the process of our internal investigation regarding all actions taken."
"I pledge to ensure that our department does better in addressing calls involving mental and behavioral issues. I am asking all of us to pray for Mr. Armstrong and his family during this difficult time."
In a video obtained from witnesses, you see the man has a sharp object in his hand and you hear police using their stun guns on him twice, then you hear about 10 shots being fired.
Witnesses describe the moments they heard the gunfire.
"They tased him twice. I guess that's not what they wanted. They didn't see the reaction they wanted so maybe like 10 to 15 seconds later the squad of police began to fire," said Preston Baldwin, a witness.
"I was up on my balcony petting my cats looking down this way. Then all of a sudden, I hear about 6 gunshots right in a row. Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom," said Dan Davidson, a witness.
City of Miami police say the call came in at 2:04 p.m. Thursday for a man in his 40s reportedly on drugs and acting erratically.
They say their officers attempted to use a stun gun on the man twice and say he wasn't responding.
The department says that's when at least one officer decided to open fire.
"This is something that unfortunately is part of the business. We are here for everyone's safety and as you can see, he was just very erratic and was not complying with our officers," said Freddie Cruz, City of Miami Police Spokesperson.
Residents say this incident went too far.
"I can say I did see the city of Miami police department shoot a man that wasn't approaching them. I think it's important to know that the neighborhood we live in is not complacent with actions like this," said Baldwin.
"This right there? This doesn't make me safe. Hell, I live right here. Any kind of bullets can be flying. This is crazy," said Davidson.
"I think it's a very unfortunate situation. There are serious concerns. The community is appalled," said Pastor Gaston Smith.
"They were definitely some technical issues and policy issues with the notion of there being unnecessary force."
Smith was referring to the moment police opened fire on one of his parishioners.
"He has had some mental concerns, and the mother was a little bit concerned about that, but she was asking for help she was reaching out for help. She was not asking for her son to be shot multiple times she was reaching for help," said Smith.
Armstrong remains in critical condition. The officer is on paid time off.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement arrived on the scene and took over as the lead agency on this investigation.