Knife Wielding Man Shot By Miami-Dade Police
NORTHWEST MIAMI-DADE (CBSMiami) – A police involved shooting in Northwest Miami-Dade has left a man hospitalized.
The shooting took place at 16800 NW 57th Avenue in the parking lot of a Maroone Ford dealership on Thursday morning.
Miami-Dade police said officers arrived on the scene after responding to a report of a man, identified as David Calderin, 25, who was making suicidal threats. Calderin was not an employee or customer of the car dealership.
When officers approached the man, Calderin armed himself with a large knife, according to police. One of the officers then fired his weapon and struck the him. Calderin was air lifted to Jackson Memorial Hospital where he is in stable condition, said police.
In a photo released by Miami-Dade police, the knife looks like an old-fashioned dagger. It's about a foot-long with a half-foot long blade and an ornate dragon handle.
A witness who spoke to CBS4's Ted Scouten described what he saw and heard.
"I heard 6 gunshots across the street. I'm not really sure what happened. But it definitely sounded like someone got shot," said witness Brett Serpe who also explained, "There was a metro dade officer with a gun drawn and he shot somebody."
Police said Calderin appeared suicidal and left the officer no choice but the fire.
"When these officers arrived here on the scene, they located this individual, approached him, that's when he armed himself with the knife and that's when the officer shot him," said police spokesman Javier Baez.
The head of the police union says this is a textbook example of when an officer is forced to fire.
"The officer is obviously upset, but he prevented injury to other people and himself and his partner, he acted in a very heroic way and we're very proud of him," John Rivera, president of the Police Benevolent Association.
