Miami Police Officer Shot, Killed Alleged Intruder At West Miami-Dade Home
MIAMI (CBSMiami) - A Miami police officer shot and killed an alleged intruder at a home in southwest Miami-Dade home.
According to police, a 13-year-old was alone inside the home off SW 8th Street and 97th Avenue when he heard someone trying to break-in. He called his mother who called her ex-husband who is a Miami police officer.
"His father, a city of Miami Police officer, responded on scene, confronted the subject, shots were fired. Miami-Dade Fire Rescue responded on scene and transported the subject to Kendall Regional Hospital where he ultimately succumbed to his injuries," said Miami-Dade Det. Khristopher Welch.
Christina Carmenate said the incident happened at her cousin's home. She said her son called her about the incident and she then called her ex-husband—-the Miami officer.
Carmenate said, "I am the cousin of the person having this incident and someone tried to break in to her house. She called her ex-husband, a police officer. There was some type of altercation and there was some type of shooting and the person passed away. They were defending their property. It was a robbery. It was an attempted robbery. Everyone there is ok and nothing was robbed."
Miami-Dade police identified the man who died as 29-year-old Anthony Arias of Doral, who had previously convicted of burglary.
One neighbor told CBS4's Peter D'Oench he heard more than a dozen shots.
"I hear like 13 or 14 shots," said Raul Artiles.
Another neighbor who did not want to show all of her face or give her name said, "I just heard 2 explosions. I heard 2 big explosions. It's very said. This neighborhood is very quiet."
And another neighbor named J.R. said, "It was very unfortunate to see this sort of thing happening."
The Miami officer was the only one to fire a gun, according to police, who would not say if the would-be intruder had a weapon.
"To our knowledge at this point we cannot confirm or deny whether the individual had a weapon or not," said Welch.
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Miami Fraternal Order Of Police Union President Tommy Reyes said he believes the officer's actions were justified.
"The castle law protects you in your home and your property and in this case, while I don't believe he was armed with a gun, he was armed with a screwdriver. A screwdriver can take out an eye and at its minimum, you can do a lot of damage with a screwdriver," he said.
"It's one thing for police officers facing this out on the street. It's probably a little more scary when your family is at risk," he added.
As for the teen, "He seems to be in good spirits," said Welch.
Police said the Miami officer was off-duty at the time and confronted the person in front of the home.
"I don't know what is going on. This place here is very peaceful. I have never had any problems and I have lived here for 30 years. I've never heard any shooting here or anything like that," said Artiles.
As with all police-involved shootings, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement will lead the investigation.
A Miami police spokeswoman said the officer was a veteran.
