One Dead, One In Custody After Police Involved Shooting In Coral Gables
CORAL GABLES (CBSMiami) – One person is dead, a second is in custody after a police-involved shooting in Coral Gables.
"Suddenly we heard like 20 gunshots, around that," said Coral Gables resident Cesar Baron.
He was among those startled out of bed early Sunday morning by the rapid gunfire.
"My main concern is I have the baby, we have windows and you don't know what can happen to you, your kid, or your wife. So it was pretty scary," said Baron.
According to Coral Gables police, they received a call about people breaking into cars on the 100 block of Calabria Avenue. When officers arrived on the scene they said they found the suspects in action, with a car door open and the hood up.
"Upon engaging the individuals the officers, the first arriving officer and the second arriving officer, discharged their firearms in an attempt to prevent or to protect their lives.", said Coral Gables Police Chief Ed Hudak.
One of the two suspects was pronounced dead on the scene.
The second suspect was taken into custody. Henry Rodriguez, 34, has been charged with second degree murder conspiracy and burglary.
One of the responding officers was hospitalized in good condition. No word on the type of injury the officer suffered.
When asked if the suspects open fire on officers first, on Sunday Hudak said he did not have that information and they are in the preliminary stages of their investigation.
"We're seeing this in South Florida at an alarming rate where it's a property crime. My officers and other officers across South Florida are becoming confronted with violence and we don't know at this time what the situation is here, but we will give a full transparent report of exactly what transpired," said Hudak.
The State Attorney's Office, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, and the Coral Gables Police Department are all conducting investigations into the incident.
"The Florida Department of Law Enforcement will be the lead on the officer involved shooting. Our department which is the Coral Gables Police Department will be handling any ancillary charges against the suspect that was taken into custody," said Hudak.
In the mean time those who heard the shots remain on edge.
"The thing is we don't want that in our neighborhood, it's pretty scary and I hope that it doesn't happen anymore," said Baron.
