Police ID Victim, Man Who Called 911 To Say He Shot Wife; Little Havana Police-Involved Shooting Under Investigation
MIAMI (CBSMiami) – On Wednesday, police identified a man they said called them to say he had shot his wife, as well as, the victim in what is now being investigated as a police-involved shooting in Little Havana.
The victim was identified as Julia Maylen Hernandez-Lopez 62 and the man who called police as Lazaro Vargas-Yera, 69.
"Pom, pom, pom, that's what I heard," said a Little Havana resident, who did not want to be identified, describing the moments when shots rang out on in his neighborhood.
He continued, "I heard gunshots about 2 o'clock in the afternoon when I was doing laundry, and all of a sudden, I heard sirens coming out of nowhere. I look out over the corner and by the time I knew it they were like 10 or 15 cop cars and that's all I know because they taped over this area."
Miami Interim Police Chief Manny Morales says after those shots rang out, they received a call from Vargas-Yera saying he shot his wife. When police arrived to the scene, things even got more chaotic.
"Units responded in emergency mode. At that time, one of our officers encounter a female that was suffering from an apparent gunshot wound. He entered further into the home in the middle of the 1800 block of SW 6th Street and he was confronted by an elderly male armed with a firearm," added Morales.
That's when Morales says gunshots were exchanged between the officer and that male. Officials say at that time the officer retreated and waited for backup. When the officer went back in, the man has already passed away.
"FDLE is responding. If the officer's round made contact with the male, FDLE will be the primary investigative agency. If it did not, and the male suffered a self-inflicted gunshot wound, then the Miami Police Homicide Unit and our internal affair will be the lead on the investigation," continued Morales.
Hernandez-Lopez also passed away on the scene.
As for that neighbor, he says he's not surprised by this incident.
"In this neighbor, it's regular over here. I don't like saying that, but that's what happens around here," he said. "Sometimes it's a bad thing for the neighborhood because there's a lot of kids out here."
