Neighbors, police speak out on fatal shooting of motorcyclist on I-95
MIAMI -- Miami police have identified the motorcyclist who was gunned down Sunday night on I-95 while riding his motorcycle as concerned neighbors are speaking out about this case.
Police are looking into whether this was a case of road rage or whether the victim was targeted by someone or some people he knew.
Miami police spokeswoman, Kiara Delva says 22-year-old Oscar Garcia of Miami was riding his motorcycle southbound on I-95 around 7:30 pm when he was shot near N.W. 75TH St. He was transported to the Ryder Trauma Center at Jackson Memorial Hospital but did not survive.
CBS4's Peter D'Oench spoke with neighbors who live in an apartment building next to I-95.
They did not want to show all of their faces or release their last names but they wanted to speak out.
One neighbor, Joanne, said, "I heard quite a few shots. It sounded like a crash and then pow, pow, pow, pow. My sister told me someone had been shot while riding his motorcycle."
Another neighbor, Corinthia, said, "It's sad. Really sad. It's sad because we are all trying to live and the killing needs to stop. I just pray to God they find justice for the family."
Delva said police do not have a description to release of a shooter or the vehicle that the shooter was in and are not saying why this happened.
Garcia was shot not far from where he lived and it is not clear if he was headed home when this incident happened.
Delva said, "Our homicide detectives are working around the clock trying to solve this case and looking for any surveillance tape that may have captured what happened and they are hoping witnesses will come forward. At this point we know that we can not do this alone. We are going to do our part but we need the public to contact us with any information they might have. Remember the smallest bit of information they have or the smallest tip can help detectives solve this case."
"It is a very sad and unfortunate situation. We want to make sure we continue to investigate and so we can locate the suspect or suspects responsible because they obviously have no regard for our society."
At this point, it's unclear if the parties had any involvement or any relationship amongst one another and it's not clear if this was a case of road rage on the highway. That is part of the ongoing investigation. This was a very senseless act of violence and it has to stop."
"Although we are not confirming this case has anything to do with road rage at this time, if you find yourself in a situation where there may be a driver of a vehicle who appears to be frustrated or who has road rage tendencies, you should pull over to a safe location and allow the driver to continue to drive and don't try to honk your horn or anything to irritate the driver.Just call 911 so we can further investigate," Delva added.
In late November of last year, the Florida Highway Patrol launched Operation Safe Highways, a program to deter gun violence on the highways.
At the time, troopers said that at least once a week in South Florida, someone fires a weapon while behind the wheel of a vehicle.
Anyone who may have useful cell phone video of the latest incident should contact Miami police.
Anyone who can help Miami police should call them or Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at (305) 471-TIPS (8477). There is a reward of up to $5,000.
