Deadly Shooting At SW Dade Trailer Park
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MIAMI (CBSMiami) -- A dispute turned deadly at a trailer park in southwest Miami-Dade early Tuesday morning.
Miami-Dade Police said there was some sort of verbal dispute between two men outside unit number 117 at the Gables Trailer Park at 825 S.W. 44th Ave. They have identified the victim as 51-year-old Rogelio Castro.
"It started off at four o'clock in the morning. I was outside smoking a cigarette when all of a sudden I heard three gunshots," said a man who lives in the trailer park. "I stayed outside and I didn't see anybody leave. The officers told me that it was somebody that came and had an altercation with somebody staying in the trailer park. They got into a fight and a third party tried to separate the fight and the victim ended up dead."
A witness said it was a roommate of one of the two men who tried to intervene but ended up getting shot in the chest three times.
"It sounded loud, from about two trailers down," said another man. "It didn't sound like no firework. As soon as it went off my instinct was to go inside."
Another neighbor, Pilar Almonacid, told CBS4's Peter D'Oench, "I heard 3 loud noises. I thought they were gunshots. It sounded like boom, boom, boom. I only heard 3 shots. Who knows why this happened. It could have been anything."
Police found the man's body inside the trailer where he had lived.
Grieving family members went to the park after hearing what had happened.
They told D'Oench they did not want to say anything right now about their loss. One relative said he worried that saying anything would jeopardize the investigation.
Records show Castro was arrested in 2005 for the illegal sale of alcohol and in 2002 for cocaine possession and in the 1990's for bribery and resisting arrest. It's not known if his criminal history was a factor in this crime.
Police say the man who fired the deadly shots is on the run and there is an active search for him.
They have not released a description of him.
Anyone who can help find him should call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at (305) 471-TIPS (8477). There is a reward of up to $3,000.
