MIAMI (WSVN) — An investigation is underway, after an overnight deadly police-involved shooting in Miami.
According to Miami Police, one of their veteran officers was patrolling the area near Northwest Seventh Avenue and Second Street, around 1:45 a.m., when he saw a man with a knife attacking his girlfriend.
"’Help!’ The lady was screaming, Help!” said a neighbor.
The police officer then stepped in and came under attack himself, said police, forcing him to fire.
"One of our officers encountered a male attacking a female," said Miami Chief of Police Rodolfo Llanes, "subsequently he discharged his firearm and the suspect is dead on the scene."
The suspect, whose identity has not yet been released, was pronounced dead on the scene. The female victim, 46-year-old Joenny Maribel Medina Feliz, was transported to Ryder Trauma Center in critical condition where she later passed away.
Also stabbed was Feliz’s 2-year-old daughter. Feliz’s 18-year-old daughter was also present, but she was not harmed physically.
The toddler was also transported to Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Ryder Trauma Unit with a wound to the chest area, where she underwent emergency surgery. Thursday afternoon, the family said the 2-year-old is doing OK.
After he was asked how the family was doing, the deceased’s brother, Frank Medina, said, "You cannot imagine it."
Police are investigating the incident as a possible domestic dispute.
The Miami Fraternal Order of Police president, Javier Ortiz, called the officer’s actions heroic. "One hundred percent a hero," he said, "again, more than confident that once FDLE comes out with their investigation, that he is going to be cleared."
Ortiz also commented on the state of the officer after the shooting. "It was justified, it’s unfortunate that he had to take somebody’s life. The officer, of course, is right now in a state of shock. No one comes to work and says, ‘Hey, I want to get in a shooting.’ However, he did his best."
Until the Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigates if the shooting was justified, the officer will be administratively reassigned. "At this point, it looks like the officer intervened in an attack," said Llanes. "But it’s still early in the investigation. We still have to interview a number of witnesses. We have a number of civilian and a number of police witnesses, as well."