Police arrest man accused of stabbing 2 MDPD officers in NW Miami-Dade home

NORTHWEST MIAMI-DADE, FLA. (WSVN) - Police have arrested a man who, they said, stabbed two Miami-Dade Police officers who responded to a Northwest Miami-Dade home, sending them to the hospital.

Miami-Dade Police said the officers were both stabbed inside a house along the 300 block of Northwest 157th Street, just after 1 a.m., Wednesday.

Officials said they responded to an adult male armed with a knife inside the residence.

Gwendolyn, the owner of the home, said she called police after the suspect, Sylvester Thomas, made threats toward her family.

The homeowner said she let Thomas, a homeless man she has known for years, take shelter behind her house, but she noticed something was off.

“He kept saying, ‘I’m gonna kill you all, I’m gonna kill everybody,'” said Gwendolyn, “so we figured he was going off his head. I run to the bedroom, lock the door and call the cops, and they came right away.”

Investigators said the two officers entered the residence and confronted Thomas, and they were both stabbed by the suspect.

“I heard the officer shout when I was outside, so I rushed and called the police and said, ‘I think they need help, please come, officer need help,'” said Gwendolyn. “I didn’t know he stabbed her.”

One of the officers had a laceration to the right side of her neck and arm; she was airlifted to the hospital and remains at Ryder Trauma Center.

A 911 call could be heard asking for transport for those two officers.

“It’s going to be an officer stabbed. We have a penetrating injury to the neck,” said a first responder.

7SkyForce flew above the scene and captured footage of the front steps of the house; a police officer’s bulletproof vest was seen on the ground along with blood on the steps.

The second officer had a laceration to his left arm; he was transported by Miami-Dade Fire Rescue.

Officials confirmed he returned to the crime scene with a bandage on his stab wound.

“I feel so sorry for the officers who were stabbed,” said Gwendolyn. “It breaks my heart to see what he did.”

Gwendolyn did not expect the incident to escalate. She only wanted the police to escort Thomas out of the house, but the situation took an unexpected turn.

The stabbings come on the same day MDPD officials paid tribute to the life of fallen Officer Cesar Echaverry, who died in the hospital days after he was injured in a shooting in Miami’s Liberty City neighborhood.

“There’s no doubt that tragic moments like these really test the resolve of a community,” said MDPD Director Freddy Ramirez, “and believe me when I say that we are truly being tested: the passing of [Florida Department of Law Enforcement Special Agent] and former City of Miami [Police] Maj. Jose Perez, the passing of our Police Complaint Officer Katherine Clement and the attack of two of my officers last night.”

Police have not identified the officers involved.

Thomas was placed under arrest and charged with attempted murder.

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