SOUTHWEST MIAMI-DADE, FLA. (WSVN) - Police are searching for the gunman who, they said, opened fire while he robbed a 7-Eleven in Southwest Miami-Dade, sending a clerk to the hospital.
According to Miami-Dade Police, the violent holdup took place at the 7-Eleven located at the intersection of Southwest 137th Avenue and Moody Drive, Monday, just after 10:45 a.m.
Christian Zelaya and his sister, Martha Figueroa, said their mother, an employee at the store, called them from a freezer at the convenience store.
“She had told me, ‘I’m hiding in the cooler right now, and I was asking her, ‘Why, Mom? Why are you hiding? She said, ‘No, there’s a gunman here,'” said Zelaya.
“I was in shock. My hands were shaking. I didn’t know what to do,” said Figueroa.
Zelaya’s mother told her children she was cleaning a coffee table when the subject rushed into the store and pulled out a gun.
“She ran to the freezer to go hide, and that’s it, she clicked on me,” he said.
Police said the subject demanded the cashier empty the cash register.
Shortly after, detectives said, he fired his gun, striking the clerk.
“When I called her back, she said she was helping a girl out. There was a girl that was shot,” said Zelaya.
Investigators said the robber went into the store’s back office and got into a fight with a store employee. He then ran out the door and fled north.
Meanwhile, Zelaya said, his mother did her best to render aid to the victim.
“She was trying to help her out with some napkins and putting pressure on the wound,” he said.
“She said she tried to help her as much as she could, but my mom, she doesn’t know anything about the medical field or anything, so she tried just to put pressure,” said Figueroa.
Miami-Dade Fire Rescue crews airlifted the injured clerk to Jackson South Medical Center in critical condition. She was later identified as Cherish Juarez; she is either 31 or 32 years old.
If you have any information on this robbery, call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS. Remember, you can always remain anonymous, and you may be eligible for a $1,000 reward.
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