MIRAMAR, FLA. (WSVN) - Family members of a UPS driver who was killed during a shootout between police and accused armed robbers in Miramar will be holding a memorial on the slain father’s birthday.
Frank Ordonez would have been celebrating his 28th birthday with loved ones on Monday, but instead, his family has come together to demand justice for his death.
“We had to watch my brother be murdered on live television,” Roy Ordonez, the UPS driver’s brother, said. “All of us had to see it.”
On Dec. 5, 2019, Ordonez was killed during a shootout between police and two accused armed robbers in the area of Flamingo Road and Miramar Parkway.
The two robbers tried to rob a jewelry store in Coral Gables before kidnapping the UPS driver and using his delivery truck to try to run from police. The shootout ensued following a high-speed chase.
Following the shootout, four people in total had been killed, including Ordonez and another innocent bystander who was driving through the intersection, as well as the two suspects.
“They used civilian cars as shields,” Ordonez said. “To say what they did was complete bravery is false and disrespectful to the people.”
The day after the shootout, then Miami-Dade Police Director Juan Perez discussed the officers’ actions, and he said he believed the accused robbers fired at officers first.
“Like I told you, there is numerous videos that need to be reviewed,” Perez said. “There’s numerous videos, and after the review is done, after those officers explain all their actions and after they provide statements, all that will be discussed.”
Perez has since retired from the Miami-Dade Police Department.
Ordonez’s brother will be holding a gathering where the shooting took place at around 8 p.m., Monday. He said a giant screen will be showing video of the shootout.
“What the police did was wrong,” he said. “They took the worst possible action that they could, and it resulted in the death of my brother. Our goal is to not forget what happened and make sure that this doesn’t happen again.”
7News has reached out to Miami-Dade Police, and they referred all inquiries to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, which is conducting an investigation into the shooting.
Copyright 2024 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.