MIAMI (WSVN) - A domestic shooting led to a confrontation and exchange of gunfire with a responding police officer inside a home in Miami’s Little Havana neighborhood that left a husband and wife dead, police said.
City of Miami Police units responded to the scene along Southwest Sixth Street, near 18th Avenue, Monday afternoon.
Investigators said a man called 911 and said he had shot his wife.
When officers responded to the residence, there was an exchange of gunfire inside the home.
“When our officers encountered a female that was suffering from an apparent shotgun wound, as [an officer] entered further into the home, in the middle of the 1800 block of Southwest Sixth Street, he was confronted by an elderly male armed with a firearm,” said Miami Police Interim Chief Manny Morales. “There was an exchange of gunfire as the officer retreated, waited for backup. [Other officers] entered, where they discovered that the male was also deceased.”
Area residents said they heard what sounded like gunfire.
“‘Pow, pow, pow, pow, cuatro,” said an elderly man.
“I was doing laundry, and when I heard the gunshots, 15 seconds later, the block was swarmed with police,” said a man.
It remains unclear whether the subject was shot by police or whether he took his own life.
It is also unclear whether or not an officer’s bullet hit the woman during the exchange.
First responders brought the woman’s body outside the home hoping they would be able to save her.
“At the time, they rendered first aid for the female, who unfortunately passed away on the scene,” said Morales.
7SkyForce captured the woman’s body covered with a white sheet in the driveway.
Officers shut down several blocks of Southwest Sixth Street near the home, as they continue to investigate. The street remained closed late Monday night.
If detectives confirm either the husband or wife was shot by an officer’s bullet, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement will take over the investigation.
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