SOUTHWEST MIAMI-DADE, FLA. (WSVN) - Squad cars raced from one crime scene to another in Southwest Miami-Dade after a shooting left a mother dead and her 3-year-old daughter injured, and an unrelated incident blocks away led police to take three people into custody.
According to Miami-Dade Police, a dark gray four-door Nissan rolled up on 24-year-old Leshonte Jones and the toddler at an apartment complex in the area of Southwest 258th Street and U.S. 1, at around 3:20 p.m., Monday.
According to police, someone pulled up in a dark grey four-door Nissan and started shooting at Jones as she was coming home from work with her daughter.
Family members arrived at the complex not long after to learn Jones had been killed. She was already gone when rescue crews arrived.
Her daughter was taken to the hospital, where police described her condition as “stable.”
“Such a senseless crime like this, we could have had another 3-year-old child dead, and now we have a 24-year-old deceased on the scene,” said MDPD detective Alvaro Zalabeta. “And investigators believe that there’s a lot of witnesses or people that perhaps know stuff. This is the kind of senseless gun violence that we need to stop, and the only way we are going to be able to stop it is that we come together as a community and start talking.”
Family and friends of Jones had been sharing messages on social media, remembering her as a sweet, kind person.
Jones was a Transportation Security Administration officer at Miami International Airport.
Miami International Airport TSA Federal Security Director Daniel Ronan released the following statement on Tuesday morning:
“Yesterday we tragically lost one of our own TSA Officers who was killed as she returned home from the airport late in the afternoon. I am shocked and deeply saddened at the senseless act of violence that took a young, vibrant officer away from her family and away from us way too soon. Words just cannot properly convey the immense loss all of us are feeling at this moment.”
As detectives searched for Jones’ killer, police said, another shooting took place blocks away, near Southwest 266th Street and 138th Avenue.
The gunshots sent residents scrambling for cover.
“It’s almost mind-blowing, because everybody here witnessed it as well. There was a group of residents that were here who were also waiting for this scene to finish when we heard that shots rang out,” said Zabaleta, “and it was multiple shots that rang out, to the point where people started running in fear for their lives to try to get some cover.”
As officers raced to investigate the second shooting, and a police chopper took to the skies, more gunfire erupted as they got closer to the scene.
Police said the shootings are not connected.
In their second investigation, officers have detained three people.
No one was hurt.
As for the first shooting, detectives said they’re confident someone saw something that can help them solve the case.
“Give us any type description. It doesn’t matter how small it may be,” said Zabaleta. “Investigators can use every piece of information in order to hopefully come to a closure.”
If you have any information on either of these shootings, call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS. Remember, you can always remain anonymous, and you may be eligible for a reward of up to $5,000.
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