SOUTHWEST MIAMI-DADE, FLA. (WSVN) - Video posted to social media shows a new view of the chaotic moments before a man who, police said, barricaded himself inside an apartment in Southwest Miami-Dade after killing a man opened fire at police officers.
The footage, posted by @cutlerbaysocial, captured the intense standoff that ended when, investigators said, Miami-Dade Police’s Special Response Team shot and killed 25-year-old Donovan Watson, early Friday morning.
The footage, shot by a resident from a neighboring apartment unit, captured three officers in tactical gear as they monitored the apartment unit. One of them had their gun drawn.
Police said Watson, armed with a gun, ran into the apartment after he shot and killed a 38-year-old man he didn’t know, late Thursday night.
A woman who said she’s a family member of the victim spoke with 7News on Friday afternoon.
“He is my cousin. His name was Jean Gutierrez,” said the woman through a translator. “Very sad, very sad. The victim was a young man who never causes trouble.”
Neighbors at the apartment complex, located near Southwest 200th Street and 113th Place, watched the standoff unfold from inside their units.
At one point, negotiations took a bad turn, and at around 3 a.m. on Friday, the special response team sent in a robot.
“As the robot approached the apartment, this individual opened fire, shooting the robot, disabling it, and that’s when he stepped out of the apartment, opened fire, shooting at our special response teams, striking their vehicle multiple times,” said MDPD detective Alvaro Zabaleta.
Police said the officers were forced to shoot back.
“Our special response teams returned fire, struck the individual, and he was pronounced deceased on the scene,” said Zabaleta.
Friday night, Watson’s sisters and a friend spoke with 7News
“He just was under stress, and it caused him to have a sudden episode,” said Amaya Osullivan, Watson’s sister.
No officers were hurt during the shooting.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement has taken over the investigation.
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