NORTHEAST MIAMI-DADE, FLA. (WSVN) - Police are investigating after a waitress was shot in the leg inside a restaurant in Northeast Miami-Dade.
Miami-Dade Police responded to the Au Bon Gout restaurant along the 12000 block of West Dixie Highway at around 10:15 p.m., Thursday.
Family members of those being kept inside the Haitian restaurant could be seen standing outside of the crime scene, which stretched for around a block and a half.
“The owner of the restaurant is my aunt,” the restaurant owner’s nephew said. “She just got in there, but my uncle was in there when they shot. The only thing I know is that some people came in, and they shot, and they left.”
There’s been a shooting inside or just outside this NE Miami-Dade restaurant according to family members who say they are now waiting for those inside to be allowed out. @MiamiDadePD on scene now, crime scene established..@wsvn #Exclusive pic.twitter.com/YFStVjg8Dv
— Sheldon Fox-7 News (@fox_sheldon) November 8, 2019
Police have confirmed that someone was shot in the leg in the incident. However, the victim’s condition remains unknown.
The restaurant owner’s nephew said he heard from relatives that the shooting was also a robbery.
“I think they took some money or something,” he said.
Block long scene after shooting at Au Bon Gout Restaurant—Relatives of those currently inside say they were were called &told their family members are not yet allowed to come out. They also say at least two men came to the restaurant and shots were fired. @wsvn #7News #Exclusive pic.twitter.com/2wx31TM5b0
— Sheldon Fox-7 News (@fox_sheldon) November 8, 2019
7News cameras captured officers — some wearing tactical vests — going in and out of the restaurant while they investigate the shooting.
Cameras also captured investigators placing evidence markers on the sidewalk.
Part owner of the restaurant David Filsaime said he rushed to the restaurant after he received a call about the crime, which had him worried for the customers who were inside, his father and all of their employees.
“What I’ve heard was, somebody got shot. They tried to rob the restaurant, and I was thinking about first, the safety of everybody that’s in there, customers, my dad — because he’s usually here at night — and the employees that we have,” Filsaime said. “We have about eight employees. Everybody there is family. That’s how we are. Haitians, we’re all a family.”
The restaurant owner’s nephew said there were approximately six or seven people being kept inside the restaurant while police investigated.
When asked if the people inside were customers or employees, he said, “I don’t know because the restaurant wasn’t closed when they came in, so they probably had a lot of customers inside.”
One man waiting outside of the restaurant said his girlfriend is inside the restaurant.
“She called me to be there, but I can’t go,” he said. “Nobody can come out, and nobody can go inside.”
Witnesses on the scene said the restaurant is popular and family-owned.
The restaurant has been robbed before, so over the last 20 years, the owners have invested in security.
“We have security guards, and we have cameras,” Filsaime said. “It has never been this bad before to a point where somebody has gotten shot or to a point where a gunshot has been let off within the restaurant.”
The restaurant has since reopened for business.
Police have not made an arrest in this incident.
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