SOUTHWEST MIAMI-DADE, FLA. (WSVN) - An investigation is underway after a woman was fatally shot outside a strip mall in Southwest Miami-Dade.
Miami-Dade Police and Fire Rescue crews responded to the scene along the 10900 block of Southwest 184th Street just after 1 p.m., Friday.
According to police, a 62-year-old woman was conducting business at the establishment when a security guard accidentally fired his weapon and struck the victim.
The woman was taken to Jackson South Medical Center, where she later died.
“Our investigators are in the process of speaking to the security guard to determine what factors came into play as to why this incident happened,” Miami-Dade Police detective Angel Rodriguez said.
Witnesses at the scene described Nefertiti, the corner business where the shooting occurred, as a “mini casino.” They added that a security guard with a gun is always posted at the door, and the security guard involved was new on the job.
“All I know is that the security guard was playing with the gun and went off by mistake, and it hit the lady,” a witness said after the shooting. “I think she’s OK, but they had to go to the hospital anyway. I don’t know why he took out his gun or whatever, and it went off. It’s nothing about shooting at nobody — nothing like that — an accident.”
7News cameras captured the security guard sitting in the back of a police cruiser. He will soon be taken to police headquarters for further questioning.
“I saw one lady come out,” a second witness said. “She looked like she was either shot or hurt. They took her away. I didn’t see her moving, but she was being taken to the hospital.”
The shooting remains under investigation, and homicide detectives have been called to the scene.
Police hope surveillance cameras will help them determine how the shooting happened.
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