NORTHWEST MIAMI-DADE, Fla. (WSVN) — A police-involved shooting that rocked a South Florida neighborhood caused authorities to place a nearby school on lockdown, forcing parents to wait for hours to pick up their children.
Miami-Dade Police officers responded to the tense shooting in the area of Northwest 43rd Street and 23rd Avenue, just after 5 p.m., Friday. A perimeter was set up in the area as police searched for one subject still at large in the area, just after 5 p.m.
According to police, a man shot at their undercover drug units and a shootout broke out. Police set up a perimeter in the area as they searched for the shooter, who hid at a nearby house.
Local parents tried to pick up their children from the aftercare program at Earlington Heights Elementary, located a few blocks away from the shooting at 4750 N.W. 22 Ave., but they were unable to get through the perimeter.
Reporter: “How frustrating is this?”
Woman: “Very.”
Another woman waiting to pick up her children became irate. “Give us our kids cause we got to go,” she said.
About 80 children were stuck inside the school.
Reporter: “Were you and your friends worried inside the school?”
Bernard Lacus: “Scared.”
“We were just waiting there for hours and hours,” said student Antwand White.
The lockdown was not lifted until police cleared the house where the suspected shooter was hiding and took him into custody. A gun was retrieved at the scene.
Around 7:30 p.m., students were dismissed from the school one at a time.
Cynthia Williamson clutched her son, Devin Grayson, as they headed home. “He was scared,” said Williamson, “so I asked how his day was going and he said, ‘Mom, I was scared.'”
“We were in the classroom; we didn’t know what was outside,” said Grayson.
As the lockdown was lifted, tensions died down and parents began thanking police for protecting their children. “It could have turned into an ugly situation, so thank God that they did lock it down,” said Williamson.
No one was hurt.