Officer shot multiple times in confrontation with Walmart shoplifting suspect

MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. - A Miami-Dade police officer was wounded and another person was killed in a police-involved shooting Wednesday outside a Walmart.

The shooting was reported in the parking lot of a Walmart on Northwest 79th Street near Northwest 32nd Avenue.

Miami-Dade Police Director Juan Perez said the officer was working an off-duty detail at Walmart when he confronted a shoplifting suspect in the parking lot. Perez said it "ended in a violent encounter."

Perez said the officer was "born again" after he survived being shot multiple times.

"At close range, he was able to survive multiple gunshot wounds," Perez said.

The officer, who is married with two children, was taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital, where he was listed in stable condition. His identity hasn't yet been released.

A witness told Local 10 exclusively what he saw while shopping with his family. "Todd" said the officer was demanding someone inside the store to stop, but the person kept on walking.

According to Todd, the suspect kept defying the officer, saying he had done nothing wrong. After continuing to ignore the officer, the man turned and fired multiple shots, at which point the witness said the officer fired back.

Todd believes the two men fired 15-18 rounds of ammunition.

"They were just shooting at each other like it was the wild west at Walmart," said Todd. "And I've never seen anything like this before."

A view from Sky 10 showed a dozen evidence markers on the ground in the Walmart parking lot. A yellow tarp could be seen between two cars.

Other customers told Local 10 News they heard what sounded like firecrackers.

"We were confused because I thought it was fireworks. We didn't know," Joanna Gonzalez said. "So when we saw people walking, we walked to where the sound came from. We saw an officer being held by a lady because he was shot in the side -- on his left side under his arm. We took care of him. We were concerned because he was dazed -- probably ready to faint -- so other people came and we gathered around him.

"We heard the cops coming. We didn't see where the suspect was -- the gentleman who shot the officer. Then we saw him. He was between two vehicles."

Nobody was being allowed in or out of the Walmart parking lot just after the shooting, but customers were later escorted out of the store.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement will investigate the shooting, per Miami-Dade police policy.

"God was with him," Perez said of the officer.

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