Miami-Dade officer ambushed, shot from behind during traffic stop; suspect in custody

A narcotics detective was making an arrest when the suspect came from behind and fired at the detective’s head

March 09, 2023 09:43 AM

20230309-AMX-US-NEWS-COP-AMBUSH-SHOOTER-CAUGHT-MIAMIDADE-1-MI.jpg — Miami-Dade Police officers shut down and cordoned off the area of Northwest 46th through 41st Streets and Northwest Second Avenue in Miami after a Miami-Dade police officer was ambushed during a narcotics investigation, shot and rushed to Jackson Memorial Hospital s Ryder Trauma Center on Wednesday March 8, 2023.

By David J. Neal
Miami Herald

MIAMI — The person who Miami-Dade police say ambushed and shot an officer in the head Wednesday afternoon has been taken into custody, according to Miami-Dade police director Freddy Ramirez.

Ramirez announced the capture Thursday morning, about 10 hours after he announced via social media that the officer, a narcotics detective with Miami-Dade for 18 years, “has been released from the hospital and is at home recovering.”

Ramirez thanked other local police agencies, the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office and the community for their support.

https://twitter.com/AFreddyRamirez/status/1633800969291964416?s=20

Miami-Dade police say the officer was making an arrest near Northwest 42nd Street and Fifth Avenue, when a gunman came from behind and grazed him with a shot in the head. The detective was taken to Ryder Trauma Center at Jackson Memorial Hospital.

“This is the fourth time I am at the hospital after an officer is attacked,” Ramirez said. “I am tired of it. These attacks will not be tolerated. An attack on an officer is an attack on the community.”