What to Know
- Two Miami Police officers were shot while responding to an abandoned vehicle Thursday morning, officials said.
- The shooting happened around 7:45 a.m. after the officers had responded to the area of Northwest 15th Avenue and 26th Street.
- One officer was shot in the knee and the other was hit in the ankle, Miami Police Chief Manuel Morales said.
- After the shooting, the gunman barricaded inside a nearby house, and at one point exchanged gunfire with officers, Morales said.
- After a standoff, the suspect, 27-year-old Mason Triana, was found dead inside the home from a gunshot wound, but it’s unknown if it was suffered in the shootout or self-inflicted, Morales said.
Two Miami police officers were shot on Thursday morning, prompting a massive law enforcement response and a standoff and shootout with an armed suspect who was later found dead, according to authorities.
Miami Police Chief Manuel Morales said the officers initially responded to an abandoned vehicle in the middle of an intersection in the area of Northwest 15th Avenue and 26th Street around 6:15 a.m.
The officers found the vehicle and called a tow truck and cleared the area, but an hour later they received a report of gunshots in the same area, Morales said.
Officers responded and found a vehicle riddled with bullets, before someone started shooting at the officers.
Two of the six officers were hit, one in the knee and the other in the ankle. They were rushed to Jackson Memorial Hospital but were expected to be okay.
“What they did out here is nothing short of heroic,” Morales said.
After the shooting the gunman barricaded himself inside a nearby home on Southwest 26th Street, and at one point, came out and exchanged gunfire with officers, Morales said.
After a standoff that lasted a few hours, police sent a drone and found the suspect down, so SWAT entered the home, Morales said.
The suspect, 27-year-old Mason Triana, was found dead inside the home from a gunshot wound, but it’s unknown if it was suffered in the shootout or self-inflicted, Morales said.
Triana has a criminal past but no conviction, although officers have dealt with him numerous times in the past, Morales said.
Aerial footage showed officers and an armored police vehicle outside the home after the standoff, with the home’s fence knocked down.
Officials haven’t released the identities of the officers, but said they’re a female officer who has 17 years on the force and a male sergeant with 16 years on the force. Morales said they’re expected to make a full recovery.
“They’re in good spirits. I went to the hospital and I spoke with both of them, incredibly calm,” the chief said. “I am absolutely proud of the officers that were on the scene, the calmness on the radio, their professionalism at the time this incident took place is commendable.”
Morales said the shooting may have started as some sort of domestic dispute among siblings. A second person was seen being taken into custody, and Morales said investigators were trying to figure out how he might be related to the incident.
“It appears it all started with some sort of episode this morning that led to the abandoned vehicle we mentioned in our last update,” Morales said. “And subsequently there was an argument, some sort of domestic dispute, argument between siblings that led to the initial shooting, where the officers responded. And shortly thereafter, they were fired upon, two officers being struck.”
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating the incident, which is standard practice in police shootings.
See how the information unfolded in real-time here:
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