Fla. officer unintentionally shoots colleague while trying to detain person believed to be armed

Officers were working to detain a person they determined to have posed harm to himself and others; the officer who was shot is recovering and is in good spirits

March 04, 2024 04:41 PM

By Omar Rodríguez Ortiz
Miami Herald

MIAMI — A Miami Beach officer is recovering at home after a colleague shot the the officer during a scuffle with a man whom they thought had a gun on the Venetian Causeway, police said.

“Our officer is luckily in good spirits and at home recovering,” Officer Christopher Bess told the Miami Herald on Monday.

The officer who fired the shot is the subject of an internal affairs investigation and the man they had a scuffle with Saturday afternoon was detained, questioned and later taken to the hospital for a mental health evaluation, Bess said.

“They determined that the subject obviously posed harm to himself to himself or the public,” Bess said.

The man detained was not charged with a crime and police have not confirmed whether he was armed. Police have not identified the officers involved.

Around 12:30 p.m. Saturday, Miami Police Department put out an alert that a man, possibly armed with a gun, was walking on the Venetian Causeway, police said.

Miami Beach officers found the man and a struggle ensued, police said. During the altercation, one officer shot their colleague. The Venetian Causeway was closed as a result of the shooting.

The wounded officer was rushed to Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Ryder Trauma Center with non-life-threatening injuries.

This story will be updated as more information is available.

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