A Miami police officer shot a man shooting a rifle in the air northeast of 10th Avenue and 79th Street Friday night.
Police received multiple calls about a man shooting a gun in the West Little River neighborhood shortly after 8 p.m. Friday, according to Constable Michael Vega.
When police arrived at the scene, they confronted the unidentified man and an officer, whose name has not been released, fired his weapon and struck the man in the chest, Vega said in his report. .
Miami City Police Chief Manuel A. Morales held a brief press conference at the scene Friday night, Miami Herald news partner CBS News Miami reported.
“There was an exchange of gunfire between the officers who hit the subject. There is a gun at the scene. The offender is in critical condition at the Jackson Trauma Center,” Morales told reporters.
“We don’t know why the man was armed,” Morales said.
The officers were not injured.
“I heard about 10-12 gunshots like before the police even got here,” a witness told WSVN on Friday. “It’s crazy because innocent people live there, people work every day and some crazy guy just comes with a gun and shoots, like somebody could get hurt.”
Detectives from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement are now leading the investigation, as is customary after a police shooting, Vega said.
FDLE did not immediately respond to a Herald inquiry on Saturday morning.
This is a developing story.