On Memorial Day Weekend in 2011, Miami Beach police killed a Palm Beach man named Raymond Herisse in a hail of more than 115 bullets, wounding five bystanders in a terrifying scene caught on camera. Two years later, those shootings victims are still trying to figure out what happened that day.
Now a judge has ordered MBPD to turn over some of the records from the shootout, including 911 calls and video recordings.
See also:
- Three Cops Hurt, Multiple Bystanders Wounded In South Beach Urban Beach Weekend Shootouts
- Memorial Day Police Shooting Victims Are Suing Miami Beach
The shooting happened around 4 a.m. May 30, 2011, after police say Herisse tried to hit them with his car. In response, officers unleashed more than 115 rounds into Herisse's vehicle near 14th Street and Collins Avenue, killing him on the spot.
Nearby apartment residents caught the firefight on camera, and the footage played heavily on CNN for days afterward:
Those bullets didn't just hit Herisse, though; two nailed a 25-year-old Naples hospital employee named Sarah Garcia in the leg and arm, leaving her wheelchair-bound for more than a year. Four others were hit in the leg, chest, and elsewhere.
Last year, those who were shot, plus Herisse's family, filed a civil suit against MBPD alleging the department refused to turn over evidence about the shooting to the families.
Miami-Dade Judge Victoria Sigler agreed in part yesterday, ordering cops to hand over the recordings and autopsy reports, but she also ruled that the bulk of evidence from the case can remain secret until the Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office finishes its investigation.
"There was ample testimony and evidence of this investigation being unnecessarily stalled," L. Elijah Stiers, an attorney representing a wounded bystander, tells the Miami Herald.
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