One suspect is dead and a Miami-Dade detective is recovering at Jackson Memorial Hospital this morning after an undercover raid on a suspected grow house on Coral Way erupted into a fierce gunfight last night.
A narcotics unit that included FBI agents in plainclothes was investigating the house near 60th Avenue when a suspect opened fire. Before agents fired back and killed the man, one detective was hit three times in the abdomen; he was likely saved by a bulletproof vest.
Reached this morning by Riptide, department spokesman Det. Javier Baez declined to name either the man killed in the raid or the detective hit by gunfire; more information should be available later this morning.
The drama broke out last night around 7, just as many neighbors were returning home or sitting down to dinner in the quiet residential neighborhood, the Miami Herald reports.
As members of the joint FBI-MDPD unit approached the home, a man parked in a car nearby opened fire on the cops. Police returned fire and killed the shooter, but not before the MDPD officer was hit.
A second man inside the house was quickly arrested as the wounded officer was airlifted to Jackson.
Police roped off the neighborhood and approached the house cautiously in case other suspects were barricaded inside, but no one else was arrested.
"I've never seen this before," a neighbor named Carlos Rios tells the Herald. "This is a family-type neighborhood. We're all in shock at all this."
The wounded officer is expected to recover. We'll update this post when we get more information.
Follow Miami New Times on Facebook and Twitter @MiamiNewTimes.
