Several Injured, One Dead in Shooting at Plaza Near Miami International Airport

Gunfire broke out at a northwest Miami-Dade shopping plaza Friday, leaving several people injured and one reported fatality.

The Miami-Dade Police Department and Miami-Dade Fire Rescue arrived on site to find three people shot at the 7300 block of Northwest 36th Street, just east of the Palmetto Expressway, at the West Airport Centre plaza. Two survived and were transported to Ryder Trauma Center at Jackson Memorial Hospital.

“We received a shots-fired call at 1:09 p.m., and our officers responded and located three individuals suffering from gunshot wounds,” Detective Andre Martin of the Miami-Dade Police Department (MDPD) tells New Times.

“One of those individuals was pronounced deceased on scene. Another was airlifted to Ryder Trauma, and the third individual was ground-transported to Ryder Trauma,” Martin says.

According to Miami-Dade Fire Rescue, another person suffered minor injuries and was assessed and treated on scene.

The plaza is located a few blocks west of Miami International Airport. It has about two dozen businesses including a gun store, barber shop, and liquor store.

Carlos Aponte, manager of Deco Liquors, tells New Times that a fight may have preceded the shooting. 

“There was a body, I think, behind the smoke shop,” Aponte says. “There are a lot of police here, and the shopping center has been closed.”

Martin says that police believe that in the moments leading up to the shooting, a dispute at the shopping center “turned physical and a firearm was produced.” Several people have been detained in connection with the incident, according to Martin.

Northwest 36th Street, a major thoroughfare, was shut down in the area as of late Friday afternoon.

A yellow tarp, surrounded by a dozen officers, was seen on the rear side of one of the plaza buildings near a tax office and a car dealership.