One dead, one in custody after police fires on suspected car burglar, chief says
Two Coral Gables police officers opened fire on a suspected car burglar early Sunday morning, killing one man inside a U-Haul truck and finding another uninjured who was hiding underneath a car nearby, police said.
The officers, who haven’t been named, told supervisors they fired their weapons because they believed their lives were in danger. As of Sunday night, police had not released the name of dead man, the man in custody or the two officers.
Coral Gables Police Chief Ed Hudak said at least some of that information will be available after the dead man’s family is notified. The officer’s were responding to a 911 caller who said there was a burglary in progress.
“They were confronted by one individual in a truck,” Hudak said. “They had to discharge to protect themselves.”
Hudak wouldn’t say if the officers fired their weapons because the U-Haul was moving toward them. He also wouldn’t say if the suspects had guns. The chief said an investigation would reach those conclusions.
The chief said the officers initially found the alleged burglars near a black sedan that had its hood up and the doors open. He wasn’t sure how the man who was killed got to the U-Haul on the other side of the street. But it’s not believed to be one of the vehicles that was burglarized.
Hudak said one of the officers who fired a weapon injured a lower body part and was taken to the hospital. The chief said the officer was not shot and that the officer was in good condition.
Police were responding to a 911 call about vehicle burglaries in progress in the 100 block of Calabria Avenue at about 5 a.m., when they confronted the two suspects.
Late Sunday morning, a yellow tarpaulin covered the driver’s side of a UHaul pickup truck sitting across the lane of oncoming traffic in the 100 block of Calabria Avenue. The black sedan on the north side of the street had its engine hood raised and door open.
The U-Haul was towed away early Sunday night. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement will investigate the deadly police shooting. Coral Gables will look into the vehicle burglaries. Hudak said both officers will be on desk duty until the case is resolved.