Hialeah officer wounds armed suspect after carjacking and chase, police say

A Hialeah officer shot a man who was brandishing a gun after a carjacking and chase that ended Thursday afternoon in North Miami, police said.

The suspect, who is expected to survive, was part of a group of three men who hijacked a car in Hialeah and were chased by police into the neighboring city, a law-enforcement source said. The trio, one of them armed, bailed from the car. One officer shot the gunman, police said, and after a brief foot chase, two other suspects also were taken into custody.

The wounded man’s condition was not immediately available. He was airlifted to Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Ryder Trauma Center.

“We are fortunate to have taken three very dangerous criminals off our streets,” said Hialeah Police spokesman Eddie Rodriguez.

A law-enforcement source identified the wounded man as Fabeon Anwonya Keno Bowleg, 20, of Opa-locka. As of early evening Thursday, Bowleg had not been charged with any crimes related to the carjacking.

Police said the events that led to the shooting began at about 8:30 a.m. Thursday when an 83-yearold man driving a 2017 Ford Escape got out of his vehicle near East 11th Avenue and 20th Street. The victim said a man approached, pointed a gun at his head and demanded the keys.

The victim told police he handed over his keys and three men got into the Escape and took off. A few hours later, still in Hialeah, an officer pursued the car.

The chase ended at Northwest 15th Avenue and 127th Street in North Miami, with the three men fleeing from the Escape, one holding a weapon, police said.

Rodriguez said a firearm was recovered at the scene. A law-enforcement source identified the two other captured men as brothers Eymon Leatherwood, 19, and Emanuel Leatherwood, 20. They also had not been charged by early Thursday evening.

Miami-Dade and North Miami police were at the scene, though it wasn’t clear if they took part in the chase. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement will investigate the shooting.

State records show Bowleg was arrested in June 2019 on a carjacking charge in Opa-locka. According to a Miami-Dade police arrest report, he and another teen took a woman’s Toyota Corolla and purse at gunpoint, then led officers on a car chase.

During that chase, police said, Bowleg opened fire on officers from the passenger seat before the two abandoned the car and escaped on foot. The outcome of the juvenile court case was not immediately clear.

The Leatherwood brothers, state records show, were arrested by Miami Gardens police in April on firearm-possession charges. At the time, both were on probation. Eymon is still awaiting trial. Prosecutors

declined to press the gun charge against Emanuel, although he is still awaiting a hearing on an accusation that he violated his probation.