MIAMI – Police are investigating after a 38-year-old man was found shot to death in Little Havana.
Miami police were called to a shooting shortly after 2 a.m. Tuesday near Northwest First Street and Northwest Eighth Avenue.
Pedro Lazaro Blanco, who suffered multiple gunshot wounds, was pronounced dead at the scene.
Neighbors told Local 10 News that they heard rapid gunfire.
"Basically threw myself on the floor," said Martin Vera, who lives nearby. "I made sure my Mom was OK and my brother was fine. Came over here to see if I can render aid, but the ambulances were pulling off."
Vera said the community is plagued with drugs and gun violence.
"This neighborhood here, it's been a lot of crime, poverty, prostitution, gun violence, stabbings, people getting hit with machetes," Vera said.
However, he added: "The community has to step up and they need to clean this place up."
A view from Sky 10 showed more than a dozen evidence markers at the scene.
Hedritch Morales said he had known Blanco since they were children. Morales said they grew apart over the years, and Blanco spent some time in prison.
Nevertheless, Morales said Blanco was like a brother to him.
"He was a good person ... a family person," Morales said.
Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS.