MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – A police officer shot a man in the abdomen on Friday afternoon in southwest Miami-Dade County, police said.
According to Detective Alvaro Zabaleta, a spokesman for the Miami-Dade Police Department, officers responded to a 911 call for help and found a 27-year-old man armed with a machete.
The abandoned machete was at the scene of the shooting along Southwest 126th Avenue near Southwest 109th Terrace in The Crossings neighborhood.
Police officers tried to disarm the man who charged at them when an officer shot him, Zabaleta said, adding the situation was dangerous.
“Daylight, inside a community, a residential area — where there are children in the area — and you have somebody waving a machete, it is a great danger to the community,” Zabaleta said. “And thankfully, these officers were able to respond rather quickly.”
Miami-Dade Fire Rescue personnel responded and took the man to Kendall Regional Medical Center’s Trauma Center. Zabaleta said he is in stable condition.
Officers were not injured. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating the shooting.
Local 10 News Assignment Desk Editor Wilson Louis contributed to this report.