OPA-LOCKA, Fla. – Gunfire turned deadly in Opa-locka on Wednesday after an apparent road rage shooting between an Uber driver and another driver.
Now a family has been left devastated and searching for answers.
Loved ones were inconsolable outside Jackson Memorial Hospital Wednesday night.
“He was involved in a road rage with an Uber driver, at which time he was fired upon,” said Opa-locka police lieutenant Nikeya Jenkins.
The man, who has not yet been identified, told police he was driving near LeJeune Road and Northwest 135th Street when he got into some sort of confrontation with a person he said was an Uber driver, and ended up with a gunshot wound.
Police said the man drove three miles from the scene to Amelia Earhart Park for help. His blue car was left behind, with a bullet hole pierced right above the driver-side door handle. An officer stationed at the park called for fire rescue.
Sky 10 was over the scene as the victim was loaded into an air rescue helicopter at the park. He was airlifted to Ryder Trauama Center, Jenkins said.
Tragically, he would not survive his injuries. Family members and friends gathered at the hospital told Local 10 News off camera they were devastated to learn that he had died.
Now they’re trying to understand what happened, and police said they need help from witnesses.
“If you were in the area at that time at the 4200 block of Northwest 135th Street and may have seen something, you may have heard something, something looked suspicious to you, we urge you to give us that information,” Jenkins said.
The incident happened around 5:30 p.m.
Anyone with information is urged to contact Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at (305) 471-8477.