MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – A group of pastors met for a news conference to ask the public for help with identifying the gunman in the Sept. 9 shooting that left Rev. Gregory Boyd dead in Miami-Dade County.
Facebook Live video shows there was an argument between two groups of people before a sudden shooting sent people running for cover in the West Little River neighborhood.
The New Birth Harvest Outreach Ministries Churches of Deliverance pastor was caught in the crossfire outside of the Village Flea Market and Mall. He was 54.
“Any gun violence is not of God, but when a pastor is shot down, it cuts through the core of our community," said Rev. Carl Johnson, of the 93rd Street Community Baptist Church.
A week after Boyd’s death, the pastors and Maj. George Aguilar, a spokesman for the Miami-Dade Police Department, said detectives need the community’s help to catch the gunman.
“The pastor was a victim of circumstance,” Aguilar said. “He was not targeted.”
On Sept. 9, Local 10 News was outside the market to report on another shooting that left a 7-year-old girl dead when the crossfire left Boyd dead. The gunman got away.
“He was wearing a white shirt and he started shooting and shooting and shooting,” said Nick Lupo, a Local 10 News photojournalist. “I was just trying to shield myself from getting hit with bullets.”
Rev. Clinton Preston, Jr. chose the words of the late rapper Tupac Shakur to describe how he perceives the ongoing deadly gun violence that left Boyd — a caring “Man of God” — dead.
Preston quoted “Only God Can Judge Me,” a track the rapper, also known as 2Pac, released in 1999 when urban gun violence was stemming from drug trafficking rivalry. More than two decades later, the gang problem persists, but it’s unclear if it is what killed Boyd.
“I can’t help but hear the words of the rapper Tupac Shakur," Preston said Wednesday, before adding the rapper’s famous lyrics: “And they say it’s the white man I should fear, but it’s my own kind doin' all the killin' here.”
Gun violence is rampant in areas of northwest Miami-Dade. As the pastors met, one person was injured during another shooting nearby. The victim arrived at Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Ryder Trauma Center and told detectives the shooting was in the area of Northwest 69th Terrace and 17th Avenue, police said.
It was steps away from the New Changing Life Deliverance Church, the Walker Temple Church God Christ, the Mt. Aaron Missionary Baptist Church and the Liberty City House of Prayer.
“I know there’s a lot of good people in this community and now there is a time for those people to rise up,” Aguilar said. “When you hear stuff out there, please bring it to our attention.”
The pastors and Aguilar said there is a $5,000 reward for information leading to an arrest in Boyd’s murder. They are asking anyone with information to call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-8477.
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