MIAMI – Police are investigating after a man and his 9-year-old son were shot early Saturday morning in Miami’s Liberty City neighborhood.
Miami police said the father and son were sitting in a car along the 1700 block of 44th Street when bullets came flying through the vehicle.
The father then drove him and his son to Jackson Memorial Hospital.
A Local 10 News crew went to the scene Sunday and spotted shattered glass on the ground steps away from where the shooting happened.
Stuffed animals and messages of encouragement are being left for the young boy and his father.
“It’s very saddening to see that not just a father but a 10-year-old is fighting for his life tonight. We want the community to come together, we want them to come forward with information,” Miami police spokeswoman Kenia Fallat said.
The boy’s family identified him to Local 10 News as Reynold Antrobus. His mother said he is actually 9 years old, but will turn 10 next month.
“I’m here laying in the room with him now,” Shavonne Newbold said. “He was hit in the head and the stomach.”
Newbold said she came to Miami from Central Florida for a family member’s funeral this past weekend. She said her son’s father was dropping someone off in Liberty City early Saturday morning when the shooting occurred.
“I guess after he dropped them off or whatever or however, they was driving or riding, someone shot the car up,” she said.
The crime happened on the same block and just a few doors down from where 32-year-old Angelica Marie Fernandez was shot and killed by her home nearly a month ago. Her case remains unsolved.
Newbold said she believes her son and his father were targeted.
She said her son remains hospitalized in critical condition, but is showing signs of improvement. His father’s condition has not been released.
Miami Police Chief Art Acevedo on Sunday called the shooter a “soulless person” and said the police department would do everything they can to catch those responsible.
We have a 10 year old boy who was the victim of a shooting by a soulless person(s). While @MiamiPD will do everything we can to catch the cowards responsible, this young man is fighting for his life. Please pause to send prayers of healing and comfort for him and his family.
— Chief Art Acevedo (@ArtAcevedo) August 8, 2021
A motive for the shooting remains unclear.
“If the father was targeted and they know a child was in the car, they need to do the right thing and turn (themselves) in,” Newbold said.
Anyone with further information is asked to call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-8477.