Police: Fatal Hialeah shooting was result of road rage, shooter cooperating with investigation

Daughter of man killed skeptical about shooter’s self-defense claim

HIALEAH, Fla. – Hialeah police say a man who fatally shot another man Wednesday afternoon during a road rage incident is not facing charges at this time, as it appears he fired the shot in self-defense.

The shooting occurred around 3:45 p.m. in the area of East Sixth Avenue and Hialeah Drive.

Cellphone video from a nearby resident shows Hialeah police arriving to the scene and an officer pumping on the chest of the man who had been shot.

Another man seen holding a gun moments earlier was restrained and taken away.

Another officer was seen trying to console a woman who appeared to be distraught as she saw the injured man on the ground.

According to authorities, officers arrived at the scene to find Juan Alberto Rocha, 60, on the ground, suffering from a gunshot wound. He was taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Ryder Trauma Center where he died.

“It was not worth anybody’s life,” said Rocha’s daughter, Julie Perez.

Perez spoke to Local 10 News just 24 hours after her father was shot and killed.

“I was at the park with my son yesterday and my grandmother called me from the hospital to let me know he had been shot,” she said.

According to police, the vehicle that Rocha was in blocked the shooter’s vehicle. Rocha then got out of the car and confronted the driver, resulting in the shooting, authorities said.

“This case is still open and active but appears to be an act of stand your ground,” the Hialeah Police Department said in an email to Local 10 News. “The shooter is fully cooperating in the incident and is facing no charges as of this writing.”

Perez isn’t convinced that it’s a simple case of self-defense. That’s because due to previous convictions, she said her father isn’t allowed to carry a weapon, so she’s not sure how threatened the shooter could have been.

“He couldn’t carry a weapon because of his past, so I just don’t understand how it would a stand your ground situation,” said Perez.

She also says her grandmother had just recently told her he was working on turning his life around.

“To just turn some kind of cut me off situation into a violent, let’s go to the death duel, I just don’t see that,” said Perez. “Road rage is not worth somebody else’s life.”

The shooter’s identity has not been released.


About the Authors
Amanda Batchelor headshot

Amanda Batchelor is the Digital Executive Producer for Local10.com.

Christian De La Rosa headshot

Christian De La Rosa joined Local 10 News in April 2017 after spending time as a reporter and anchor in Atlanta, San Diego, Orlando and Panama City Beach.

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