MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – Police are investigating after someone shot an elderly man late Thursday morning in northwest Miami-Dade, according to authorities.
The shooting happened just before 11:45 a.m. in the 1800 block of Northwest 132nd Street, in the Westview area.
“According to the preliminary investigation, a subject exited a vehicle, produced a firearm, and shot the victim several times,” Detective Angel Rodriguez, a Miami-Dade Police Department spokesperson said. “He then re-entered the vehicle and fled the area.”
Rodriguez said the victim was taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Ryder Trauma Center in critical condition. Police didn’t provide the man’s exact age.
Keith Pollock said he was a mentor to the victim, known as “Smoke” in his younger days. Police have not confirmed the man’s name.
“Last thing he said to me last night was ‘love you Mr. Pete,’” Pollock said. “I said ‘love you too bro’ and then he walked and I hear that’s him.”
Pollock said he’s seen the man try to turn his life around over the years and said he’s now working as a landscaper.
“When you work with juveniles when they are in there they don’t like being there so they are a threat but when he got grown, he respected me,” Pollock said. “He’s been respecting me ever since. I even said a prayer with him.”
A spokesperson for the Miami-Dade Police Department said officers did not have any suspect information as of around 2:20 p.m. Thursday.