MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava held a news conference Wednesday morning, at which time she said Police Director Alfredo “Freddy” Ramirez is “alert, awake and responsive” following his suicide attempt earlier this week.
The mayor said Ramirez is regaining strength everyday and she is optimistic that he will recover “swiftly surrounded by his family and loved ones.”
The mayor also confirmed that Ramirez called her around 8:30 p.m. Sunday after having a dispute with his wife in Tampa, telling her that he made a mistake, was remorseful and offered to resign.
Levine Cava said she told the 52-year-old police director to “get home safely and we’ll talk tomorrow.”
WATCH FULL NEWS CONFERENCE BELOW:
Authorities confirmed that Ramirez shot himself a short time later along Interstate 75, just south of Tampa.
Levine Cava said he was heading home to Miami at the time.
Ramirez had been in the Tampa area attending the Sheriff’s Summer Conference, which was being held at the JW Marriott in downtown Tampa. Sunday evening was the first night of the four-day event.
Sources say Ramirez and his wife, who he has been married to since 1995, had stepped outside the hotel at about 6:30 p.m. Sunday and started fighting, at which time a witness saw Ramirez putting a gun to his mouth, prompting them to call 911.
(Hear the call below)
Tampa police later released the 911 call, which was from Marriott security, and provided a thirdhand account of the incident.
“I’ve got the front desk,” the security officer tells a dispatcher. “They’re telling me there’s a guy with a gun in our front drive.”
“It came from guests inside the hotel?” the dispatcher later asks.
“Yes, that were walking from the outside into the hotel, that there was a man in the drive with a gun,” the security officer replied.
Tampa police confirmed in a news release that they made contact with Ramirez on the 12th floor of the hotel at 6:50 p.m. and said the police director and the “white female” he was with acknowledged getting into an argument, but claimed no gun was displayed. The witness had already left.
“After additional questioning, Ramirez stated he had no intention to harm himself or others,” the news release stated. “The known female corroborated that they had an argument and that she did not have any concerns about her safety being in danger.”
Police said the hotel’s surveillance cameras did not capture the altercation between the two.
According to sources, the couple was ultimately asked to leave the hotel and drove off together. They said Ramirez then pulled off I-75 in the Riverview area of Hillsborough County, where he shot himself in the head and that it was his wife who called 911.
Sources said he shot himself in the right temple and the bullet exited through his right eye.
On Wednesday, the mayor formally announced interim appointments within the police department and Miami-Dade County, including Deputy Director Stephanie Daniels being named interim head of the police department and Chief of Corrections and Forensics JD Patterson taking on Ramirez’s role as chief of public safety on an interim basis, overseeing MDPD, Miami-Dade Fire Rescue, the corrections department and other public safety agencies.
Levine Cava told reporters she has “total trust” in Ramirez’s leadership and praised him as being the “type of leader, the type of man that bears the burden of those around him.”
She also said this tragedy is a reminder of the highly stressful and emotionally taxing jobs those in law enforcement have and that we need to erase the stigma behind seeking help for mental health.
If you or someone you know is having thoughts of suicide, help is available 24/7 by calling the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988.