MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – Surveillance cameras captured the sound of seven gunshots after a Miami-Dade police officer opened fire at a suspect Friday night.
It happened as the officer from the police department’s Robbery Intervention Unit was chasing a white Dodge Challenger.
The Dodge eventually slammed into a power pole near Northwest 63rd Street and 21st Avenue.
But as the officer walked up to the crashed car, the driver inside allegedly hit the gas, pinning the officer against his unmarked car and causing him to open fire.
“The subject accelerated towards one of our officers, striking him and pinning him against his own vehicle,” Miami-Dade Police Detective Luis Sierra said. “Our officer discharged his firearm, striking the subject.”
Back-up arrived to assist the officer in less than a minute.
Cellphone video showed officers standing around the suspect, who was later identified as 38-year-old Virgil Bernard French.
Cameras were rolling at Jackson Memorial Hospital as paramedics transported French to Ryder Trauma Center in critical but stable condition.
The officer also taken to the hospital, but was later released.
The passenger in the Dodge was identified as 40-year-old Charlie Harris. Police arrested him on an outstanding warrant for child abuse.