MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – Police have identified a suspect Wednesday who they said shot another man on Florida’s Turnpike in southwest Miami-Dade.
According to an arrest report from the Miami-Dade Police Department, Braian Axel Gimenez, 26, of Miami, is facing charges of premeditated attempted murder, shooting or throwing a deadly missile, discharging a firearm from a vehicle and illegal use of a firearm.
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Miami-Dade police Detective Angel Rodriguez said the shooting was reported just before midnight Monday in the northbound lanes of the highway, near Southwest 257th Terrace.
Rodriguez said officers arrived at the scene and found a man suffering from at least one gunshot wound, and a woman, who was not injured, inside the vehicle.
Medics took the man to Jackson South Medical Center in critical condition.
The woman involved in the shooting told detectives in a statement that she was in the passenger seat of a vehicle when she noticed a gray Mercedes-Benz was parked on the side of the highway and saw Gimenez running near the vehicle she was in.
The woman told the driver to speed away from the area in fear for their lives based on previous violent incidents with Gimenez, according to an arrest report.
Police said as Gimenez began to chase the victim while on the Turnpike heading northbound from Southwest 137th Avenue, approaching Southwest 112th Avenue, Gimenez came alongside the victim’s vehicle and opened fire.
Simultaneously, the man inside the vehicle was struck by gunfire in the head, causing him to lose control of his vehicle and crash into a tree, according to police.
Police said Gimenez did not stop and fled the scene northbound on the Turnpike.
Police later confirmed Gimenez had been located at the Villa Capri Apartments, located in the 14400 block of Southwest 284th Street in the Leisure City area.
Investigators said they responded to the scene and found six shell casings at the crime scene. The spent casings were later collected and the victim’s vehicle was towed.
Detectives said the female passenger inside the victim’s car provided detectives with a photograph of Gimenez and identified him as the suspect.
Authorities did not identify the relationship between Gimenez and the victims and a motive remains unclear at this time.
The female victim appeared in court via Zoom on Wednesday morning and told the judge that the male victim involved in the shooting lost his eyesight due to the shooting.
Gimenez appeared in a Miami-Dade courtroom Wednesday, where a judge held him without bond and ordered him to stay away from both victims. He was also banned from using any guns and ammunition.