MIAMI – Miami police arrested a gang member Monday on an attempted murder charge after they said he shot a man in the city’s Overtown neighborhood in April — and ended up shot himself.
According to his arrest report, the man, who police identified as Jaheim Merritt, 22, of Tamarac, got into an argument with another man on April 8 in front of the 1100 block of Northwest First Court. Merritt briefly went into the passenger’s side of a Nissan Altima before shooting at the man while running northbound on the street, the report said.
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According to Miami police, Merritt returned to the vehicle, shooting at the man, who was taking cover behind the Altima. The man fired one round from his gun through the open car door, hitting Merritt and causing him to back down, authorities said.
The man was also hit by one of Merritt’s rounds at some point during the shooting, and took off westbound, police said.
Merritt ran around the scene before talking to an unidentified man and getting back into the passenger’s seat of the car, which was driven away by another man, according to the arrest report.
The report stated that police officers who were present during the shooting saw Merritt enter the car, and tried to pull over the car which was stopped at Northwest Seventh Avenue and 14th Street.
City of Miami Real Time Crime Center surveillance cameras captured footage of the Altima, showing that no objects were thrown out of the car, according to police. Police following the car also did not see any objects being thrown out of the car, authorities said.
Medics took Merritt, who had a gunshot wound, to Jackson Memorial Hospital for treatment, police said.
Merritt falsely told police that he was the victim of an attempted robbery, authorities said.
Police interviewed Merritt who said that the man had confronted him about money that was owed to him, then took out a gun and demanded his gold chain, according to the report. Merritt said that the victim shot him and denied being armed, saying that he and the man fought over the gun and a single shot was fired during the fight, authorities said.
Police said the evidence, however, contradicted Merritt’s statement, prompting another interview, according to the report.
Merritt stated again that he was not armed but fought with the man over the gun and that a single shot was fired during the fight, police said.
Crime scene investigators responded to the scene of the shooting and found eight 9 mm casings, which were fired from Merritt’s gun, and one .380 caliber casing fired from the man’s gun, according to the report.
Police said they determined that Merritt armed himself during the shooting, got rid of the gun before getting back into the car and denied ever having possession of a gun, preventing detectives from finding the gun used in the shooting.
Merritt was previously convicted of an armed carjacking and carrying a concealed firearm, according to the warrant. He is also a documented Gary Gang/A4T gang member, it states.
Merritt was seen flashing gang signs and showing a Smith & Wesson M&P9C 9 mm gun on Instagram Live on April 4, just four days before the shooting, according to his warrant.
Merritt was seen again on Instagram Live on April 6, two days before the shooting, flashing gang signs, showing the same gun. He also shows two tattoos near his ears written as “Money” and “Murda”, which are gang tattoos for the Bloods/Sex Money murder gang, a prison-based gang.
The warrant includes photos of Merritt in the hospital, detailing his tattoos.
Merritt faces two charges: one count of attempted second-degree murder with a firearm, and one count of attempted tampering with physical evidence, according to jail records.
As of Tuesday, Merritt was being held without bond at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center.