MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – Miami-Dade detectives continued searching for a shooter on Sunday while a 4-year-old boy who was wounded remained hospitalized.
A dispute devolved into gunshots outside of the boy’s mobile home and a stray bullet struck him while he was in a bedroom on Saturday night in Miami-Dade County’s Tamiami neighborhood, police said. There were bullet halls on an outer wall and a cracked window.
Miami-Dade Fire Rescue personnel found the boy in “critical but stable” condition at about 9 p.m., near Southwest 127 Court and 12 Street, at the University Lakes mobile home community.
Fire rescue personnel used an ambulance to rush the boy to the HCA Florida Kendall Hospital. The boy’s mother, Hassell Oprota, said they were lucky this time, but she fears that “maybe next time” they won’t be.
“Thankfully, the child is going to be OK,” said Detective Luis Sierra, a spokesman for the Miami-Dade Police Department.
Witnesses said the boy’s parents were not involved in the dispute and were home with him. Neighbors said the two suspects ran away, but it wasn’t the first time police officers had responded because of a conflict in the area.
Detectives asked anyone with information about this or other cases to call Miami-Dade County Crime Stoppers at 305-471-8477.
Local 10 News Assignment Desk Editor Mercedes Cevallos contributed to this report.
Report on Saturday night
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