MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – A 23-year-old man has been arrested after a 4-year-old boy was injured in a shooting over the weekend at a mobile home community in Miami-Dade County’s Tamiami neighborhood, authorities confirmed Monday.
According to the suspect’s arrest report, Christopher Stiven Del Carpio was arrested Sunday on charges of attempted second-degree murder, attempted felony murder, shooting or throwing a deadly missile and resisting an officer without violence.
The shooting was reported shortly before 9 p.m. Saturday in the area of Southwest 127th Court and 12th Street, inside the University Lakes mobile home community.
Miami-Dade police said Del Carpio and several other people were socializing in the common area of one of the homes when he and a 37-year-old man got into a dispute which escalated into a physical confrontation.
Police said Del Carpio armed himself with a gun, at which time the man he had been fighting with and a 28-year-old woman retreated inside one of the units.
According to the arrest report, Del Carpio fired at the victims and into the unit.
The man and woman weren’t injured, but multiple bullets passed through the walls of the unit into a second unit, where the 4-year-old was with his family, authorities said.
Police confirmed that the boy was struck by one of the bullets on the left side of his torso. His mother told Local 10 News that bullets also struck her car and window.
The boy was transported to HCA Florida Kendall Hospital, where hospital staff discovered that he sustained a graze wound to his torso and the bullet did not penetrate his internal organs.
“Police came -- they were doing the investigation. The only thing I want is to find the person,” the boy’s mother, Hassell Oporta, told Local 10 in Spanish. “This time, my son had a lot of luck. Maybe next time, no.”
According to the arrest report, detectives pulled over a Lyft vehicle on Sunday that had picked up Del Carpio and his girlfriend.
Police said Del Carpio refused to get out of the car during the traffic stop and detectives had to pull him out of the vehicle and repeatedly punch him in the torso to get him to comply with their orders.
According to the report, Del Carpio later provided a “full confession” to detectives. He was then transported to the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center.
Detective Luis Sierra, with MDPD, said this shooting highlights the importance of people thinking prior to reacting.
He said a quick reaction can end up taking away an innocent life.
“This is a situation where someone had a firearm, was acting reckless and (it) could have cost the child’s life,” Sierra said. “Thankfully, the child’s going to be OK and people need to be more accountable of their actions.”
Authorities said the boy was released from the hospital and is recovering at home.
Del Carpio was held without bond Tuesday after appearing in court.
The judge also ordered him to stay away from the victims involved in the incident.