MIAMI – Cellphone video obtained Tuesday by Local 10 News shows the chaotic moments that led to a Miami police officer opening fire while on the hood of a car near Bayfront Park.
The video shows the officer firing into the windshield Sunday before the driver of the black BMW stops the vehicle, gets out and surrenders to police.
Another video shows officers ordering the man to roll over. Blood stains were visible on his back before police eventually handcuffed him.
The police shooting caused mass panic at Bayfront Park, where the Best of the Best music festival was taking place.
People ran for cover after hearing the gunshots.
“He said that he felt like he was gonna die,” the driver’s sister, Sherlyann Clarke, told Local 10 News.
Clarke said she was inside the car with her brother, 21-year-old Menelek Clarke.
He was shot several times before being arrested and taken to the hospital.
“I feel like he was wrongfully shot multiple times in his vehicle with no weapon,” Sherlyann Clarke said.
Police said the officer who fired his weapon was directing traffic along Biscayne Boulevard Sunday when he was suddenly hit by the BMW.
Menelek Clarke was driving the car, which was left with several bullet holes in the front windshield.
Cellphone video shows the officer firing into the car while on the vehicle’s hood, but it does not show what happened in the moments leading up to the shooting.
“The patrol officer, we were all stopped, we were in the middle lane,” Sherlyann Clarke said. “He told everyone else to go with his hand -- hand signaling that we can go. And then he stood in front of my brother’s car and shot him.”
“We don’t know exactly what happened. We do know there was physical contact between the officer and the vehicle,” Assistant Police Chief Armando Aguilar said.
The incident happened as thousands of music lovers converged downtown for the Caribbean music festival, known as “Best of the Best.”
The driver’s sister claims they were simply looking for parking when the incident took place.
The shooting is now under investigation by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
“It wasn’t intentional to hit him – no,” Sherlyann Clarke said. “The man moved with the car as he was going around him.”