A dispute in Hialeah ended with two people stabbed, one fatally shot and a fourth behind bars.
A man has been arrested after a reported Santeria ritual led to a "heated dispute" at a Hialeah home that ended with him shooting and killing a person who stabbed a father and son, police said.
Hialeah police officials said multiple people were gathered at the home at West 10th Court off of 40th Place when there was a verbal dispute that escalated Wednesday night.
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WATCH HEREA man allegedly armed himself with a knife and attacked another man in his 50s. When the victim's son, a 16-year-old boy, saw his father being attacked, he "intervened and sustained multiple lacerations to his arms," police said.
Then, as the stabber was leaving the home, another man got a gun and fired at him, killing him, according to authorities.
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That man has been identified as Milton Cao, 50. He faces charges of second-degree murder and possession of a firearm by a convicted person.
Police said the teenage victim was expected to recover, while his father was hospitalized in critical but stable condition.
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According to an arrest report, the teen told detectives that he and his father were at the home because the father was performing a Santeria ritual on Cao.
At some point, an argument ensued between Cao, the father, and the man who was armed with the knife. The teen said he saw the man stab his father and tried to stop him but was stabbed himself, the report said.
That's when Cao shot the man multiple times as he "was exiting the residence unarmed," the report said.
The teen was cut on both arms and was taken to Nicklaus Children's Hospital for treatment. His father still had a knife lodged in his head when he was taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital's Ryder Trauma Center for treatment.
The arrest report said Cao has been a convicted felon since May 0f 2012.
One woman who lives in the Hialeah neighborhood said she was stunned when she walked out of her home overnight and saw a man lying on the ground.
"I heard a shot and I opened the door, and when I walked out I saw the man running," a woman said. "I was shocked, but I wasn't sure what was going on. Then I took a shower and when I looked outside again, I saw police and the body on the ground."
The witness told NBC6 that there were always several people going in and out of the home. It's unclear why they were gathered there, but police said this was an isolated incident and not a familial dispute.
The incident remains under investigation.
