Police and bystanders got into a scuffle at the scene of a shooting in Overtown. Miami Police spokesman Sgt. Freddie Cruz and family member Patricia Lammons comment.
A young man was fatally shot in the street in Overtown on Monday and police were searching for the shooter.
The shooting occurred at 3rd Avenue and NW 22nd Street.
Aerial footage showed a man run over to the body, which was covered by a tarp. Police grabbed that male and then another man runs towards him and the police. Then, an officer pushes the second man away and a confrontation ensues.
Later, a woman runs over to the body and is grabbed by police as well.
"We need to preserve this crime scene. That's the most important thing. We have a young man that lost his life. We need to apprehend the individual or individuals responsible for that crime," said Miami Police spokesman Sgt. Freddie Cruz. "There was a short scuffle between the officer and the individual. There's some charges pending on the individuals that contaminated the scene or possibly contaminated the scene. We're still looking into that."
Patricia Lammons said the victim was her nephew, Brandon Walker, who she said is in his 20s.
"Sweet, loving, he had dinner with me yesterday," she said about Walker. "I made a big dinner."
Lammons called the scuffle, which involved two of her relatives, "unbelievable."
"I'm looking at my nephew, his body, and I see both my nephews and my stepdaughter trying to get there. It's just crazy," she said.
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The Miami Fraternal Order of Police defended the officer involved in the scuffle, who it identified as Detective Fernando Bosch.
“While Detective Bosch attempts to subdue the subject, he grabs him by the tie and continues to resist,” said the police union’s president, Sgt. Javier Ortiz, in a statement. “The subject then raises his hands with clenched fists and is within striking distance of Detective Bosch.”
Ortiz added that everyone is entitled to protect themselves, including police officers.
Cruz said that officers responded appropriately. Police's top priority is finding the shooter or shooters, he said.
Walker was visiting his child at a nearby apartment when he was killed, his family said. Miami Fire-Rescue personnel attempted to revive him, but he was pronounced dead on the scene, police said.
Cruz said the man was riddled with bullets.
"He was shot dozens of times. We have casings all over the scene," Cruz said.
Police are asking the public to come forward with any information as they investigate the shooting.
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