A Miami police officer opened fire on a motorist Monday during a midday traffic stop on an Overtown street, killing the man.
It is not known why the officer opened fire or why he made the traffic stop.
Police gave out little information.
The case is under investigation, said detective Willie Moreno, a police spokesman. He added that “details are scarce, due to preliminary stages of the investigation.”
This much is known:
Two officers in a squad car pulled over the motorist in the 1600 block of Northwest Third Avenue around 11:30 a.m., Moreno said.
The Miami Herald news partner, CBS-4, identified the man as Decarlos Moore, 36, of Miami.
Moore, who has a prison record, got out of the car and was shot.
A family member said he was shot in the head. Police did not name the officer who fired his weapon.
Witnesses who heard the shooting say Moore was sprawled, bleeding on the rain-slicked pavement. He was taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital where he later died.
“He was still breathing,” said Antwone McKnight, 34. “He lost a lot of blood waiting for the ambulance to come.”
Witnesses at the nearby 3rd Avenue Supermarket & Restaurant came out when they heard the shooting.
McKnight said he saw the officer clutched his head with both hands and pace back and forth. Mohammed Dames, 36, owner of 3rd Avenue Supermarket and Restaurant, said he heard a single gunshot and ran outside.
He saw Moore sprawled on the sidewalk, blood coming from his mouth. He started screaming for help.
“It looked like a faucet coming out of his mouth,” Dames said. “I’ve never seen crap like that.”
His store was shut down for four hours because the shooting took place a few feet away from his door.
Dames said Moore was a regular at the store. He passed by about two times a week and ordered a breakfast sandwich and sometimes cigarettes.
Moore’s sister, Katrina Moore, said the bullet entered and exited her brother’s head.
“He was a good person,” she said. “He loved life.”
District 5 Commissioner Richard P. Dunn was at the store talking to people about the shooting.
“We’ve got to put something in place to make sure this doesn’t happen again,” he said. “It’s unfortunate, not good, not good for our city.”
By midafternoon, a tow truck arrived to take away the white car, which had a white and purple garland of silk flowers dangling from the rearview mirror.
Moore had served two prison terms – 14 years for a 1989 second-degree murder charge and 10 months for sale and trafficking in cocaine. He got out of prison in November 2007.