A despondent military veteran – slated for eviction because of his service dogs named Roxie and Ranger – was shot to death after he pointed a gun at officers on Monday afternoon in Homestead.
Raymond Bishop, 84, died outside his home at the Hidden Grove apartments, which is subsidized by Miami-Dade County’s housing authority. At least four Miami-Dade officers opened fire.
Miami-Dade police officers rushed to the home Monday afternoon after receiving a call of a man threatening to kill himself. According to law enforcement sources, police pleaded with Bishop to put the gun down before opening fire.
Bishop was fighting his eviction from the Hidden Grove apartment complex, which went to court in July 2017 to try and get him booted from his ground-floor unit at 13831 SW 270th Street.
According to the lawsuit, Bishop was “harboring unauthorized pet dogs,” allowing them out without a leash. One of them, the suit said, attacked and injured another resident, according to the suit.
His animals were a 13-pound pooch named Roxie, and a 30-pound one named Ranger.
A psychiatrist at the Miami Veterans Affairs Medical Center said the dogs and pet had a “tremendously favorable influence” on Bishop.
“Mr. Bishop’s pets, in this case, has provided invaluable emotional therapeutic benefit,” Dr. Ernesto Grenier wrote in a letter filed in the court record.
The case had been in mediation, but talks between the two sides had failed, according to the court record.
This story was originally published February 12, 2018 3:08 PM.