A private security guard working at Overtown’s Metrorail Station shot and killed a man last week after he refused to pay a fare and then threatened the elderly guard who confronted him, according to multiple law enforcement sources.
Miami-Dade police confirmed the incident but released few public details about the incident.
“An armed security guard and an adult male got into a dispute that escalated and the guard shot him,” Miami-Dade Police Spokesman Angel Rodriguez said.
But sources told the Miami Herald that the 70-year-old guard had refused a 23-year-old man’s request to ride for free. When the man then squeezed through a turnstile and approached him, sources said, the guard drew his weapon and tried to call for backup on a radio. The gun went off, the sources said, after the man slapped at the guard’s radio. The bullet hit the man in the thigh but sources said it punctured an artery and proved fatal.
It was not clear if the security guard, who works for the private firm Allied Universal, fired his weapon trying to protect himself or if it accidentally discharged when he was struck. Calls to Allied Universal’s main office in Dadeland went unanswered Monday.
The guard, whom police did not name, told investigators he was in fear for his life, and was released without any charges. Though the shooting happened in Miami, Miami-Dade Police are investigating the incident because Metrorail is county-owned.
“No arrest has been made,” said Miami-Dade Police Spokesman Argemis Colome. “Detectives still have witnesses to interview.”
The security guard could be protected legally by Florida’s Stand Your Ground law, which puts the burden of disproving a self-defense claim to secure a conviction on prosecutors. Under the controversial 2005 law, a citizen does not have a duty to retreat before using deadly force to meet a threat of death or great bodily harm.
Police also have not named the shooting victim, saying they have not yet reached any family members.
This story was originally published November 14, 2022 4:43 PM.
