Police chief: ‘Gang nexus’ prompts shooting in Miami Gardens

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – Chief Delma K. Noel-Pratt said on Friday a “gang nexus” caused the shooting that woke up residents on Wednesday in Miami Gardens.

Surveillance video shows the flashes of light from the propellant gases that exited the firearms near Northwest 196 Street and 42 Avenue.

“There were flashes all over the place,” Luis Rivera said. “I could see it through the curtains.”

The area is home to Miami Gardens Elementary School and the Tender Loving Care Preschool. Bullets damaged cars and houses. Rivera lives with a 6-year-old girl who is undergoing cancer treatment.

After the shooting, the driver of a Nissan crashed into a fence and intruders ran. Rivera said he feared they were going to break into his home.

It’s unclear if other recent shootings in Miami Gardens have been gang-related too.

In April, a shooting injured two teens and three adults near Northwest 197 Street and 14 Avenue after a fight at Miami Norland Senior High School, at 1193 NW 193 St.

In March, the city had two shootings injuring four in one morning. Three were wounded near Northwest 198 Street and Sixth Place, and a man was shot near Northwest 210 Street and 38 Avenue.

Two men were shot dead on Jan. 13: Reynaldo Romanez was shot near Northwest 207 Street and 27 Avenue, and Javares Williams near Northwest 209 Terrace and 34 Court.

Federal, state, and local law enforcement partners reported “various street gangs” operated in and around Miami Gardens when a grand jury indicted 22 allegedly associated with the Zone 3 gang in 2019.

The Miami Gardens Police Department’s street intelligence unit has also been working with the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office’s Gang Strike Force.

Detectives asked anyone with information to call police at 305-474-6473 or Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-8477.