Posted on 05/24/2012 10:10:23 AM PDT by dennisw
It is Memorial Day weekend one year later, but four innocent bystanders wounded when Miami Beach police sprayed a car with gunfire still have no answers.
They don’t know who shot them, although they presume it was police, since officers discharged more than 100 bullets on a busy Beach street. They don’t know if anyone will ever be held accountable. They don’t know if they will ever receive compensation — or even help with their steep medical bills.
Now, one of those wounded victims has sued the city of Miami Beach for negligence, while four others have joined together to file a public-records lawsuit demanding ballistics results and other key evidence. That second lawsuit, which is expected to be filed Thursday, accuses the agencies involved of deliberately withholding the records in an effort to cover up responsibility.
The plaintiffs, all of whom say they sustained permanent injuries, ultimately want compensation for their medical bills, pain and suffering.
But with the investigation into the incident still pending a year later, they are no closer to learning who shot them or why officers felt compelled to discharge over 115 bullets in a single confrontation during Urban Beach Week, the annual hip-hop-fuled gathering that returns to Miami Beach this weekend.
Sarah Garcia, 25, was shot twice in the chaos last year, which was sparked when a squadron of police officers, some of them with fully automatic weapons, shot and killed a suspect they believed was armed and dangerous.
Garcia, who lives in Naples, had made the three-hour drive with friends, and had arrived in Miami Beach just a short time before the shooting began about 4 a.m. on May 30. She and her friends were strolling and taking in the scene.
“I heard a bunch of gunshots go off and everybody was running and screaming,” she said. “I got down on the ground and covered my head and then realized I was shot in my leg and my arm. I think I was in a state of shock.’’
Both bullets tore through her limbs and doctors had to insert plates and screws into her arm. Garcia, a patient liaison at Naples Community Hospital, had to use a wheelchair for three months and has not been able to work since.
So someone gets shot and the cops haven’t done ballistics to see if the bullets came from the cops guns?
It is quite possible that the bullets were not recovered. They could have passed through the limb and therefore not be available for testing.
Hmmmm.. The cops seem to drag their feet when investigating the Long Island serial murders too.. Cop did it!
I’m adding “Anything with ‘Urban’ in its title” to my “Events never to be within fifty miles of” list.
For all of the bullets? Four people are shot and they aren’t trying to figure out who did it?
hmmmmmm....something doesn't smell right about this article.
Cops armed with automatic weapons fire 115 rounds into, or at least near, a crowd? Even the most vehement cop hater on FR would say... "Really? Geez, that's excessive."
Of course, the "journalist" is probably wrong. Or might have an axe to grind. Or both.
I’d wager the ‘fully automatic’ part is bunk but the number of rounds seems fairly consistent with numerous other stories, if I recall correctly.
The video I remember seeing had a massive crowd so its consistent as well.
So four of Holder’s people run over a cop and then speed away, hitting several other cars.
Not a good idea in any city.
Every firearms instructor I know stresses the fact that “You are morally, ethically, and LEGALLY responsible for every single bullet that leaves your gun. Period.”
Unless you’re a cop. Then you can spray lead where ever you feel like it apparently.
Which hurts more, to be shot in the arse or shot in the chaos?
Its pretty scary what many seem willing to overlook.
These four people weren’t in the car. They were people on the street who happened to be in the cops line of fire.
I once kissed a girl on the veranda.
Jeff Cooper’s Rules of Gun Safety
Rule #4: Identify your target, and what is behind it. Never shoot at anything that you have not positively identified.
I once dated a girl with acute angina:)
Urban Beach Week = Rural Mountain Week
for this cat.
I once kissed a girl on the veranda.
####
Inner or outer?
only a cop or a deranged criminal would shoot auto into a crowded situation. Only the cop would get away with it.
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