Florida Injury Lawyer Blog

Miami - A shooting in the parking lot of a Miami apartment complex left three people wounded and a teenage girl dead Sunday evening. Police originally referred to this tragic incident as a "drive-by shooting," however, sources close to the investigation revealed that the assailants exited their car and began shooting. The fifteen year old girl is believed to have been an innocent by-stander.

Miami-Dade Police Department's homicide investigators were initially told that four men riding in a gray Nissan Maxima or Altima fired the fatal shots.

Police said The shooting occurred just after 6:45 p.m. when Nissan arrived at the Annie Coleman apartment complex located at 2135 NW 52nd Street. According to detectives, the car pulled into the courtyard and several shots were fired from what is believed to be an AK -47 assault rifle, leaving a young girl dead and three others wounded.

The identity of the girl who died at the scene is not yet known. The others who were wounded in the shooting were transported to Jackson Memorial Hospital by Miami-Dade Fire Rescue.

Witnesses said the girl was shot in the head while playing outside with friends.

The shootings come about a year after an incident a short distance away on Jan. 24, 2009, in which a gunman armed with an AK-47 assault rifle shot into a crowd killing two and wounding seven others.

``It's a process. It's a cycle -- a vicious cycle,'' said neighborhood activist Renita Holmes. ``There's no respect for life.''

Neighbors, who spoke on condition on anonymity for fear of their lives, said the shooting was gang-related. A police spokesperson said that it was too early to tell whether that was the case.

Det. Rebeca Perez urged anyone with information to call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-8477.

Speaking of the teenage victim, Perez lamented, ``What could she have possibly done to deserve this?''

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Miami Negligent or inadequate security may have been to blame for the fatal shooting of a Miami woman today in the parking lot of Peoples Storage. An unidentified woman was shot to death earlier today during an apparent robbery attempt in Miami according to police.

The shooting occurred in the parking lot of the People's Storage located at 200 NW 79th St. at about 11:30 a.m. when two men approached her.

Kenia Reyes, a Miami police spokeswoman said ``It appears it was an intent to rob her and she was shot.'' The woman died outside the Peoples Storage facility .

One witness present at the business, Lazaro Garcia, who owns a car dealership, said the woman had gone out to her car because she was short of money to pay for the storage of her furniture.

While this robbery gone bad is still under investigation, it is likely that the victim would still be alive today had the business or people who control the parking lot implemented adequate security measures. Reasonable security measures often deter crime since robbery, and many other violent crimes are crimes of opportunity. Violent crimes are usually committed in places where the criminals believe they can avoid being seen or caught.

Business and land owners in Florida have a legal duty to use reasonable means to protect their customers and guests from foreseeable violent crime. When they fail to do that, they may be liable to pay the crime victims compensation.

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