North Miami Shooting Leads To Police Chase
MIAMI (CBSMiami) - Flowers and balloons sit at the spot where a man was found slumped over in his wheelchair, shot to death in the streets of Miami.
"Very nice man...I don't know what happened, " said the victim's wife Carmen Perez.
The wife of 58-year old Israel Perez said her husband of 20 years was a loving man and a man of faith. She remembered his last words to her after she brought him breakfast minutes before he was killed.
"I love you mamma. I love you," said Carmen Perez. "Me go in my house and 20 minutes....I see the TV. I see the news. I see the chair.... somebody kill him I don't know what happened."
Perez, who is a fixture in the area, would go out to the I95 exit ramp at NW 95th street and NW 7th Avenue. every morning to ask for change.
Click here to watch CBS4's Gaby Fleischman report.
Around 9:30 a.m on Tuesday witnesses said a man got out of a gold Chevy impala and pulled the trigger. Some heard six or seven gunshots.
Police said the shooting suspect identified as 27-year old Rodney Louis led police on a high speed chase through the streets of Miami and North Miami.
The suspect zig-zagged through a number of streets as he headed south, at one point he struck a car in an intersection.
Around 10 a.m. he made his way onto northbound I-95, weaving in and out of traffic with Miami-Dade and Miami police on his tail.
Watch David Sutta's Report On The Chase
The chase came to an end at Miami Gardens Drive around 10:10 a.m. when the car crashed into a wall after he collided with an Audi. Police moved in and took the driver into custody while the driver of the Audi was put into a neck brace and taken to the hospital to be checked out.
Police said they found a stolen pistol under the floorboard of Louis' car. He is facing charges including murder, grand theft and fleeing from police.
A detective stopped by his home to notify family.
They didn't want to speak but a friend told CBS4's Gaby Fleischman a senseless shooting is not his style .
"I never even know that was in his character," said his friend.
Meantime, those who knew Perez are left wondering why this happened.
"He's defenseless, He's in a wheelchair. What you going to do when you in a wheel chair. You can't fight back. You can't fight back. What you gonna do," said Lo Robinson who knew Perez.
Watch Gary Nelson's Report On The Shooting
Indiana Parra, a friend of Perez, was stunned when she got the news.
"Wow. I'm in total shock. I thought he got hit by a car. I didn't expect him to get shot," said Parra.
Police have not said what led up to the shooting.
WebExtra: Shooting Leads To Police Chase
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