Man Doesn't Blame Police For Shooting Machete-Wielding Brother
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MIAMI (CBSMiami) – The brother of a man who was shot by police Monday night when he refused to drop a machete doesn't blame them for their actions.
Two Miami-Dade officers were sent to a home off SW 41st Terrace and SW 85th Avenue shortly after 6:30 p.m. after receiving a call from a woman concerning a domestic situation.
"When they arrived on the scene, there were two individuals in the front driveway engaged in a violent dispute, one of them was armed with a machete," said Miami-Dade Police Department's acting director Juan Perez.
The family of the armed man, who they identified as 56-year-old Richard Fernandez, said the officers ordered him to drop the machete, but he refused.
"He went out there with the machete, you know, still aggressive, still angry," said Fernandez's brother, Alejandro. "The police just said to put the machete down, you know, and he was just nasty."
"He lunged toward the officer with the machete," said Perez. "The officer discharged her firearm and struck the subject that was holding the machete."
Fernandez was taken to Kendall Regional Trauma Center where he's listed in critical condition.
A family member who visited Fernandez at the Trauma Center told CBS4's Peter D'Oench that Fernandez was shot twice in the chest and once in the upper neck area. He said he does not know if Fernandez will survive.
Alejandro Fernandez said both he and Richard are bipolar.
He said they had been drinking Monday. When Richard wanted more alcohol, he became belligerent and aggressive when his family cut him off. That's when he grabbed the machete and started making threats. He said it was their mother who called the police for help.
"My brother had gone to the door and used a machete and he also broke a window," said Alejandro Fernandez.
Alejandro Fernandez said his brother had spent time in prison and didn't blame the officer who was forced to fire.
"What they did and what they do is to protect and to serve, and that's what they did," said Alejandro Fernandez.
Miami-Dade Police said the officer is 29 years old and a seven-year veteran. They are not releasing her name.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement will investigate this incident, which is standard procedure.
An FDLE spokesman told D'Oench the investigation could take several weeks.
