Police Make Arrest In Little Havana Teen's Shooting Death
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MIAMI (CBSMiami) – Miami police have arrested a 15-year old in connection to the shooting death of a Little Havana teen.
According to a new arrest affidavit, the shooting stemmed from a gang fight.
One of the victim's brothers told CBS4's Peter D'Oench that the teen was shot and killed in what was a case of "sore losers" following a basketball game.
The younger brother of the victim would not elaborate, but he did say his brother, 16-year-old Osmand "Ozzie" Falls, was quiet, loyal and "did not mess with anybody."
Cell phone video captured the moments right after Falls was struck by two bullets at the corner of NW 10th Ave. and NW 1st St. on Tuesday.
In the video, someone is heard pleading for paramedics to hurry.
"He's alive. He's alive. Help him please," the person yelled.
Crews rushed Falls to the Ryder Trauma Center in extremely critical condition.
City of Miami detectives flooded the area asking lots of questions and after hours upon hours of investigation, they arrested 15-year-old Jorge Franco for second-degree murder.
Miami-Dade Schools Superintendent Alberto Carvalho told D'Oench that he is concerned.
"It is truly heartbreaking that as the community rallies together to find solutions to curb the carnage and the violence kids continue to die. Here we have a 16-year old and 17-year old youngsters who lost their lives within hours of each other through cowardly gun violence. These kids had promising futures. This should not happen in our community."
Carvalho said key strategic leaders in the community – including mayors, police chiefs and representatives of social service agencies – were coming together to look for solutions to the violence.
"It will take significant collaboration," said Carvalho, "involving intervention, prevention and law enforcement."
Miami Police Chief Rodolfo Llanes was particularly outspoken.
He said, "We have a huge crisis that needs to be addressed. This is a time for action, not just good wishes. Studies show our kids spend as much as nine hours a day on social media."
He said teenagers log on their smartphone as much as 10 times a day.
Llanes said, "Digital violence has increased dramatically in the past year."
He said many youngsters are using social media to brag about threats, bring up new threats and even reveal locations where problems are going to occur.
"There is no cooling off period for this," he said.
Llanes called for a collaborative effort in the community to monitor what youngsters are doing on social media.
If you have any additional information that can help police, you are urged to contact Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at (305) 471-TIPS.
The string of youth violence in Miami continues. Another teen was fatally shot in Miami Gardens earlier in the day.
