N. Miami Police: Have You Seen This Man?
NORTH MIAMI (CBS4) -North Miami police officers spent Thursday going door to door in several neighborhoods distributing fliers with a sketch and description of a man they say shot a woman after he stole her purse.
It happened December 30th, 2010 around seven o'clock in the morning at Center Court Apartment Homes on NE 18th Avenue.
Police say the woman, Diana King, was on her way to work when she was confronted by a man with a gun in the stairwell of her apartment building. King's family told police Diana has a young daughter and the gunman tried to molest her before he grabbed her purse and shot her as she turned to run.
"This is my daughter and this is what she gets for going to work and being good? She was attacked like this. This is terrible. Something needs to be done. Something must be done. This person must be caught," said King's mother Deborah King.
King was rushed to the Ryder Trauma Center at Jackson Memorial Hospital.
"Aside from the fact that he is armed and dangerous, this is someone we need to catch. There was no reason to shoot this woman, a mother, like this. No reason at all," said North Miami police Major Neal Cuevas.
Neighborhood residents like Tony and Sabine Joachin hope police will catch the guy soon.
"This is someone we need to get off the street. I feel terrible about what happened to this woman, being hurt like this," said Tony Joachin.
Cuevas said his department is looking into the possibility that this guy robbed two other people days before he attacked King.
"I mean we have three children. And we are worried about something like this for our children's safety. He needs to be taken off the street," said Sabine Joachin.
Witnesses told police the gunman had been seen at the apartment complex several days before he shot King; they said he was listening to an iPod-like player with green ear buds.
Police described the man as being in his 20s with a thin build and short-cropped hair. The morning of the robbery he was wearing blue cotton gloves and a black hooded sweatshirt with the logo COOGI in orange.
They planned to pass out 600 flyers.
"We want everyone to study this photo and reach out to us if they recognize him," said Cuevas. "This man may live at or near the complex. He is very familiar with it."
The Center Court Apartments are gated and guarded. But it's encircled by a small cement wall that authorities say is easy to scale.
Anyone with information is asked to call the North Miami Police Department at (305) 891-0294 or Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at (305) 471-TIPS (8477).
