Call For Action From Miami Police After 14-Year-Old Is Gunned Down
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MIAMI (CBSMiami) - Miami Police are calling for parents to do a better job of monitoring their children after a 14-year-old youngster is gunned down outside a vacant home - a house that neighbors say had become a trouble spot and a hangout for dozens of teenagers.
Gabriel Figueroa, a freshman at Miami Central High School, was shot and killed just before 8 p.m. on Friday when police said a car pulled up at the empty home at 1252 N.W. 52nd Street and someone opened fire.
"The point is parents need to do their part when it comes to teenagers, especially at that age. It's a crucial age when they often get into trouble," said Miami Police officer and spokesperson Rene Pimentel.
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Pimentel told CBS4's Peter D'Oench, "From out part, anytime you call police, we will respond and attend to the situation. However sometimes the situation has a lot of legs and is not something that just started. So we want to make sure that we work with the community to help out in all respects."
"The bottom line is that we need the public to call us when there is a problem so we can begin to address it with them and work with them," said Pimentel. "As far as parents are concerned, you need to know where your children are."
It's not clear how youngsters were with Figueroa. He was shot in the chest and stumbled into a neighbor's home and collapsed before he died.
Police have no description of the shooter or the getaway car.
Cary Johnson said the home was empty because he was renovating it. He said he had called police a number of times to help him deal with youngsters hanging out too much at the home.
"Basically in the last couple of months, kids after they get out of school hang out and have little snacks here and before you know it, it is trashed out. I came over and said you have to clean it up and clean up after yourselves and pick up the trash," said Johnson.
"I told police this looks like a problem situation and they told me they would drive by and that there was a watch order on this house," he said. "Now someone did drive by this home and a kid has been shot dead. It is not something I like with a 14-year-old being shot."
"Now I think I am going to put up signs saying no trespassing and no hanging out," he said. "When you get 30 kids in one place, some may be good. Some may be bad."
Figueroa's family members are troubled and devastated.
His mother Cati Centno said she last saw her son two hours before the shooting and could not believe what happened to him.
"I said my son is at home. How could he have been shot? Then they said, yes, it is him."
A makeshift memorial with stuffed animals, notes and candles has been set up outside the home where the shooting happened on N.W. 52nd Street.
"He was visiting a friend," said Figueroa's uncle Angel Garifuna.
"He was in the wrong place at the wrong time," he said. "He got shot and we lost him. He was a good person. We will miss him."
Anyone with information is urged to call Miami Police or Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at (305) 471-TIPS (8477).
