West Kendall Worker Says He Was Shot By Officer Cleaning Her Gun
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MIAMI (CBSMiami)---A West Kendall man says he was shot accidentally by a Miami-Dade Police Officer who was cleaning her revolver and he says she was "negligent" and "careless."
"Why was she so negligent?" asked the victim Raynier Miranda. "Why was she so careless?" Raynier told CBS4's Peter D'Oench, "Her actions were inhumane. I am completely frustrated. I feel my life has changed completely. I am not able to do things with my son, things I used to able to do."
He said he had lost the use of his left arm and was in constant pain.
Miranda spoke to D'Oench at a news conference inside the office of his attorney Glenn Goldberg who said, "Our concern is to make sure this doesn't happen again. Police officers must be responsible for their weapons."
Goldberg said he is outraged that Miranda was wounded while cleaning the hallway on Thursday of last week at his West Kendall apartment complex. It is the same complex where the officer lives.
Goldberg said Miami-Dade Police Sergeant Wanda Roman was cleaning her revolver when it discharged. A bullet went through a now patched-up hole in the door of her apartment and hit Miranda.
The bullet pierced an artery in his left arm and then passed through his chest with a half-inch of his heart. At first, he thought he was electrocuted. At the hospital, he was told he was shot. He needed five hours of surgery and the married father spent five days at the hospital. He said the officer, a 10-year veteran, did not check on him after her gun discharged.
His wife, Barbara Miranda, said, "It makes me feel terrible and frustrated. Even if you don't intend to hurt a person, you can see how he is doing and see how he is feeling."
Goldberg said officers are required to unload their weapons before cleaning them.
"The officer was not only negligent but she was uncaring," he said. "That the weapon fired and she did not go outside to see where the bullet went.
Goldberg demonstrated what the bullet did to Miranda, whose left arm is in a sling.
"A bullet went in his arm right here," Goldberg said, showing Miranda's wounds. "It came out through his arm here and went into his chest down here. The bone in his elbow was shattered. There are plates and bones and screws in his arm. Not only did the officer fail to clean her gun appropriately but after he was shot, she did not leave her apartment. Then to make matters worse she did not notify the police department that she had fired.He is in constant pain and has lost the use of his left arm," said Goldberg.
Goldberg says he is considering filing a lawsuit.
D'Oench knocked on the officer's apartment door and asked, "Can you talk?"
"No," she said. "Go away."
Miami-Dade Police are not commenting on camera because it's an open investigation.
Pending a criminal probe of the shooting, Roman is relieved of her police powers. She will still be paid but has been given administrative duties.
Miranda and his wife have a small child and he has been working at the apartment complex for three years.
