A player was shot after resisting an arrest in the Magic City Casino.
According to witnesses, the man was drunk and responded aggressively and violently after being asked to leave the poker room. The player did not like being requested to leave and refused to do it. After trying to get the player out of the poker room without success, the staff asked an off-duty police officer to help them with it.
The police officer, who was still wearing a police uniform while off-duty, approached the man outside the Magic City Casino and soon after that witnesses said they saw the man throwing money at the police officer and then they started arguing.
The heated change of words led to a physical struggle. Even though the man knew he was dealing with a police officer, he engaged in a physical struggle.
At some point during the fight the men exchanged blows and the face of the officer was cut with an unidentified object by the man.
The officer fired a gun and hit the man as he stated later he feared for the safety of the public as well as his own. When the customers heard the gun shot, they fled the scene and at this point the officer was also able to subdue the culprit.
One of the witnesses, George Davila, said the following:
“He was fighting the officer. He was hitting the officer. They were on the floor. Then I heard someone yell ‘knife’ and a shot went off,”
Afterward both men were taken to the hospital. The police officer was released shortly after and the poker player had to be taken to surgery to close up the bullet wound.
No official police report had been released yet, but it is known that the poker player is stable and will be charged after been released from the hospital.
Javier Ortiz, president of the Miami police union said he was relieved the officer wasn’t mortally wounded and that the officer’s weapon was discharged during the incident to protect the public safety and his own safety.
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