MIAMI -- Police are investigating after a rookie Miami officer shot and killed a man during a traffic stop Monday morning.
Miami police said an officer and his partner pulled over a white car in the 1600 block of Northwest Third Avenue at about 11:30 a.m. The driver at some point got out of his vehicle, and the officer shot and killed him.
"It is unclear what caused the officer to take evasive actions, discharging his firearm and striking the individual," said William Moreno, of the Miami Police Department.
Trudy Grady, the slain man's mother-in-law, rushed to the scene in Overtown after hearing about the shooting. She said her son-in-law, 36-year-old Decarlos Moore, was the man who was shot.
"Now he is dead. They killed him for nothing," Grady said. "He doesn't carry a weapon. He carries no weapons. That was a routine stop. Why do you shoot him in the head?"
Witnesses told Local 10 they did not see Moore do anything that would justify the shooting.
"Only thing he was doing was going for the credentials that they asked him for," said witness Debbie Lawrence.
Miami Mayor Tomas Regalado arrived shortly after the shooting to try to calm residents down and assure them that an active and transparent investigation was under way.
"Police are being questioned because it was a rookie and an officer training," Regalado said.
Moore's family gathered at Jackson Memorial Hospital, where he died, hoping for some answers.
"All the witnesses said they shot him in the head and they shot him for no reason," said Moore's cousin, Lasonya Loftress.
"The female officer that was there, she told the rookie cop, 'Oh my god. What did you just do?'" said Tawanda Coleman, another cousin of Moore.
The name of the rookie officer has not been released. The police department's internal affairs unit is investigating the shooting.
"There are too many young people getting killed," Grady said. "If they are not killing each other, the police are killing them. It needs to be stopped. It's time for a stop."
Miami police said an officer and his partner pulled over a white car in the 1600 block of Northwest Third Avenue at about 11:30 a.m. The driver at some point got out of his vehicle, and the officer shot and killed him.
"It is unclear what caused the officer to take evasive actions, discharging his firearm and striking the individual," said William Moreno, of the Miami Police Department.
Trudy Grady, the slain man's mother-in-law, rushed to the scene in Overtown after hearing about the shooting. She said her son-in-law, 36-year-old Decarlos Moore, was the man who was shot.
"Now he is dead. They killed him for nothing," Grady said. "He doesn't carry a weapon. He carries no weapons. That was a routine stop. Why do you shoot him in the head?"
Witnesses told Local 10 they did not see Moore do anything that would justify the shooting.
"Only thing he was doing was going for the credentials that they asked him for," said witness Debbie Lawrence.
Miami Mayor Tomas Regalado arrived shortly after the shooting to try to calm residents down and assure them that an active and transparent investigation was under way.
"Police are being questioned because it was a rookie and an officer training," Regalado said.
Moore's family gathered at Jackson Memorial Hospital, where he died, hoping for some answers.
"All the witnesses said they shot him in the head and they shot him for no reason," said Moore's cousin, Lasonya Loftress.
"The female officer that was there, she told the rookie cop, 'Oh my god. What did you just do?'" said Tawanda Coleman, another cousin of Moore.
The name of the rookie officer has not been released. The police department's internal affairs unit is investigating the shooting.
"There are too many young people getting killed," Grady said. "If they are not killing each other, the police are killing them. It needs to be stopped. It's time for a stop."
