MIAMI — A 29-year-old police officer who was shot in the head while trying to stop a suspected robber in Miami has died, officials said.
Det. Cesar Echaverry was shot Monday night as he and other officers closed in a man wanted for an earlier robbery in nearby Broward County, police said. His family had remained by his side at Miami’s Jackson Memorial Hospital.
“Officer Echaverry died in the line of duty while serving & protecting our community,” Miami-Dade Police Director Alfredo Ramirez tweeted Wednesday evening. “Our law enforcement family will continue to stand beside & support the Echaverry family through this difficult time.”
Police said Echavarry and other officers began pursuing a white vehicle involved in an earlier armed robbery when its driver tried to flee, ramming into police vehicles and a civilian vehicle whose three occupants were hospitalized in stable condition.
He then tried to escape on foot, but a confrontation and gunfire ensued. The driver, identified as Jeremy Horton, 32, of Acworth, Georgia, was shot and died at the scene.
Horton had been stopped in South Florida on Aug. 8 and cited for having no proof of insurance and driving with an expired tag and a suspended Georgia driver's license, according to Golden Beach Police Chief Rudy Herbello.
Echaverry had been with Miami-Dade Police for five years, and was assigned to the department's robbery intervention detail. His friends told the Miami Herald he was moving up and planned to get married.
Monday's shooting wasn't his first brush with death, the newspaper reported. As a rookie in March 2018, Echaverry was a passenger in a police vehicle that rammed into another car, killing its 45-year-old driver.
The computer on the police vehicle showed Officer John Song was driving at 78 mph in a 40 mph zone a second before the crash. Both officers were airlifted to a hospital. In May a jury acquitted Song of vehicular homicide and reckless driving. The Herald reported that Echaverry testified that he couldn't remember the moments leading up to the crash.
“We’ll never forget Officer Echaverry’s bravery & sacrifice. Godspeed, brother,” Ramirez tweeted.