A Miami-Dade family is calling for answers after a 52-year-old woman was shot and killed Saturday afternoon by a Miami-Dade Sheriff’s deputy at their Miami Gardens home.
Deputies responded around 4 p.m. to a call reporting that a woman armed with a knife was harming herself at a residence near Northwest 55th Avenue and Northwest 190th Street.
According to Assistant Sheriff Eric Garcia, deputies attempted to de-escalate the situation upon arrival. During the encounter, the woman was tased with a less-lethal device, and at the same time, a deputy fired a service weapon, striking her. She was transported to a hospital, where she later died from her injuries.
The woman’s identity has not yet been released.
Family members told CBS News Miami that the woman’s 12-year-old daughter was inside the home and made the call for help. The victim’s older daughter, who asked not to be identified, said she was on the phone with her younger sister when the shooting occurred.
“I heard two gunshots in a house with no gun,” she said, explaining that only her mother and younger sister were inside at the time.
Relatives expressed frustration over what they described as a lack of information and questioned the use of deadly force. One family member said they feel left without clear answers about what happened inside the home.
Authorities have not released further details about how the woman was allegedly threatening deputies or what led to the decision to fire a weapon. Garcia stated that deputies regularly train for encounters involving individuals experiencing mental health crises and said efforts to establish dialogue in this case were unsuccessful.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement has launched an investigation into the shooting, which is standard procedure when a deputy discharges a firearm.
The investigation remains ongoing.