Miami Herald, The (FL)-September 25, 1991
Author: RACHEL L. SWARNS Herald Staff Writer
Two Miami policemen were justified in firing at a man running toward them with a gun last June 27 -- a shooting that triggered a night of unrest in Overtown, Dade County prosecutors said Tuesday.
The man, Charles Clifford Brown, was running from a gunfight June 27 when he saw the two officers. He ran toward them. They yelled, "Freeze! Halt!"
Brown raised his hands, but never dropped his .357-caliber revolver, according to a nine page report by the state attorney's office.
Officer Serafin Ordonez fired twice. Officer Jorge L. Garcia fired once. One bullet hit Brown in the abdomen. He fell near the corner of Northwest First Place and 16th Street.
"Given the situation the officers were faced with, it's hard to quarrel with what they did," said assistant state attorney Jerald Bagley, who investigated the shooting.
That evening, an angry crowd gathered around Brown as he struggled to get up. It was just two days after an appeal court had reversed the manslaughter conviction of suspended policeman William Lozano for killing two black men in 1989.
After Brown was wounded, word spread that police had shot an unarmed black man. Bands of angry teen-agers hurled rocks and bottles throughout the night. Three Miami policemen were injured as they tried to quell the disturbance.
Brown, 32, was treated and released from Jackson Memorial Hospital. He faces aggravated assault charges stemming from the gunfight.
The gunfight erupted while Brown was arguing with an acquaintance over drugs at 210 NW 16th St., the report said. He went home for a gun, then began firing at a man identified only as Phil.
Phil returned fire, the report said. Brown ran east on Northwest 16th Street toward an approaching police car. He was trying to surrender to police, he told investigators.
Both officers refused to discuss the incident with the state attorney's office. Both have returned to patrol duty.
"We're very happy that the state attorney's office agreed with us that the shooting was justified," said Garcia's attorney, Jose Quinon.
"Ordonez was entirely justified in what he did," said Ordonez's attorney, William Matthewman. "He's back on the street protecting the community."
Edition: FINAL
Section: LOCAL
Page: 3B
Index Terms: MI POLICE SHOOTING
Record Number: 9103040569
Copyright (c) 1991 The Miami Herald
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