Kidnapping Suspect Armed With AK-47, Dead After Shootout With Cops in Miami

A kidnapping suspect armed with an AK-47 is dead after getting into a dramatic, late-night shootout with police near Miami International Airport, authorities said. 

Information on the suspect's identity, or who the kidnap victim was have not been released at this time. 

Video taken by a nearby bystander from a balcony showed a large police response at an intersection near the airport around 10 p.m. Thursday night. Dozens of gunshots can be heard being exchanged between the suspect and police, until the gunman was ultimately killed, WSVN-TV reported. 

FBI spokesman Brian Waterman told reporters during a Friday-morning press conference that City of Miami police and Miami-Dade police were working with the Bureau in an ongoing kidnapping case when the shooting occurred. 

"The suspect of this investigation fled the scene. And he was armed," Waterman said. "He (the suspect] was involved in a hate crime investigation."

Witnesses say at least three sedans crashed on Northwest Seventh Street during the confrontation. 

"A lot of gunshots. Boom, boom, boom,” one man told the Herald. "Like a machine gun, like an AK-47."

Miami police spokesperson, Kiara Delva, told reporters that officers were pursuing the suspect when "the subject began to shoot at the officers and there was an exchange of gunfire." 

Law enforcement sources told the Miami Herald that the suspect had recently been released from prison after spending a decade in jail for carjacking and assaulting a police officer. 


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