Car chase ends with suspect dead and police officer seriously injured (PHOTOS)

• A car chase ended in a shootout leaving the suspect dead.
• A Miami-Dade police officer is in critical condition after the shooting.
• The suspect crashed into a police cruiser and another car while trying to flee following an armed robbery.

Bloody night in the US. A Miami-Dade police officer was seriously injured and an armed robbery suspect was killed in an exchange of gunfire following a car chase on Monday, August 15, authorities said.

The Miami-Dade detective was rushed to the hospital after responding to an armed suspect inside a vehicle. According to local media, the suspect was barricaded inside a car on Northwest 62nd Street and 17th Avenue, reported The Sun.

Deadly car chase in Miami-Dade

The suspect later crashed his vehicle into a police cruiser and another car while trying to flee following a reported armed robbery near the Liberty City neighborhood, the Miami Dade Police Department said in a statement.

“An altercation ensued and shots were fired resulting in both the officer and the subject being shot,” the statement said. Authorities reported that the suspect died at the scene, according to The Associated Press.

An officer is hospitalized

An officer from the Robbery Intervention Detachment was hit in the head during the shooting and was rushed to a local hospital where he is in critical condition, authorities said.

“One of our officers was shot during an altercation and was transported to Ryder Trauma Center in critical condition. We ask for prayers,” the police department said on its official Twitter account.

Police: “It doesn’t look good”

The police officer remains at the Ryder Trauma Center in Florida. “It doesn’t look good,” Miami-Dade Police Union President Steadman Stahl told the Miami Herald. An unknown number of occupants of the other car that was hit by the suspect were hospitalized in stable condition, according to the police statement.

No other information was immediately available. Television news footage showed a line of police cars outside the Ryder Trauma Center, where the officer was being treated.

«I heard like 20 shots»

“I ask our community to please stand as one and pray. We have tough days ahead. We have to do this together as one, as a community, as a law enforcement family,” Miami-Dade Police Chief Alfredo Ramirez said outside the hospital. “Right now all I ask for is prayers and good thoughts and unity.”

Three people from the car that was hit were hospitalized in stable condition, the police statement said. “The car they were chasing collided with the white car; it was a very strong blow,” witness Tony Ladipo told WPLG. “The police arrived, like 15 cars came, and when they got out, they started shooting at him. He couldn’t see them shooting at him, but they were shooting. I heard like 20 shots.” Ramirez said he couldn’t reveal more details about the case, which is being investigated by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.