Miami Officer Found Shot To Death In Unmarked Patrol Car

[CPDlife4ME]

POSTED: 5:05 am EST January 8, 2008
UPDATED: 1:53 pm EST January 8, 2008

NORTH MIAMI BEACH, Fla. --

A Miami city police officer was found shot to death in his unmarked patrol car early Tuesday, becoming South Florida's fourth law enforcement officer killed in recent months, authorities said.

Detective James Walker, 30, was found in the car in an alley by North Miami Beach officers responding to reports of shots fired around 12:50 a.m., said Miami police spokesman Lt. Bill Schwartz.

"It's hurt a whole lot," Schwartz said. "We expect every once in a while to have officers killed in the line of duty, but Officer Walker was off duty."

Searching For White Ford Taurus
Police were searching for a suspect in a white Ford Taurus, but they didn't release details of the gunman. Officers said the car was made between 2001 and 2007 and likely has bullet holes and damage to its right rear panel.

Blood trails led from Walker's car, and officers in flak jackets, helmets and rifles walked around the scene as investigators searched the area for clues.

"We found some blood trails leading in different directions, which very well does indicate that other people were injured," Schwartz said.

One man being questioned had been shot in the arm Tuesday morning, but police did not call him a suspect. "He might just be an innocent bystander," Schwartz said.

Schwartz said police had no suspects identified, but investigators were questioning drug dealers, gang members and others to see if they had information.

Officer Shot Off-Duty
Walker went off-duty around 11 p.m. Monday. It's not clear what he was doing in North Miami Beach.

"Officer Walker, a detective with our domestic violence unit, got off duty last night at 11 o'clock. We don't know where he was going," Schwartz said. "We don't know why he was here, how he ended up in this position. Perhaps he came upon something that required police action."

Walker had been shot multiple times, apparently with a high-powered weapon, Schwartz said.

"His car had been filled with holes," he said. "The car was made into Swiss cheese."

Witnesses told NBC 6 they heard at least a dozen gunshots. One woman said that she saw the gunman carrying a rifle.

Motorcycle Officer Struck During Transport
Walker's body was removed from the car and taken to the Miami-Dade County Medical Examiner's office for an autopsy. Law enforcement members lined both sides of the street and saluted as the Miami-Dade Fire Rescue vehicle drove past, escorted by five police officers on motorcycles.

One of the motorcycle officers was struck by a car on Interstate 95, but was conscious and talking as he was transported to a Miami hospital, Schwartz said. "We think he's going to be fine," he added.

Walker's patrol car was to be removed from the scene and examined for evidence separately, officials said.

Family Reacts To Killing
Walker had been a member of the Miami police since 2000, and had been working with the department's domestic violence unit.

Walker's ex-wife lived in the area where he was found, said John Randle, the detective's brother-in-law.

"I don't know what he was doing in this alley," Randle told The Associated Press. "He was a good, humble guy. He was no trouble. I can't tell you no flaws."

Randle told NBC 6 that his family was involved in the search for the shooter.

"I'm going to call my immediate family, the Randles, the Joneses, the Browns, the Walkers, everybody will come out and we're looking for this suspect along with the officers and the community," he said.

Officer Is 4th Killed Recently
Walker's death is the fourth fatal shooting of a South Florida law enforcement officer in the past six months. A Miami-Dade police officer was fatally shot in shootout with a suspect in September. One Broward sheriff's deputy was fatally shot in August while looking for stolen vehicles behind a drug store, and another was shot with his own weapon while transporting an inmate to court in November.

The number of officer deaths nationwide spiked to 191 in 2007 -- the highest since 1989, not including the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, according to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund.

Fund spokesman Kevin Morison attributed the increase to a greater number of officers on patrol, a recent uptick in violent crimes and more rapid and aggressive responses by officers.

"Departments need to look a little deeper to see whether they're giving all the training and tools they need," Morison said.

Shootings of law enforcement officers terrify other officers' families and cause problems within agencies, said Suzie Sawyer, executive director of Concerns of Police Survivors Inc., a Camdenton, Mo.-based organization that helps the families of fallen officers.

"Those officers have to go out there the next day and put the badge on their chest and the gun on their hip and their families are terrified for them," she said.

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[besafe2]

RIP
Prayers to this family & dept. I pray they get whomever is responsible.

[patrick smith]

May God except his soul into the city of Heaven.
I hope you get the person the person responsible. My condolences to his family.
–Patrick

[CPDlife4ME]

Posted: Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Updated: January 15th, 2008 10:53 AM EDT

By LISA ORKIN EMMANUEL
Associated Press Writer

NORTH MIAMI BEACH, Fla. --

A man accused of killing a Miami police detective was taken into custody Monday after authorities named him the shooter and prosecutors dropped attempted murder charges against another man.

Andrew James Rolle, 20, was taken into custody at the Miami police station and later taken to the North Miami Beach Police Department, said Sgt. Warren Hardison.

Rolle was named by North Miami Beach officials as the new suspect in the Jan. 8 slaying of the Miami Police Department's James Walker, who was shot with an assault weapon. Rolle had been arrested Jan. 5 on misdemeanor loitering and prowling charges but was released on $500 bail, according to jail officials.

North Miami Beach Police Chief Rafael Hernandez would not divulge details about how Rolle was identified as the shooter, other than to say technology helped. An arrest warrant in the case was ordered sealed.

Walker, 30, who was off duty at the time, was found slumped over the wheel of his unmarked police car with his service weapon in his hand. He had been shot multiple times, and an AK-47 assault rifle was found at the scene, outside a North Miami Beach apartment complex.

Police initially said the main suspect was Ricardo Ajuste, 21, who was arrested Wednesday. Authorities said last week that Ajuste had opened fire on a couple in a car near Walker's vehicle.

Ajuste remained in custody on unrelated charges and may still have information about the Walker slaying, said Assistant State Attorney Abbe Rifkin.

"At this time we are still investigating what his involvement, if any, was. However, we are not looking at him as a suspect in that shooting at all," Rifkin said.

Walker, who was in the North Miami Beach area to visit his wife, was buried Saturday.