Robbery suspect hospitalized after police shooting

NORTH MIAMI, Fla. (WSVN) -- Police said they were forced to shoot a man wanted for an armed robbery after he pulled a gun and fired on them.

U.S. Marshals had been working on a tip with the aid of North Miami Police, just before 12 noon, on Friday, hoping to find a person suspected of pulling a gun on a woman during a robbery on Aug. 1. When police confronted the suspect, they felt enough of a threat to draw their weapons and shoot, striking the suspect.

The suspect, later identified as Joe Fernandez, had been wanted by U.S. Marshals for a robbery in North Florida. They tracked him down to a North Miami address in a residential neighborhood. "We set up surveillance," said Senior Inspector Barry Golden of the U.S. Marshals, "and they've been out here all morning, targeting this one building right here in hopes of arresting him and locating him. When the subject did spot what he thought was police vehicles he fled."

Police said, he fled on foot down the street and fired on them. That was when a North Miami Police officer drew his weapon and struck the suspect several times.

Fernandez collapsed near Northeast 144th Street and Sixth Avenue where he received treatment by Miami-Dade Fire Rescue paramedics. He was later transported to Jackson Memorial Hospital where he remains in stable condition, according to North Miami Police Major Neil Cuevas.

Police set up a perimeter and locked down North Miami Elementary as they searched for the wounded subject and made sure no one else may have been involved. "North Miami was extremely helpful," said Golden, "extremely quick in setting up a perimeter, a smaller and larger perimeter that this guy was not able to get out of, obviously."

Police, along with heavily armed US Marshals, went door-to-door in the search. A police helicopter hovered over the perimeter area, as well. Alto Bryant, a resident of the area, was left shaken by all this activity. "When I first moved here, back in 2000," she said, "it was nice, but now it's become dangerous around here because it's Sixth Avenue and people come in and out, in and out, and you don't know who they are."

Police continue to investigate the shooting of the suspect, but, police said, the suspect has a lengthy criminal history and will soon face more charges.

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