West Palm man killed by Miami-Dade cops during MLK celebration
By Diana Marrero & David Cázares
Miami Bureau
January 22, 2002, 3:17 PM EST
MIAMI -- A white Miami-Dade County police officer on Monday night fatally shot a 20-year-old black man who detectives said stole a late-model car and then tried to run over the cop who was pursuing him.
The shooting occurred at 6:23 p.m. at Northwest 22nd Avenue and 64th Street in Liberty City as the community's annual Martin Luther King parade was winding down.
Immediately after the shooting, a small crowd threw rocks and bottles at detectives, but the violence ended quickly after about 75 uniformed officers arrived. It was unclear if any detectives were hit; police made no arrests.
Still, residents and civic activists continued to complain of police brutality and many planned to attend a 5 p.m. rally today.
Juan DelCastillo, a spokesman for Miami-Dade police, said a group of officers was working a robbery intervention detail in the area. They were checking tags of cars that went by when they spotted a 1999 Lincoln Continental that a records check indicated had been stolen in West Palm Beach on Jan. 14th.
After the officers tried to stop the car, then on Northwest 22nd Avenue, the driver tried to turn west on Northwest 64th Streey, DelCastillo said. The car then struck a 29-year-old officer, who ordered the driver to stop before firing, DelCastillo said.
The officer, who suffered injuries to his legs, knees and back, was in fair condition Monday at North Shore Medical Center.
The dead man was identified as Eddie Lee Macklin, of Haverhill Road in West Palm Beach. He died at the scene.
Three passengers in Macklin's car were questioned after the shooting. Two were freed later; the third was arrested on a probation violation count.
Police said Macklin had an arrest record dating back to 1996 when he was arrested in West Palm for aggravated battery of a police officer. He was arrested 11 more times since then in Palm Beach County.
The shooting officer, James Johns, 30, has been with the department since June 1996. He was placed on paid administrative leave until the investigation concludes.
Some witnesses at the shooting scene were upset about the way the police handled the arrest, saying officers were running with their guns drawn on a crowded city street.
For the next few hours, residents remained in the streets, angered by the latest police-involved death in Miami-Dade.
Community activists quickly decried the shooting, and held it up as another example of why civilian review panels are needed to investigate such incidents.
"Obviously it's another incident of police gunning down a black man," said Max Rameau of the Liberty City-based Brothers of the Same Mind. "They were chasing these guys in the car with their guns drawn."
Added Clifton Massey, who said he witnessed the shooting: ``If the guy was in a stolen car, they should have followed him to an area that was not so congested and apprehended him there. They had enough police presence to make sure he couldn't get away. The Rambo stuff, that was not necessary.''