1 officer killed, 3 injured in Miami shootout

9/13/2007
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Suspect: Shawn Sherwin Labeet
Suspect: Shawn Sherwin Labeet

CUTLER BAY, Fla. A gunman killed a police officer and injured three others during a traffic stop Thursday, triggering a manhunt in a suburban Miami neighborhood, officials said.

Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Alvarez confirmed that one of the officers died. All four had been brought to hospitals, but authorities refused to release further information on them because they were trying to notify their families.

The officers were conducting burglary surveillance when they stopped the man because he was driving a car erratically, said Linda O'Brien, a police spokeswoman. The man opened fire with a high-powered weapon and fled. It was not immediately clear if the officers returned fire.

TV footage showed several officers briefly surrounding a house, guns drawn, before moving on. Others swept through a grassy area on foot and picked through a garbage truck.

Authorities were looking for 25 year old, Shawn Sherwin Labeet, last seen driving a white Honda Accord, O'Brien said. There was a chance another man also was involved.

Investigators believed they had recovered a vehicle and a gun used in the shooting, O'Brien said.

No other details were immediately available.

Cutler Bay is a suburb southwest of downtown Miami. Several schools were locked down due to the search.

Two other officers were shot separately last month in neighboring Broward County. One was killed, the other badly injured.

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