MIAMI — A gunman ambushed a Florida Highway Patrol trooper who was sitting inside his patrol car in northeast Miami-Dade County on Wednesday. The officer escaped the bullets and returned fire, wounding the attacker, officials said.
The attack was unprovoked, according to the agency, and happened around 2 p.m. as the trooper was guarding a lane closure for a roadway project on Miami Gardens Drive just west of Biscayne Boulevard.
The unidentified attacker was driving a white Nissan and abruptly stopped. He got out, walked up to the car and opened fire, FHP Lt. Alejandro Camacho said.
"For unknown reasons. It almost seems like the trooper was targeted. It was like an ambush," Camacho said.
The trooper's car was shot up but he was not hit. He returned fire and downed the attacker, Camacho said. The trooper called for Miami-Dade Fire-Rescue, and paramedics took the man to nearby Aventura Hospital.
The gunman's condition was unknown on Wednesday evening. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is now investigating, along with the Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office.
The crime scene shut down traffic in all directions around the already crowded intersection of Miami Gardens Drive and Biscayne Boulevard just as Wednesday afternoon rush hour was to begin.
The attack happened one day after two FBI agents were fatally shot and three others wounded as they attempted to serve a search warrant on a child-porn suspect in Sunrise. The gunman, who fired from inside his house, was identified Wednesday as David Lee Huber.
