Miramar man jailed on charge he shot Miami-Dade police officer conducting surveillance

Gabriel Gongora

A 20-year-old Miramar man has been jailed on accusations he shot and wounded a Miami-Dade police detective.

Gabriel Gongora was booked early Tuesday on a charge of first-degree attempted murder of a law enforcement officer, records show.

According to an arrest report, Miami-Dade Robbery Intervention Detail unit detective Ricaurte Lugo was in Northwest Miami-Dade looking for a black Volkswagen believed to have been stolen in a carjacking. He spotted the car leaving the Heaven Lake Estates Trailer Park at Northwest 202nd Street and 57th Avenue.

As Lugo called for backup, the Volkswagen started driving erratically near Northwest 186th Street and 67th Avenue, and Gongora opened fire, hitting Lugo in the face, the report said.

The detective was airlifted to Ryder Trauma Center in stable condition.

“Our officer, thank goodness, is doing OK. He’s going to be all right,” Miami-Dade Police Director Alfredo “Freddy” Ramirez told reporters outside Jackson Memorial Hospital, where the detective was being treated.

Gongora and the car were later found at his Miramar home. A spent casing was found in the car, police said, and he later admitted “his involvement in the incident.”

Lugo identified Gongora as his attacker, according to the arrest report by Miami-Dade Detective Jonathan Sabel.