Cariann Denise Hithon was fatally shot by an officer who claims he was forced to open fire when she drove into a second officer and sent him flying through the air and onto the ground
A 22-year-old honors student was shot dead on her birthday by police in Miami after allegedly driving drunk and hitting a police officer.
Cariann Denise Hithon was fatally shot by an officer who claims he was forced to open fire when she drove into a second officer and sent him flying through the air and onto the ground, reported the Miami New Times.
A video of the shooting has now surfaced on Instagram, and in the clip Hilton’s car lurches forward as Officer David Cajuso rolls over the car’s hood, seemingly prompting a second officer to shoot into the window.
Miami-Dade county police are now investigating the incident, and have not yet released the name of Hilthon’s police shooter.
Hilthon, who was an honors student at Temple University in Pennsylvania, was celebrating her birthday in South Beach on October 5 when the incident occurred, according to her father.
Police have said that Hithon was driving erratically around 6.15pm that evening when she crashed her black BMW into another car on 12th Street and Ocean Drive. Her BMW is pictured after the crash
Police have said that Hithon was driving erratically around 6.15pm that evening when she crashed her black BMW into another car on 12th Street and Ocean Drive.
She then sped through a red light and hit a car on Lincoln Road before driving off again in what police said was an ‘apparent attempt to flee the scene.’
When police caught up with her, officer Cajuso went to stand in front of the car in an apparent keep Hithon from driving any further, the department has said.
They said she rammed into him, though, and tossed him onto the asphalt before driving away. He was carried away on a stretcher but wasn’t seriously injured.
The department have said that another cop then shot at Hithon to keep her from hitting anything or anyone else.
Her car then slammed into a parked white SUV.
An unnamed person was sitting in the front passenger seat of Hithon’s car – and there has been no word on that individual’s condition.
She then sped through a red light and hit a car on Lincoln Road before driving off again in what police said was an ‘apparent attempt to flee the scene’
When police caught up with her, officer Cajuso went to stand in front of the car in an apparent keep Hithon from driving any further, the department has said. They said she rammed into him, though, and tossed him onto the asphalt before driving away. He was carried away on a stretcher but wasn’t seriously injured
The Miami Beach Fraternal Order of Police President Bobby Jenkins said in a statement that he stands behind the officer who opened fire.
‘It is unfortunate that yesterday’s events ended in the loss of life, yet it is an officer’s duty to ensure the safety of the public under the imminent threat of harm from an individual,’ the statement reads.
‘That being said we cannot dismiss the fact that an officer was hit with deadly force by a vehicle that was driving recklessly and fleeing from the scene of an accident.
‘We welcome the independent investigation being conducted by the Miami-Dade Police Department and are confident that our officer’s actions were justified, warranted, and appropriate given the circumstances at hand.’