# Officer Down: Officer Jose Somohano - [Miami-Dade, Florida]



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09/14/2007
*Officer Down: Officer Jose Somohano*

*Officer Down: Officer Jose Somohano* - [Miami-Dade, Florida]












AP Photo/Miami-Dade Police Department

Officer Jose L. Somohano


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*ODMP*



Biographical Info[/B]
*Age:* 37

*Cause of Death:* Gunfire

*Additional Information:* He had been a Miami-Dade Public Schools police officer before joining the Miami-Dade police department in 2003. The officer is survived by his wife and two children.

*Incident Details:* Police Officer Jose Somohano was shot and killed at a traffic stop during a burglary surveillance.

Officer Somohano and three other officers were shot when they stopped a vehicle that was being driven erratically in the area they were working. Officer Somohano died from his wounds.

*End of Watch:* Thursday, September 13, 2007

*Fla. officer dies of gunshot wounds, 3 officers injured*

The Miami Herald
*Related:* Gunman suspected in Fla. police killings shot dead CUTLER BAY, Fla. - One Miami-Dade police officer was shot dead and three others wounded late Thursday morning after they stopped a man driving erratically through a Southwest Miami-Dade County neighborhood.
The man opened fire on the officers with a high-powered weapon before fleeing, police said. Law enforcement officers from across South Florida swarmed to the scene to assist in the search for the fugitive. Streets and local highway exits were closed to seal off escape routes. Cars were stopped and trunks searched. The search later extended to Central Broward County, where the suspect was reportedly sighted at mid-afternoon.
The search for the culprit was complicated when police initially released an erroneous identification and photograph for the suspect. Almost five hours after the 11 a.m. shooting, police identified another man, 25-year-old Shawn Sherwin LaBeet, as the correct suspect. They said a second photograph they released was the correct one.
At 4 p.m., Miami-Dade Cdr. Linda O''Brien said LaBeet had been spotted in Central Broward County about an hour earlier behind the wheel of a four-door, black, 2007 Pontiac Vibe, accompanied by a woman and two children. The leased car''s tag is W59EPT.


O''Brien said the man earlier identified as the alleged shooter, Kevin Wehner, 30, was not involved and was in his hometown of Jacksonville on Thursday.
''''It''s a case of mistaken identity,'''' John Wehner, Kevin Wehner''s uncle in New York, told The Miami Herald earlier.
He said that his nephew contacted Jacksonville police Thursday afternoon to tell them of the mixup. The uncle said his nephew had recently reported to authorities that his wallet, containing his driver''s license, had been stolen.
''''It appears we have been misled about (the suspect''s) initial identity,'''' Miami-Dade''s O''Brien said. She said she was glad Wehner stepped forward quickly. ``It appears LaBeet had obtained his ID.''''
O''Brien blamed the earlier erroneous identity of the alleged shooter on a witness with ties to the actual suspect. ``A woman associated with LaBeet lied to us,`` O''Brien told The Herald.
Authorities told The Herald that LaBeet was wanted in Broward County for an aggravated assault. An arrest warrant had been issued by police.


Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Alvarez confirmed the unidentified officer''s death shortly before 2 p.m. The slain officer was shot in the neck.
''''This is a very sad day for us. We need to get this guy,'''' Alvarez said, holding up a photo of the suspect. He made his remarks hours before police released the correct name and photo of the actual suspect.
One of the less seriously wounded officers is Tomas Tundidor, 37, a Miami-Dade veteran. Police did not disclose the names of the other officers, citing the need to notify their families first. The extent of the injuries of the three wounded officers was not clear.
The shooting happened a little after 11 a.m., when officers working on a burglary detail spotted the suspicious car in an apartment complex at Southwest 280th Street and 143rd Court, said Miami-Dade Police Cmdr. Linda O''Brien. The man inside stepped out of the car and opened fire on the officers with a high-powered firearm -- possibly an AK-47 -- striking four, then fled in the auto.
One of the wounded was a female officer whose leg was shattered by a bullet. She was undergoing surgery at Jackson Memorial Hospital.
A white Honda Accord believed to be that of the shooter, its windshield shattered, was later found abandoned along a fence lining the bank of Black Creek Canal at Southwest 129th Avenue and 203rd Street in an unincorporated area west of Cutler Bay.
A weapon was recovered, O''Brien said. But the fugitive is believed to still be armed and may be wearing a bulletproof vest.
Police officers were being advised over radio that the suspect had possibly purchased three assault rifles and a handgun in March.
Law enforcement helicopters hovered over a nearby wooded area bordering the canal. Scores of police in cars and on foot scoured the neighborhood of the shooting.
Police also set up a security perimeter around the neighborhood at Southwest 127th Avenue between 200th and about 208th streets. Officers were wearing combat helmets and fatigues, sitting on the trunks of police cars as they patrolled the neighborhood.
Initially after the shooting, police closed every exit of the turnpike extension in South Miami-Dade south of Southwest 152nd Street. Northbound lanes have since been opened, but southbound lanes remained shut down and traffic was at a standstill.
Residents were not being allowed into the neighborhood.
Several area public schools were locked down for most of the day, but few students were on campus because it was teacher planning day. The schools were shut down at 3:15 p.m.
Miami Southridge Senior High School is being used as a Command Center by Miami-Dade Schools Police. Further information regarding the school''s schedule for tomorrow will be released later, Miami-Dade public schools said.
Parents with children in the band at Miami Southridge Senior High School were being asked to pick their children up immediately, because practice has been canceled. Administrative staff would remain with these students until all have been picked up.


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AP Photo/Walter Michot​Officers salute as the casket of slain Miami-Dade County Officer Jose Somohano arrives, Sept. 18.[/B]

Slain Florida Officer Remembered












AP Photo/Nuri Vallbona

Miami Dade police officers carry the casket of slain Officer Jose Somohano to graveside funeral services at Caballero Rivero Woodlawn Cemetery, Sept. 18.

*MADELINE BARO DIAZ*
_Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, Florida)_

A sea of police gathered Tuesday to give a fellow officer a final salute.
Thousands of people, most of them police officers from Miami-Dade and Broward counties, crowded the Pharmed Arena at Florida International University for a memorial to Miami-Dade Police Officer Jose Somohano. He was killed Thursday by a Broward County man who opened fire on four officers during an anti-burglary operation in south Miami-Dade. The three others survived.
Police later killed the shooter, Shawn Labeet, at a Broward apartment complex.
Somohano was the second officer in South Florida to be killed in six weeks. On Aug. 10, a gunman who is still at large fatally shot Broward Sheriff's Sgt. Christopher Reyka in Pompano Beach.
Somohano's flag-draped coffin entered the hall behind an officer playing a bagpipe. Officers in brown, black and white uniforms saluted the casket as it passed. Somohano's young daughter wiped away tears as she walked behind the casket.
Miami-Dade Police Director Robert Parker described Tuesday as a "day of tremendous pain and a day of tremendous tragedy."
Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Alvarez, former director of Miami-Dade police, said Somohano lived by the department's core values: integrity, respect, service and fairness.
"Officer Somohano's death is a sobering reminder of how dangerous police work is," Alvarez said. "He is an American hero because he laid down his life for something he believed in."
Somohano, 37, was born in Miami, and obtained degrees from Miami-Dade College and Florida International University. He worked as a corrections officer, then joined the Miami-Dade School District's police department. He joined Miami-Dade police in 2003.
Fellow officers spoke of Somohano as a devoted husband, son and father, as well as a loyal friend who was passionate about police work. They recalled how he would play the song Bad Boys from the television show Cops before he went into a risky or challenging situation and how he collected military action figures and arranged them by rank.
"Most of all, we're going to miss the little boy who liked to play cops and robbers," said his friend Lt. William "Billy" Hernandez.
Lt. Denise Bernhard, who worked with Somohano in the Cutler Ridge district, told the audience, "You're going to be so jealous you didn't know him," before launching into a tribute. She described the love Somohano had for his wife and two children, his sarcastic streak, his hard work as a training officer and how meticulous he was.
"He never had friends he needed, just friends he wanted," she said. "Some of the toughest people I know are here grieving for a man they loved."
Two who were wounded in the attack that killed Somohano, Officers Tomas Tundidor and Christopher Carlin, were at the ceremony, as were the parents of Officer Jody Wright. She remains at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami, recovering from a second surgery on her leg, shattered by Labeet's assault weapon fire.
Wright sent a video message from her hospital bed, apologizing for not making it to the service but vowing to be "back on the road soon."
Somohano was buried at Caballero Rivero Woodlawn Cemetery in Miami-Dade.

Information From: LexisNexis Wire services


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