A woman was critically injured and a suspect later found dead after a shooting Tuesday afternoon in Northwest Miami-Dade that drew a massive law enforcement response and an exchange of gunfire between deputies and an armed man, authorities said.

Shots fired and woman injured

"This afternoon, deputies from the Miami-Dade Sheriff's Office responded to a shots fired call with an injured individual," Eric Garcia, a sheriff's office spokesperson, said Tuesday evening. "Upon the deputies responding to the location, and arriving, they discovered an individual female that was injured or what appeared to be a gunshot wound."

"The deputies were able to extricate the female and fire rescue transported her to the hospital," he added.

Authorities confirmed she was taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital in critical condition.

The shooting occurred near Northwest 3rd Street and 72nd Avenue, south of Miami International Airport, according to the Miami-Dade Sheriff's Office.

Deputies directed to suspect

Witnesses on the scene told deputies where the suspect could be found.

"Witnesses that were on the scene then directed the deputies to the location of the subject, which was on the fourth floor," Garcia said.

"Deputies responded to the fourth floor where they discovered a subject armed with a firearm, at which point an exchange of gunfire between the subject and three of our deputies occurred, at which point the deputies retreated and took a safe and tactical position and awaited for our SRT, which is our SWAT team, to arrive."

Suspect found dead

Once the special response team arrived, they searched the apartment.

"Once SRT arrived on the scene, they conducted a sweep of the apartment and discovered the subject to be deceased,"Garcia said.

Authorities said the Florida Department of Law Enforcement is now leading the investigation.

"Currently, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement is the lead investigative entity and are conducting the investigation," Garcia said.

Witnesses describe chaos

Neighbors reported hearing a burst of gunfire and rushed to take cover as deputies swarmed the scene.

One woman said her daughter, who was inside a nearby building, heard shots in a hallway.

"I heard like boom boom boom, like a shooting and I said, go to the bathroom or go inside the closet, lock yourself. And then she goes, okay, okay, but she was really scary," the woman said.

She said her daughter was unharmed and later watched helicopters and police outside the building.