FHP trooper shoots woman after being stabbed during attack in Miami, officials say
A Florida Highway Patrol trooper shot a woman after being attacked and stabbed early Saturday morning in Miami, officials said.
According to FHP, at about 5:30 a.m., troopers responded to calls of a vehicle traveling the wrong way down State Road 836, near Northwest 107 Avenue.
When they arrived, a trooper found the vehicle in the grassy center median and made contact with a woman inside the vehicle, who, FHP said, had a young child. The woman then allegedly pulled out a knife and attacked the trooper, stabbing him in the neck, head, and shoulder.
"They're requesting advice on a unit. An FHP unit was stabbed," said a dispatcher.
FHP said the trooper fired his service weapon and struck the woman during the attack.
"We have one person shot, and we have the unit that was stabbed in the face. One of our units was stabbed in the face," a dispatcher can be heard saying.
William Smith is the president of the highway patrol chapter of the Florida PBA. He says the trooper is lucky.
"We work by ourselves. We assist vehicles, whether it's on the side of the road, in crashes, or during traffic stops. And you're on defense. You walk up to the car, or even if they get out of the car, you're on defense," Smith said.
Smith says the woman who was shot is in her early 40s and is from Virginia and was in a rental car. Smith also says the woman had warrants for child neglect out of Georgia. Smith says a two-year-old child was in the back seat of the woman's car when this all happened.
"Still on scene, there's a baby in the vehicle. Female with a gunshot wound," a dispatcher said.
"You always hope that nothing bad happens, you're just there to help. " But in this case, like where something bad happens, our training, and you take an action to defend yourself," Smith said.
FHP says both should survive their injuries.
FHP is not releasing the names of the trooper or the woman at this time.
Smith says the woman will be charged with child negligence, attempted murder of a law enforcement officer, and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon on a law enforcement officer.
The investigation continues, and FHP says that the Florida Department of Law Enforcement will be conducting a review of the use of force by the trooper, as is standard in officer-involved shootings.
