Shooting At Construction Site Leaves One Dead
MIAMI (CBSMiami.com) – A local construction worker is dead and his co-worker has been charged with manslaughter after a single gunshot rang out Monday morning at the construction site where both men worked.
The shooting happened at a construction site on the 700 block of NE 85th Street in Miami.
According to Miami Police, witnesses said they saw the victim, Jorge Mendez Alvarez, 58, and his co-worker Jose Perez, 48, playing around when Alvarez began "swinging a knife."
Police said Perez got his handgun, racked it and then shot Alvarez.
Miami Police said that Alvarez said that he removed the magazine from the gun and believed it to be empty when he shot the victim while playing around.
Alvarez was taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital, where he died.
"This is very preliminary. It appears to be accidental. It doesn't appear to be argumentative or any arguments prior to this incident," said Miami Police Det. Willie Moreno. "As an adult, you shouldn't be playing with guns, period. A gun is something very serious, very deadly," stressed Det. Moreno.
Neighbors agreed.
"I don't think it's a proper thing to do especially on a public street during working hours," said Wil Walkman.
Walkman told CBS4's Peter D'Oench that she doesn't feel safe after the shooting.
"I don't feel like it's safe now," Walkman said. "It's scary. When it happened, I heard a woman screaming that he did it, he did it."
Workers at the Horizon Construction Company declined a chance to say anything about the Alvarez or Perez. Alavrez's close friends said they are devastated by the news.
"I am in shock because he is a person that doesn't bother anybody," said Milkys Orta, a friend of Alavrez's. "He is constantly being friendly to everybody. That is why they should pick up all the guns."
Orta told D'Oench that Alvarez lived in a Miami apartment with his girlfriend. "She is taking it very hard right now," said Orta of the girlfriend. "She just can't believe what happened."
A check of records shows that Perez has been arrested before. He was charged with battery in 2010.
