New dramatic video shows the rush-hour shootout between police and two armed robbery suspects at Flamingo and Miramar Parkway that happened nearly six years ago. On Thursday, CBS News Miami spent hours poring over 48 minutes of video and 1,100 pictures requested from the Broward State Attorney’s office.
It was December 2019 when a parade of police was going after two armed robbery suspects who were accused of pulling off a heist at a Coral Gables jewelry store before carjacking a UPS delivery truck with the driver still inside.
Stuck in rush-hour traffic, the pursuit ended at Flamingo and Miramar Parkway. Now, CBS News Miami got a heart-pounding look at what happened next.
Chaos during rush hour ends in death
CBS News Miami requested police body camera video and cell phone video from the Broward SAO, poring through the evidence to get a better grasp of what happened during that rush-hour shootout.
“Oh my God, Oh my God,” a woman yelled inside her car while she was recording sounds of gunfire.
At the same time, armed officers ran toward the UPS truck.
At an intersection filled with commuters, drivers were stuck. Some made their own way out, banging into cars as bullets flew around them. Video shows another man when he hit the ground on the median.
It was pure terror for people who couldn’t move.
“Duck down, duck down,” a guy yelled to his dad as a driver in front of them was hit with gunfire.
When the gunfight was over, four people were dead — UPS driver Frank Ordonez was shot and killed, while Richard Cutshaw, a man driving in the area, was also hit — he did not survive. The two robbery and carjacking suspects, Lamar Alexander and Ronnie Hill, also died.
In the video, an officer is seen performing CPR amid the chaos. Photos show how that UPS truck was riddled with bullets, and the driver and suspects were killed inside. Investigators believe some 200 bullets were fired that day.
Four Miami-Dade officers indicted
Four officers were indicted by a grand jury, each is facing a manslaughter charge.
Jose Mateo is one of the officers charged in this case. On Friday, he’ll be in Broward court, asking a judge to dismiss the case against him, citing Florida’s stand-your-ground law. The state responded on Thursday afternoon, saying stand-your-ground does not apply in this case, since he’s accused of the unintentional shooting of the UPS driver.
