Firearms Instructor Dies After Getting Shot During Training At Miami-Dade Gun Range

A firearms instructor who was conducting a course was accidentally shot and killed during training at a west Miami-Dade gun range on Wednesday, Oct. 19 morning.

The deceased man, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CPB) firearms instructor, was accidentally shot and killed during a “building search training” that was being conducted in a Miami-Dade gun range. During the training, two instructors were doing a demonstration and one shot the other in the chest, ClickOrlando reported.

Officers reportedly responded to the Trail Glades Range located near the intersection of Southwest Eighth Street and Krome Avenue, immediately east of the Miccosukee Casino & Resort just before 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 19.

The injured instructor was loaded into an ambulance and was later airlifted to Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Ryder Trauma Center for treatment of his gunshot wounds. However, despite the efforts, the officer succumbed to his gunshot injuries and died, WPLG Local 10 reported.

“A U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer working at the weapons range was critically injured while on duty and pronounced deceased earlier today,” a CBP spokesperson said.

Dario Pederajo, who was at the range at the time of the shooting, said that the shooting incident happened in the part of the range used by law enforcement officers. Pederajo added that he was shooting in another area of the range when police officers surrounded the range and ordered everyone to put their guns down.

“On the police range side it’s mainly Customs and Border (Protection), they come on Wednesday for practice,” Pederajo said. “Several police officers came running over to the civilian side of the range, where the main office is, and said someone had been shot, stop shooting.”

Following the shooting, authorities have not yet released the instructor’s name nor given further details about how long he has worked for the agency. However, authorities have asked that the community keep him and his family in their prayers.

“All I can say at this time is great officer, great family, and it’s a tragic loss,” one official from the CBP said.

The Miami-Dade Police Department is handling the investigation in connection with the shooting.