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Miami-Dade prosecutors clear four Sweetwater officers in March shooting
Prosecutors say four officers acted lawfully when they fatally shot Frank Díaz during a domestic-violence response in Sweetwater. Their review included body-camera video and a Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigation.
Four Sweetwater police officers were justified in the fatal shooting of Frank Díaz, the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office concluded after reviewing body-camera footage and investigative records.
Officers responded to a domestic-violence call shortly before 6:30 p.m. March 11 at a home on Southwest Seventh Terrace. Investigators’ reports said Díaz was holding a knife to his pregnant wife’s throat and had cut her hand and foot.
Body-camera video shows officers approaching the backyard from two directions. Two entered through a fence and encountered Díaz, while two others came through the house. An officer can be heard ordering him to put the knife down. Three officers fired seven shots in total, prosecutors said. Díaz died at the scene.
Investigators recovered a seven-inch kitchen knife near Díaz’s body and an eight-inch bread knife on a table, according to the State Attorney’s Office. After the shooting, an officer said they would begin chest compressions.
Prosecutors based their decision on the video, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement’s investigation and reports describing the attack. The woman had moved by the time reporters visited the home; neighbors said it was being rented.