A man in Florida has been arrested following an incident where he allegedly shot his cousin four times after a heated argument about a parking space.
The Miami Police received an emergency call at approximately 11:30 p.m. on July 27, reporting a shooting. Upon arrival, officers found a man with gunshot wounds, and a second man on scene admitted to being the shooter. He was promptly arrested.
According to the police report, the cousin had asked the shooter to move his vehicle, which led to an argument. After a brief exchange in Spanish, the shooter fired a shot that grazed his cousin’s wrist and struck his left thigh three times.
Following the shooting, the victim ran to a bedroom and locked the door, claiming his cousin threatened to kill him. He then called the police for help.
Both men had been living together for about a year, and a check revealed the firearm involved was reported stolen in September 2021 from Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.
This incident highlights the alarming trend of gun violence in the U.S., which has been labeled a public health crisis by U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy. In a recent advisory, he noted that gun violence has become the leading cause of death for Americans aged 1 to 19 since 2020, surpassing other causes like vehicle accidents and cancer.
In 2022, Florida saw a staggering 3,232 firearm-related deaths, placing the state at a rate of 14 deaths per 100,000 people—a statistic shared with Wisconsin. Notably, Rhode Island and Massachusetts reported the lowest rates at 3.1 and 3.7, respectively, while New Mexico (27.3), Louisiana (28.2), and Mississippi (29.6) experienced the highest rates of gun-related fatalities.