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Miami manhunt suspect

Suspect In Miami Manhunt Killed In Shootout

Police Say Man Shot 4 Officers, Killing 1

POSTED: 11:59 am EDT September 14, 2007

The gunman who police said killed a Miami-Dade police officer and wounded three others is dead after a shootout at a Pembroke Pines condominium complex, according to police.

Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Alvarez and Police Director Robert Parker, speaking at a news conference about 12:30 a.m. Friday, said police shot Shawn Sherwin Labeet, 25, at the Heron Pond condominiums at 305 S.W. 85th Ave. shortly before midnight.

"Mr. Labeet was armed with a loaded weapon and, again, it resulted in an exchange of gunfire," Parker said. "Not only was the weapon (loaded), but he had additional ammunition on his body."

Police cornered Labeet in the rear of the complex near the pool area after learning of his whereabouts Thursday evening. They confirmed Labeet was wearing a bulletproof vest, but it was unclear if he was wearing one at the time of his death.

Hundreds of officers were scouring South Florida for Labeet throughout the day and into the evening Thursday after a shooting at an apartment complex near Southwest 143rd Court and Southwest 280th Street.

Miami-Dade Police Department media relations bureau Cmdr. Linda O'Brien gave reporters a play-by-play of the incident that began the manhunt Thursday morning.

"Shortly after 11:21 a.m. Thursday, Miami-Dade police officers from the Cutler Ridge district were in a development conducting a burglary surveillance detail," she said. "They saw a vehicle driving erratically. They stopped the vehicle and attempted to question the driver. The subject got out of the vehicle and started to shoot at officers."

The vehicle in which police stopped the suspect before he fled the scene -- a white Honda Accord with a black hood -- was found abandoned by a canal near Southwest 216th Street and 129th Avenue. The car appeared to have a shattered front window from bullet holes. O'Brien said they also found a weapon but that Labeet may have had another weapon.

"Witnesses described the firepower as a machine gun, and the individual was able to fire a large number of rounds before officers could respond," Parker said.

According to the Broward Sheriff's Office, Labeet was arrested in 2001 on charges of disorderly intoxication and trespassing.

The property manager at Heron Pond told WPLG that Labeet's cousin lives there and that Labeet was seen there two weeks ago.

Officers' Names Released

Miami-Dade police released the names of the officers involved in Thursday's shootings. All of the officers worked out of the Cutler Ridge district.

The deceased officer was identified as Jose Somohano, 37, who was hired in 2003. His wife and two children survive Somohano.

Jody Wright, 31, was shot in the leg and remains at Jackson Memorial Hospital. She was hired in 2005.

Christopher Carlin, 34, was hired in 1994, and Tomas Tundidor, 37, was hired in 1989. Both officers were treated at local hospitals and released.

Alvarez said the family of Somohano had a message for police when he met with them Thursday morning.

"They asked us for one thing: They asked us to catch the subject," Alvarez said.

Kevin Wehner photos - suspect in Miami-Dade police shooting
Officials first released a photo of Kevin Wehner (left), calling him a suspect in the shootings of four Miami-Dade police officers. Three hours later, they said Wehner was not the suspect, but an alias that Shawn Sherwin Labeet (right) was using.

Mistaken Identity

First reports were that the person responsible for the shootings was a man named Kevin Wehner, a Jacksonville resident with no criminal record.

"Wehner is not involved in this case," O'Brien said. "It appears to us that Labeet may have obtained identification, maybe a driver's license, in Wehner's name. We are trying to clarify that now."

Alvarez said it was Labeet's girlfriend who was apprehended at the scene that gave police wrong information.

"She told us his name was Kevin Wehner," said Alvarez, who stated that the first hours of any investigation are crucial and that the woman's statement hampered the investigation. She faces charges.

Wehner went to the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office when he saw his photo and heard his name used in connection with the Miami shooting. Late Thursday, JSO issued a statement saying it and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement "are confident that Mr. Wehner is not involved in the Miami incident today."

Authorities said Wehner reported being a victim of identity theft in October 2006 after he received three automobile registrations from the Miami-Dade County automobile tag agency for two vehicles he did not own. The JSO investigated the incident and discovered that an unknown person was identifying himself as Kevin Foston Wehner, using the victim's date of birth and Social Security number.

Family Ties

Labeet is the half-brother of convicted killer Ishmael Labeet.

Ishmael Labeet was convicted of the 1972 "Fountain Valley Massacre" in which eight people were murdered at a golf course resort in St. Croix, Virgin Islands.

Ishmael Labeet was sentenced to eight life terms in prison, but on New Year's Eve of 1984 he hijacked an American Airlines flight to Cuba, where it is believed he still remains.

Shawn Labeet was not yet born when his half-brother and four associates committed the massacre.


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