The director of the Miami-Dade Police Department was in stable condition after surgery in a Tampa area hospital, the Miami-Dade mayor said Monday, amid reports from local media that he had shot himself. Alfredo "Freddy" Ramirez, 52, was in Tampa for a law enforcement conference, officials said. "Following a critical injury in Tampa yesterday, Chief Ramirez is hospitalized and in critical but stable condition," said Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, per the AP. "All that matters right now is Chief Ramirez's wellbeing," the mayor added.
Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister told WFLA that Ramirez shot himself Sunday night during a domestic dispute after stopping his car along Interstate 75 south of Tampa, where the sheriff's conference was underway. The Miami Herald and WPLG report that Ramirez's wife, Jody, was traveling with him at the time. Ramirez oversees the largest police agency in the southeastern US. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement said it, along with the Florida Highway Patrol, is investigating the incident. "We have been advised by local law enforcement agencies that our Director ... has suffered a critical injury in the Tampa area," a statement from the Miami-Dade Police Department said. "We ask you to please keep him in your prayers."
Details regarding Ramirez's injury or how it happened were not immediately confirmed by state or Miami officials. The Herald cited law enforcement sources who said Tampa police had engaged with Ramirez at the JW Marriott hotel, where the conference was being held, earlier on Sunday evening after a report of an altercation. According to WPLG, Ramirez and his wife stepped outside the hotel around 6:30pm Sunday and began arguing. A witness saw Ramirez put a gun in his mouth and called 911, the station reported. However, when Tampa police arrived, the couple denied the witness's account, and the witness had left.
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