May 30, 2011 — Miami Beach
Around 4 a.m. on Memorial Day, a bicycle officer approached the driver of a car that was peeling out on crowded Collings Avenue.
Raymond Herisse, 22, took off, brushing the officer.
Herisse sideswiped cars, drove the wrong way and onto the sidewalk. Police fired at him several times between 16th and 13th streets. Four bystanders were hit by bullets. Read more
When Herisse's battered blue Sonata finally came to a stop, he refused to show his hands and continued to move about inside the car, officials said.
Officers fired, killing him.
In total, eight officers from Miami Beach and four from Hialeah fired 116 rounds, striking Herisse 16 times. Eighty-seven projectiles were recovered from the car.
Three bystanders were shot near 14th Street: Cedrick Perkins, 30, was hit in the chest; Crystal Rivera in the arm; Sarah Garcia, 25, in her left leg and arm. Carlson St. Louis, 25, was struck in the left hip near 13th Street.
Although a gun was found in Herisse's car, no residue was found on his hands. His blood alcohol level was twice the legal limit.
According to the Miami Herald, prosecutors mulled a misdemeanor charge against the officers of "culpable negligence" but decided they could not prove "reckless disregard" for people's safety when officers were trying to prevent Herisse from harming the public.
Miami Beach police changed their policies for firing into moving vehicles. Herisse's family, Perkins, St. Louis and Garcia filed civil lawsuits against the cities of Miami Beach and Hialeah.
In March 2016, a settlement was reached after mediation.
The Miami Herald reported that Miami Beach agreed that Marcelline Azor, Herisse's mother, will receive $87,000, Sarah Garcia, $55,000, Carlson St. Louis, $42,500, Cedrick Perkins, $15,000. The amount to be paid by Hialeah wasn't known.
This was the 53rd police shooting in Florida in 2011.
Two days earlier, two officers shot one person in Ft. McCoy .
Eight days later, five officers shot one person in Lakeland .
6 ways this case compares to others
- Garcia, Rivera, St. Louis and Perkins were four of 18 innocent bystanders shot by police. Some of them were hostages.
- Officers shot 116 bullets. The average was eight.
- Herisse was drinking alcohol before being shot. That’s true in about 10 percent of police shootings.
- Herisse and 94 other people who police shot reportedly drove at an officer.
- A civil lawsuit was filed in response to Garcia, Rivera, St. Louis and Perkins's shooting. Ninety other cases led to lawsuits.
- This shooting came after officers pulled over Herisse for a traffic violation. Seventy-seven cases began with a traffic stop.