Police: Chase with stolen UPS truck ends with shootout, 4 dead

Multiple law enforcement officers converged on a UPS truck believed to have been stolen after reports of a robbery and shooting at a jewelry store in Coral Gables, Florida on Thursday.  Officials say four people, including the UPS truck driver, were killed after the accused robbers led police on a two-county chase that ended in gunfire at a busy intersection in Miramar.

Early Thursday evening, there remained a heavy police presence at Flamingo Road and Miramar Parkway.  Both accused robbers were shot and killed, and the fourth victim was in a nearby vehicle when gunfire rang out during the rush hour.

It all began roughly two hours earlier when police in Coral Gables received a silent alarm at the Regent Jewelers store in the city's Miracle Mile area.  

"Our response time was less than a minute-and-a-half to what was a silent hold-up alarm," said Coral Gables Police Chief Ed Hudak.

Hudak said during a news conference that two suspects were at the store when police arrived.  Shortly after that alarm, shots were fired near Coral Gables City Hall, which prompted a lockdown of the building.  A bullet hit a window at Coral Gables' City Hall, which was locked down, Hudak said. No one inside City Hall was believed to be injured.

Sometime after the suspects left the scene in one vehicle, a carjacking was reported in which the UPS truck was stolen and the driver of the truck was taken hostage by the suspects, according to police.

The UPS truck was spotted by Miami-Dade police officers who joined in the pursuit which crossed into Broward County, where deputies with the Broward County Sheriff's Office and police officers in Miramar assisted.  The UPS truck was stopped shortly before 6 p.m. in Miramar.  One person could be seen falling out of the truck's passenger side after several shots were fired. It was unclear if the shots were fired from inside the truck, from law enforcement who were moving in or some combination thereof.

"This is what dangerous people do to get away," said Hudak. "This is what dangerous people do to avoid capture. If people give up and are held accountable for their crimes, then we wouldn't put these many people in danger."

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement are assisting in the investigation.