Authorities released police body camera footage of a police shooting in Wynwood that killed a gunman and an innocent bystander in 2025.
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The June 14, 2025 shooting killed the gunman, Norman Lindo Jr., and 28-year-old Evelyn Valdés, an innocent bystander who was struck by a bullet while in a car nearby.
The released bodycam from the perspective of Officer Dorian Acosta starts in silence, but a sergeant is seen on the left firing his gun. Lindo is then mortally wounded.
A memo released this month by the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office said the officers’ use of deadly force in the shooting was legally justified.
According to the memo, Sergeants Jose Cabrera and Javier Herbello and Officer Acosta were outside the Electric Lady nightclub when they encountered Lindo, who’d been involved in an altercation and was armed.
Lindo was ordered to drop his weapon but when he didn’t comply, the sergeants and officer opened fire, hitting him several times. He was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
Valdes, who was out celebrating her birthday, was the rear passenger in a vehicle that was leaving the area when she was struck. She was also taken to a local hospital but died from her injuries.
The club’s manager was also struck and taken to a hospital but survived.
Surveillance video obtained by NBC6 showed the altercation outside the club and showed police opening fire.
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“In this ease, based on the totality of the circumstances, the officers’ use of deadly force was justified, as the evidence shows that Lindo Jr. was aggressively brandishing a firearm in a crowded street,” the memo said. “It was reasonable for the officers to believe that their lives or others were in danger. It was also reasonable for the officers to believe that deadly force was necessary to prevent death or great bodily harm to themselves, patrons of the nightclub, and pedestrians in the area.”
Valdes’ mother, Kristy “Dee” Garcia, filed a lawsuit against the officers and the city alleging excessive force, wrongful death and negligence.
Garcia released a statement at the time about the decision not to charge the officers.
“The State Attorney’s office may close the investigation into the vicious and gratuitous police shooting that killed my daughter. The office’s decision, however, will not close her life, her achievements or the love she gave to everyone she touched,” the statement read. “The office’s close-out memo will not be the last word on Evelyn.”
Two of the three officers returned to full duty two weeks after the shooting. The third officer was administratively reassigned to the real time crime center.
“The family is disappointed in the State Attorney’s office decision not to charge the police officers involved in this shooting. The non-prosecution decision was delivered to the family prior to turnover of any files, which as of this writing has yet to occur. The lack of transparency has added to the family’s disappointment,” Ramon Rasco, an attorney for Valdes’ family, said in a statement.
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