Killer of officer remains at large

FourMiami-Dade officers are shot, and a manhunt shuts down parts of the county.

A massive hunt for a man who killed a Miami-Dade County police officer virtually closed parts of the South Florida county Thursday.

Streets and highway exits were blocked to seal off escape routes. Cars were stopped, and trunks searched. Parts of Florida's Turnpike were briefly shut down. Schools were locked down or closed.

The search even extended to central Broward County as law enforcement officers from across South Florida swarmed to Miami. But he remained at large Thursday evening.

The shooting happened a little after 11 a.m., when officers working on a burglary detail spotted a suspicious car in an apartment complex, said Miami-Dade police Cmdr. Linda O'Brien. The man inside stepped out of the car and opened fire on the officers with a high-powered firearm - possibly an AK-47 - striking four, then fled in the auto.

Authorities initially closed every exit of the turnpike extension in South Miami-Dade south of Southwest 152nd Street and did not allow residents back into their neighborhood.

Officers were seen on live television coverage drawing their guns as they briefly surrounded a house. They also searched through a garbage truck as others scoured a grassy area on foot. Police were stopping vehicles in the area and searching through them. A federal government helicopter buzzed overhead.

Police found a white Honda Accord believed to be driven by the shooter, its windshield shattered, 5 miles away along Black Creek Canal in an unincorporated area west of Cutler Bay.

An AK-47 assault rifle was inside, police said. But the fugitive is believed to still be armed. Police were being advised over radio that the suspect had possibly purchased three assault rifles and a handgun in March.

Law enforcement helicopters hovered over a nearby wooded area bordering the canal. Scores of police in cars and on foot scoured the neighborhood of the shooting.

The search was complicated when police initially released an erroneous identification and photograph of a man whose wallet and driver's license had been stolen. He was hundreds of miles away in the Jacksonville area.

Almost five hours after the shooting, police identified Shawn Sherwin LaBeet, 25, as the correct suspect. He has a record for aggravated assault, O'Brien said.

In another apparently erroneous lead, Miami-Dade police about 4 p.m. reported a sighting of LaBeet behind the wheel of a black Pontiac Vibe accompanied by a woman and two children in Central Broward County. Broward deputies soon found the car, empty, at a Target parking lot. But after locating the occupants, police said the man driving the car was not LaBeet.

Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Alvarez, a former county police director, identified the dead officer as Jose Somohano, 37, a married father of two.

Another officer, Jody Wright, 31, underwent several hours of surgery to repair her severely injured leg. The other two officers were treated and released.

"We will be working around the clock, 24 hours, seven days a week, however long it takes, until we find Shawn Sherwin Labeet, and we apprehend him and take him into custody," said Alvarez.

Information from the Associated Press and the Miami Herald was used in this story.

[Last modified September 13, 2007, 23:28:19]