BROWARD COUNTY, Fla. — Two witnesses testified Thursday in the “stand your ground” hearing for a suspended Miami-Dade police officer involved in a 2019 Miramar shootout that left four people dead.
Prosecutors argued that officers had other options during the confrontation, while the defense said Jose Mateo and fellow officers had no choice but to return fire in self-defense.
The state’s witness, an unidentified Miami-Dade officer who also fired at the UPS truck where armed men Lamar Alexander and Ronnie Hill held driver Frank Ordonez, 27, hostage, described how he followed departmental use-of-force policies before firing.
In his testimony, the officer said he followed departmental use-of-force policies before discharging his firearm.
State: “In your training, does your department provide you with use of force policies?”
Witness: “Yes.”
State: “You did that?”
Witness: “Yes.”
The officer said he fired after perceiving a threat.
State: “What did you see when you responded? When you discharged your firearm?”
Witness: “I was offset to the right view of the passenger door and I perceived the threat and I acquired the target and discharged my firearm.”
State: “What kind of threat did you receive?”
Witness: “An individual with a firearm, sir. He already discharged his firearm.”
State: “He discharged it?”
”Witness: “Yes.”
The shooting killed Alexander and Hill, along with Ordonez and bystander Rick Cutshaw, who authorities said was caught in traffic during the crossfire.
Another state witness, Miami-Dade Officer Samantha Machado, said she did not fire her gun in Miramar but did shoot at the armed men while pursuing the UPS truck on I-75.
State: “You never shot, and the reason you never shot is why?”
Machado: “I never acquired a target.”
Machado added that she fired when she saw a suspect lean over with a gun.
Machado: “The subject leaned over and I saw the gun, so I opened fire.”
The hearing focused on whether officers, including Mateo, followed proper use-of-force procedures that day. The defense argues that Mateo and his fellow officers acted in self-defense and had no other choice.
A judge adjourned the hearing for the evening, but more witnesses are expected to testify Friday.
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