MIAMI — Police on Saturday announced the arrest of a man in connection with a shooting that they said left a locksmith dead on Friday evening at a West Miami apartment complex.
Officers with the Miami Police Department said they responded around 6:30 p.m. to a shooting call near the 6300 block of Southwest Eighth Street.
Police said upon arrival, they found a man, Adrian Venereo, 37, suffering from a gunshot wound to the head in a seventh-floor hallway of the apartment building. He was later pronounced dead at the scene.
Police said a witness told investigators that the suspected gunman, identified as Luis David Lemus, 32, fled after the shooting. The witness was found holding a revolver and told officers that Lemus had “hurt someone.”
According to the arrest report, surveillance video showed Lemus following the Venereo to his apartment.
The report stated that Lemus was later detained near the intersection of Southwest 52nd Court and Southwest Seventh Street after officers said he was seen wearing the same clothing as in the video.
The witness told police that he and Lemus had been changing the locks on Lemus’ front door. After finishing the work, they were locked out of the apartment and later met with Venereo, who is a locksmith, to help them regain entry, according to investigators.
While Venereo was working on the lock, police said Lemus allegedly shot him in the head, then went downstairs and fled on foot.
They said Lemus was later located and transported to the department’s homicide office for questioning, where he made a statement that was redacted from the publicly-released report.
The Miami-Dade Medical Examiner’s Office later determined the victim’s cause of death was a gunshot wound to the head and ruled the manner of death a homicide.
Jail records show Lemus faces one count of second-degree murder with a deadly weapon.
As of Saturday afternoon, he was being held at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center, where his bond was listed as “to be set.”
A motive for the shooting remains unclear at this time.
Anyone with information is urged to call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-8477.
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