Body cam video shows deadly 2024 Hialeah police shooting ruled justified

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Hialeah, FL - Newly released body camera video obtained by Local 10 News Thursday shows the moments leading up to a deadly police shooting in Hialeah last year that authorities now say was legally justified.

“Let me see your hands!” officers are heard shouting in the footage, as they respond to a domestic disturbance call at a home on West 53rd Street on July 19, 2024.

According to detectives, 53-year-old Ruben Manresa Ara had confronted his estranged wife, Lourdes Cruz Milian, outside her home.

Investigators say he put a gun to her chest and a hand over her mouth before the two struggled and the gun discharged. They said she was able to run inside and call police.

Body camera video shows officers arriving and calling out to Manresa Ara, who was believed to be armed. He emerges from behind the home, bloodied from what investigators say appeared to be a suicide attempt.

“Drop it, drop it, drop it!” one officer shouts. The video freezes as three officers open fire.

The Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office says the officers fired when Manresa Ara failed to comply with repeated commands and continued moving toward them with a gun in his hand.

He was pronounced dead at the scene.

A gun was found next to his body, and investigators confirmed he had purchased it just 11 days earlier.

Behind the home, detectives recovered a note written in Spanish that read, “She used me and made fun of me after I brought her to this country.”

According to a closeout memo obtained by Local 10, authorities said they found the use of deadly force to be “legally justified” in the shooting.

“Officers yelled for him to drop the gun, and when he failed to comply, and continued moving forward with the weapon, the three officers discharged their weapons. Manresa Ara was pronounced deceased on the scene. A search of the backyard revealed blood on the ground in what appeared to be a suicide attempt, and a search of his home discovered a suicide note,” the memo stated in part. “A firearm was recovered next to Manresa Ara’s body, and a trace discovered he purchased the weapon 11 days earlier. Pursuant to Florida Statutes 776.012 and 776.05, and a review of the facts and evidence in this investigation, we find the use of deadly force used by Officers Pavon, Garcia-Muniz, and Hernandez to be legally justified.”