‘Victim of a crime to an offender:’ Man who shot attacker charged with attempted murder

A Miami-Dade man quickly went from stabbing victim to attempted murderer when he shot his attacker in the face last month, police say. More than two weeks after the daytime shooting, he was charged Thursday.

“I would say that we were very fortunate, at this time, that no one else was injured due to the reckless discharge of a firearm from Mr. Guevara,” Medley Police spokesperson Deglys Chavarria said.

On April 16, Rafael Guevara, 35, planned to meet Yoan Pino Cruz at a truck yard at 8720 NW 91st Street in Medley, according to Chavarria.

While inside the yard, the meet-up turned violent when Guevara and Pino Cruz exchanged blows — it’s not clear over what, Chavarria said. Surveillance video caught it all, and after a few seconds, they separated.

Pino Cruz walked back and into the dump truck he came in, while Guevara was just realizing he’d been stabbed four times.

Chavarria said what happened next turned Guevara from a victim to a criminal.

He walked back to his car, grabbed a pistol and ran toward Pino Cruz in the dump truck. Guevara opened fire and struck Pino Cruz in the face while Pino Cruz was driving, Chavarria said.

“Mr. Guevara essentially went from a victim of a crime to an offender the minute he took the law into his own hands after the threat had left,” Chavarria said.

Pino Cruz was rushed to the hospital. He was still recovering as of Friday.

On Thursday, Medley police arrested Guevara and charged him with attempted murder with a firearm and unlawful discharge of a firearm in a public place.

“Any community that has to deal with a shooting or stabbing is obviously going to be affected, whether directly or indirectly,” Chavarria said. “But we can show them that the Medley Police Department will always try to do its due diligence to maintain order, to investigate and bring these types of incidents to a swift closure.”