3 Murder Investigations Cause Traffic Delays

MIAMI, FL — Multiple murder investigations some 60 miles apart brought major traffic delays from Lantana to Boca Raton and downtown Miami on Wednesday.

The southbound lanes of I-95 were closed for a time from Linton Boulevard to Yamato Road as Boca Raton police conducted a fatal shooting investigation to the north.

Traffic was backed up as far away as Gateway Boulevard in Boynton Beach as a result of the Boca investigation.

Meanwhile, police closed three separate areas in downtown Miami as part of an unrelated murder investigation.

Officer Kenia Fallat of the Miami Police Department said that the murder in the city occurred at 11:55 p.m. on Tuesday around North Miami Avenue and East Flagler Street.

"When officers arrived, they found two persons suffering from gunshot wounds, and an uninjured man in his 30s who was detained," according to Fallat.

The victim was identified as 24-year-old Jose Rivero, who was pronounced dead at the scene by Miami Fire Rescue.

Another victim in his 40s was taken by Miami Fire Rescue to Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Ryder Trauma Center in serious, but stable condition.

"The person who has been detained is currently being questioned by homicide detectives," according to Fallat who said that police were still attempting to determine a motive for the shootings on Wednesday.

Streets that were affected in Miami included:

• Flagler Street from NE Miami Court. to NW 2 Avenue
• Miami Avenue at North 1 Street
• East 1 Avenue at SE 1 Street

Later, in Lantana, the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office closed another stretch of I-95 between Lantana Road and 6th Avenue for most of the day as a sheriff's deputy opened fire on another murder suspect. The road was expected to reopen around 5 p.m.

Palm Beach Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said that police responded to an initial report of a shooting around 9:30 a.m. The victim was later found dead in the suspect's vehicle, a black Nissan Rogue.

"A white male suspect shot a white female, put her in the vehicle and fled the scene," Bradshaw said. "Approximately 15 minutes after that, we started getting calls from the public that there was a vehicle, a black Nisan Rogue, driven by a white male that was on the northbound lane going south and cars were running off the road."

Bradshaw said that a Florida Highway Patrol trooper and a Palm Beach County Sheriff's deputy arrived as the last of three separate head-on collisions took place along I-95.

"They approached the vehicle from the passenger side. They could see a white male inside. The FHP trooper attempted to deploy his taser on the individual. It did not work," Bradshaw said. "The deputy that was standing beside him looked at the suspect due to his actions that he was performing in the car. The deputy said that he was in fear of his life and the life of a trooper, and opened fire and killed the suspect inside."

Police later learned that the suspect was also involved in another shooting in West Palm Beach on Tuesday night. Bradshaw said that police removed the woman from the vehicle but she had already died.

None of the traffic crash victims suffered life-threatening injuries.

Watch Sheriff Bradshaw below:

Traffic along I-95 in Boca Raton courtesy Florida Department of Transportation