FLORIDA CITY, Fla. – A gunman with “cop killer” tattooed across his chest was arrested Sunday after opening fire on an officer who was initiating a traffic stop on the man early Saturday morning.
The Florida City Police Department said a detective tried to stop a suspect identified as 28-year-old Virgilio Salgado Saturday about 4:00 a.m. when the gunman opened fire on the detective who was operating a marked patrol unit. A round fired by Salgado stuck a tire on the police cruiser and disabled it, which allowed the suspect to flee, police said, according to Local 10 News.
The targeted detective was not injured, and police investigators collected several shell casings from the scene as evidence. They also identified Salgado using bodycam footage from the crime and began searching for the suspect.
A little more than 24 hours after the shooting occurred, police found Salgado driving the same vehicle used during the shooting. He was taken into custody without further incident.
Salgado is facing a felony charge of assault on a law enforcement officer while using a firearm, among other less included offenses, authorities said. He was booked into jail and is being held without bail.
Virgilio Salgado is being held without bail. (Screenshot WSVN)
A witness made an noteworthy comment during an interview with Local 10 news.
“If he’s bold enough to do that, he’d be bold enough to do it to somebody else, a random person, not even a cop,” the witness said.
Law enforcement officials released a photo of Salgado without a shirt, which revealed the antagonizing tattoo “Cop Killer” scripted across his chest, the New York Post reported.
Florida City is located in Miami-Dade County. It is the southernmost municipality in the South Florida metropolitan area with a population of just over 13,000. The area is largely agricultural.
