Photo: David Facen is the coward shoplifter that shot a Miami-Dade police officer at close range. He was previously convicted of murder.
A Miami-Dade police officer was recovering at a local hospital after he was shot at close range outside a Walmart, where he was working an off-duty detail.
Officer Manuel Gonzalez, 31, was not wearing a bulletproof vest when he was shot multiple times by a shoplifting suspect.
Gonzalez suspected David Facen, 54, of Miami, had shoplifted from the store.
When Gonzalez confronted him in the parking lot, Facen pulled out a gun and shot the officer several times.
Gonzalez then returned fire, killing the suspect.
Gonzalez, who is married with two children, was taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital, where he was listed in stable condition.
State prison records show Facen had a violent criminal past. He was previously convicted of second-degree murder in 1992 and sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Facen was also sent to prison in 2005 for battery on a law enforcement officer or firefighter.
He was released on Nov. 28, 2016, after serving about 12 years of a 15-year sentence.
Surveillance footage of the incident shows Gonzalez being shot at a range of three feet.
Miami-Dade Police Director Juan Perez said Gonzalez was “born again” after he survived being shot multiple times at close range.
