Police in Florida on Friday were investigating the death of a woman who was fatally shot when a predawn argument inside a Miami strip club spilled out into the parking lot and a security guard exchanged gunfire with the woman.
The mother of the victim identified the shooter who was killed as 32-year-old Shaynea Johnson. She was pronounced dead at the scene after being struck by gunfire several times, according to police.
No charges had been filed as of Friday afternoon. Police did not immediately identify the security guard who fired at the woman.
Officers were called to a parked vehicle at 27th Avenue and NW 103rd Street for a report of gunfire around 3:30 a.m.
When police arrived, they found Johnson in a white Nissan Altima suffering from multiple gunshot wounds, according to a police statement.
The argument began inside Club Lexx, located at 12001 NW 27th Ave., police said.
According to police, several people had argued inside the location and the dispute continued outside. A woman in the group pulled out a gun and began shooting.
That’s when a security guard exchanged gunfire with the woman.
Miami-Dade Police Detective Andre Martin said, “An armed security guard attempted to defuse the situation. After the security guard defused the situation, a female goes in to a rear seat of a vehicle and produces a firearm and fires a shot in the direction of a security guard. The security guard returned fire, striking the female. The vehicles then flees south and is found at Northwest 103rd Street.”
Video from the scene showed several bullet holes in the vehicle. The Nissan Altima drove from the scene before stopping the car in the street 17 blocks away.
Investigators did not say what led to the dispute. They also did not say what the woman’s relationship was to the driver.
Martin said witnesses are urged to come forward. He said, “As always anytime there is a crime like this and there is an investigation, the public’s help can be critical.”
Police closed 103rd Street for several hours while they searched for clues.
“I’m just a nervous wreck,” Johnson’s mother, Brenda Dawson, said through tears. “She has two beautiful children. What am I going to tell those kids? What am I going to do?!”
Dawson said “I got a call around 4 in the morning from my niece that my daughter was shot. She told me my daughter was in the back seat and that she was dead. Oh my God, Jesus, what am I going to do?”
She said she had no idea that her daughter was going to the club.
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