Detectives say an attempted robbery at an apartment complex escalated into gunfire before dawn.
MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, FL — A security guard and two 20-year-old suspects were hospitalized after an attempted robbery at an apartment complex in northwest Miami-Dade erupted into a shootout just before dawn Monday, according to the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office.
Investigators said the guard was confronted near the Regency Pointe Apartments and gunfire broke out during a struggle that ended with all three men shot. By Tuesday, detectives had identified the suspects and booked one of them into jail on serious felony charges, while the other was not yet listed in jail records and may still be in the hospital.
Deputies were sent to the area around 4 a.m. Monday after receiving a ShotSpotter alert near Northwest 79th Street and Northwest 19th Avenue. A Local 10 News crew later found streets blocked near Northwest 79th Street and 21st Avenue as detectives worked from the apartment complex toward the parking lot of a nearby Church’s Texas Chicken. Authorities said Miami-Dade Fire Rescue took all three injured men to a hospital in stable condition, and the case was turned over to robbery detectives.
By Tuesday morning, the sheriff’s office named the suspects as Javarus Manuel Hernandez and Frederick Walter Pickens Jr., both 20. Deputies said the incident happened just before 4 a.m. Monday at Regency Pointe Apartments, at 1901 NW 79th St. The guard, whose name was not released, told a 911 dispatcher he had been shot but had also disarmed and pinned down one of the suspects, later identified as Pickens, according to an arrest report.
Detectives said the suspects had been “casing” the property and looking for unlocked vehicles when they approached the guard’s personal vehicle. The report says the guard was sitting in the front passenger seat when he noticed the men trying to open the driver’s-side door. He got out and asked what they were doing on the property, investigators said. Deputies say the suspects then robbed him at gunpoint and searched his vehicle, escalating what began as a suspicious-activity encounter into an armed robbery in the apartment parking area.
Authorities said the suspects then tried to take the guard’s vehicle. At some point, detectives said, both suspects got inside and attempted to drive away. Investigators said the guard was able to disarm Pickens and shoot him several times. Deputies said Hernandez then exchanged gunfire with the guard and ran from the scene after being shot. During that exchange, the guard was struck in the back of the head, according to the report. Investigators later found Hernandez injured in the parking lot of a nearby Church’s Texas Chicken, deputies said.
Neighbors told reporters they heard a rapid burst of shots that broke the early-morning quiet. Diego Encanaceon, who said he was inside watching television, described the gunfire as fast and clustered, saying it sounded like “pop, pop, pop” in quick succession. Another resident, Alberto Nolasco, told reporters he believed he heard about 12 shots. “It’s a shame,” Nolasco said as deputies continued working the scene after sunrise.
Law enforcement activity stretched across more than one block as detectives tried to reconstruct the movement of the suspects and the guard. NBC 6 cameras captured investigators taking photographs, using a K-9, and placing evidence markers near vehicles and a golf cart. WSVN reported that investigators dusted for prints on several cars. Deputies also cordoned off parts of Northwest 21st Avenue near 81st Street for hours, leaving drivers to detour around flashing lights and yellow tape while detectives searched for casings and other evidence.
By Tuesday, the sheriff’s office said Hernandez was being held at the Miami-Dade County Pre-Trial Detention Center, though his booking photo was not immediately posted in online jail records. He faces charges of armed robbery, armed carjacking and attempted murder, according to the arrest report summarized by Local 10. Pickens was listed as a co-defendant, but he did not appear in the jail system Tuesday morning and may still be hospitalized, the station reported. Both suspects and the guard were taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital as trauma alerts, the report said.
Investigators said Hernandez gave detectives some level of admission about the robbery and shooting, though details were not publicly available in the version of the report released. The sheriff’s office did not immediately release information Tuesday about whether the guard would face any allegations tied to the gunfire, and officials have not described what kind of weapon was used or how many rounds were fired. Detectives also did not say whether surveillance video from the complex or nearby businesses captured the confrontation.
The case unfolded in an area where residents often share parking lots and walkways with overnight security patrols, and officials said the robbery investigation will focus on what happened in the moments before the shooting and how the suspects approached the guard’s vehicle. Deputies have not said whether the suspects are connected to other recent vehicle break-ins or robberies in the neighborhood, but detectives indicated the men appeared to be checking for easy targets when they arrived at the complex.
As of Tuesday afternoon, one suspect was jailed and the second was still unaccounted for in booking records, while the guard’s condition had not been publicly updated. The next milestone is an initial court appearance for Hernandez once he is cleared for processing and scheduled by the jail and courts, with detectives continuing to gather statements and physical evidence from the scene.
Author note: Last updated February 17, 2026.