CBP firearms instructor dies following negligent discharge during training session – Law Officer

MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – A firearms instructor with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) who was conducting a training session was unintentionally shot and killed at a west Miami-Dade gun range Wednesday morning, officials confirmed.

The tragedy occurred just prior to 10:30 a.m. at the Trail Glades Range, a county-owned facility located near the intersection of Southwest Eighth Street and Krome Avenue, reported Local 10 News.

Sky 10, the news outlet’s helicopter, flew over the scene as the instructor was being loaded into an ambulance prior to getting airlifted to Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Ryder Trauma Center where he later died.

“A U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer working at the weapons range was critically injured while on duty and pronounced deceased earlier today,” a CBP spokesperson told Local 10 News Wednesday afternoon.

LOCAL 10 NEWS COVERAGE

Dario Pederajo was at the range at the time of the fatal discharge. The firearms facility has a portion dedicated to law enforcement training as well as a civilian side. He said the shooting occurred in the part of the range used by law enforcement officers, Local 10 News reported.

Pederajo said he was shooting in another area of the facility when officers surrounded the range and directed everyone to put their weapons down.

“On the police range side it’s mainly Customs and Border (Protection), they come on Wednesday for practice,” Pederajo said. “Several police officers came running over to the civilian side of the range, where the main office is, and said someone had been shot, stop shooting.”

According to sources, the negligent discharged occurred during “building search training.” Two instructors were reportedly demonstrating a technique when one unintentionally shot the other in the chest, Local 10 reported.

After the mortally wounded CBP instructor arrived at Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Ryder Trauma Center early Wednesday afternoon, local LEOs and federal agents soon gathered as the horrible news spread to others.

The instructor’s name and other details have not yet been released pending notifications.

“All I can say at this time is great officer, great family, and it’s a tragic loss,” one official from the CBP said.

The Miami-Dade Police Department is the lead agency on the investigation.