MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – A shooting at a southwest Miami-Dade car dealership that left one man dead and two others injured stemmed from a family dispute, authorities said Friday, with new details revealing that the victim was allegedly gunned down by his own half-brother.
Deputies with the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office said the shooting occurred just before 1 p.m. Thursday near Bird Road and Southwest 72nd Avenue, outside the Priced Right Motors dealership in the Glenvar Heights neighborhood’s warehouse area.
They said Eduardo Rivero Jr., 34, the business’s owner, was shot and killed at the scene.
Sources told Local 10 News that Rivero had recently inherited the dealership from his late father — a development that may have fueled the tension.
“He killed my little brother — he’s deceased!” a man named Michael, one of Rivero’s brothers cried out outside HCA Florida Kendall Hospital, where two victims, including the alleged gunman were taken. “He better hope they put him in prison.”
Authorities said the suspected shooter, who deputies identified Thursday as Roberto Leyva, 49, is Rivero’s maternal brother.
Investigators said he is believed to have shot himself after the incident and was transported to the hospital in critical condition.
A photo obtained by Local 10 News shows Leyva strapped to a stretcher, his chest exposed and marked by a large tattoo.
Miami-Dade Sheriff Rosie Cordero-Stutz confirmed that deputies believe the attack was deliberate and personal.
“This was clearly a family argument, a family problem that had been going on for years,” she said. “The subject went there specifically to confront his half-brother.”
Another brother of Leyva, who spoke briefly with Local 10 News outside the hospital Thursday, said Leyva had a troubled past both with the courts and within the family.
Authorities said a third man, identified as Armando Yadro Alea, 35, an employee at the dealership, was also shot but survived. He is currently in stable condition.
Video from Sky 10 showed a medical helicopter landing at Tropical Park to airlift the victims on Thursday afternoon. Nearly a dozen Miami-Dade sheriff’s deputies secured the emergency room entrance as emotions flared outside the hospital.
Police continue to investigate the shooting as relatives grapple with the tragedy and the loss of a man they say was trying to carry on his father’s legacy.
Anyone with information on the shooting is urged to call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-8477.
