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Two men were shot dead and six police officers were hospitalized with gunshot injuries when
a dramatic pre-dawn crime spree in greater Miami ended with a car chase and deafening
police shootout after 27-year-old air conditioning repairman and alleged drug addict Adrian Montesano
made the fateful decision to rob this Walgreens pharmacy in Little Havana just after 3.30
a.m. on Tuesday.
Montesano reportedly drove his small business pickup truck to the Walgreens store.
There witnesses said he pulled a gun and pointed it at the cashier, then held her at gunpoint.
Police have released this image from security camera footage at the time of the hold up.
A security guard said Montesano then made off in his pickup. It’s not known whether
he had stolen cash.
Around 5 a.m. a police officer spotted the truck at a trailer park two miles from the
Walgreens and approached the vehicle but Montesano fired, shooting him in the stomach. Montesano
snatched his gun then took off in the patrol car as the bleeding officer radioed in: White
male. Red shirt. Gray pants. Officer down.
Half an hour police located the car at Montesano’s grandmother’s house which the shooter had
switched out for her blue Volvo and an accomplice.
The pair then led a small army of police on a chase through the streets of Hialeah before
crashing the Volvo, and wedging it between a utility pole and a tree.
A gunfight erupted — two officers were shot in their arms.
Police unloaded on the car, killing both men at the scene.
Police sources say the shooting was so fierce several officers had to be treated for hearing
trouble.
Manny Quiros Montesano’s business partner and friend for over a decade described the
man as decent but had begin moving with a bad crowd and had developed a drug habit which
he believed led him to the attempted robbery.
All the police officers involved are expected to make a full recovery.