Suspect in shooting and intentional fire at Miami apartment building in custody – NBC 6 South Florida

A suspect behind a shooting and a massive fire at a Miami apartment building that firefighters spent hours battling on Monday has been arrested, Mayor Francis Suarez said.

Suarez said it’s believed the suspect shot an employee at the Temple Court apartments at 431 Northwest 3rd Street then intentionally set the fire.

The suspect’s identity hasn’t been released.

Suarez said everyone they know of who had been in the building was accounted for.

A total of 61 units in two buildings were impacted by the fire, which broke out around 8:15 a.m.

Suarez said 126 firefighters fought the blaze for around 8 hours, a historic response for the city’s fire rescue department. Over 40 people were rescued from the building, including multiple people who had to be evacuated from their balconies with at least seven ladder rescues, Suarez said.

“Our firefighters have demonstrated a tremendous amount of heroism battling this fire since 8 o’clock,” Suarez told reporters. “A level 3 fire is something we haven’t seen in 25 years in the city, it requires 40 units of our fire department.”