What allegedly started with an argument between Miami-Dade Police Director Alfredo “Freddy” Ramirez and his drunk wife Jody at Tampa’s JW Marriott hotel ended with the officer shooting himself in the head hours later.
The couple was reportedly at the hotel for a sheriff’s conference when police approached their 12th-floor room.
Tampa Police Department has released bodycam footage of the encounter, during which Ramirez was placed in handcuffs.
(Video: YouTube)
Police were reportedly told by a nearby hotel employee that a witness had claimed the couple “were out here arguing, they came out here and he said he was going to ‘end it now’ and put a gun in his mouth.”
The officers, using a ballistic shield, approached the room with guns drawn. Jody reportedly answered the door and, as per the officer’s orders, exited the room with her arms raised.
Bodycam footage shows Ramirez exiting the room and repeatedly being told to keep his “hands up.” As the officers moved in to place him in handcuffs, Ramirez informed them of his position within the force.
“What are you doing?” Ramirez asked. “You know I’m the Director of the Miami-Dade Police Department?”
“I didn’t do anything,” he stated. “I don’t understand.”
Asked what had happened outside the hotel, Ramirez told the officers, “We were just talking. That’s it.”
“I didn’t touch her,” he said. “You’re gonna ask her. I didn’t do anything.”
He denied pulling out his weapon.
“We had a discussion,” he said. We were talking, but nothing else.”
At a separate location, Jody told officers, “We’re just having a heated conversation. We’re fine.”
After initially telling police that she couldn’t recall her husband pulling out a gun, Jody later said that she couldn’t remember. She stressed that she had no concerns for her safety, telling the officers that she and Ramirez have been married for 30 years.
This, she insisted, was just an argument.
“People get many demons from the job, as you guys all are probably aware of,” Jody said, “and I know every button to push.”
As officers were unable to locate any first-hand witnesses or security footage showing the alleged gun incident, Ramirez was ultimately uncuffed and released, according to NBC South Florida.
“But according to the reports, Tampa Police were later contacted by a Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office lieutenant, who said they’d been advised of the incident and were investigating it,” the outlet reports. “The lieutenant said that they had ‘independent witnesses’ and that they would be placing Alfredo under a Baker Act.”
Three hours later, Jody placed a frantic call to 911 telling the dispatcher that her husband had shot himself. The couple was driving southbound on Interstate 75 in Hillsborough when Ramirez pulled over and attempted suicide.
“Oh my God, help me!” Jody is heard screaming on the released six-and-a-half-minute call. “Help me, help me, help me!”
WARNING: DISTURBING CONTENT
(Video: NBC South Florida)
“He just went out into traffic,” Jody tells the dispatcher.
“Ramirez, 52, was rushed to a Tampa-area hospital and underwent surgery,” according to NBC South Florida. “He remains hospitalized, and though authorities said Ramirez didn’t suffer brain damage, he will likely lose his right eye.”
Writers and editors can be contacted at [email protected] with feedback, tips, or corrections.
Melissa Fine is the former executive editor of Casino Player, Strictly Slots, and Poker
Digest magazines. She is a UCLA graduate, news junkie, and dedicated Stargate SG-
1 fan. Melissa currently lives with her dog and two cats in a tiny town in the Sierra
Nevada foothills.
Comment
We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.