2 teens, 2 men arrested after shooting, teen injured during OfferUp meeting in Homestead

MIAMI – A shooting occurred at an OfferUp meeting in Homestead, leaving a 16-year-old boy injured and four suspects behind bars – including two South Dade High School students.

Two users of the online marketplace’s mobile app made a deal in which they exchanged a minibike for $500 for a motorized bike for $200 and agreed to meet on Tuesday, according to police.

The buyer and seller came with friends. According to police, a gunman who was with the seller injured the teenager who was with the buyer.

“The boy is actually still in the hospital and still fighting for his life,” Brandy Anguiano, a witness, said in court Thursday.

Police officers escorted a man in handcuffs on Thursday afternoon. Investigators identified and arrested OfferUp buyer Tulio Gonzalez and his accomplices Jairo Garcia and Aureliano Gomez.

According to police, 16-year-old Gonzalez claimed that the minibike was his, but it was stolen and after finding it for sale on OfferUp, he decided to ask his friends for “assistance” to get it back.

Investigators believe 19-year-old Gomez used a Nissan to block the exit from the meeting point while 17-year-old Garcia and the others approached the car and one broke a window with his elbow before the shooting.

According to the police report, Jackson South Medical Center staff reported the gunman wounded the teen twice in the right leg and once in the stomach.

Gomez, who has a criminal record, faced seven new charges. County inmate records show he was being held without parole for attempted murder.

Records show a judge set his bond at $22,500 for the other six counts of attempted armed robbery, four counts of aggravated assault with a firearm and attempted tampering with evidence.

Court records show Gomez also had a warrant out for his arrest while he was in prison for fleeing and eluding police. Prosecutors filed the pending Miami-Dade case on May 30, 2023.

Miami-Dade County Circuit Judge William Altfield was set to preside over both of Gomez’s cases.

Juvenile records are not public, so it was unclear Thursday what charges Gonzalez and Garcia faced for their alleged involvement in the shooting.

The wounded teen remained in an induced coma at Jackson South Medical Center, his condition was stable and doctors expected him to survive, police said. On Thursday, his mother said in court that he still had to undergo several surgeries.

Investigators asked anyone with information about this or other cases to contact Miami-Dade County Crime Stoppers at 305-471-8477.