Temple Student Shot, Killed By Police In Miami After Hitting Cop With Car

PHILADELPHIA – A Temple University student was shot and killed by police in Miami Beach, Florida over the weekend after allegedly striking and running over a police officer with a vehicle.

Temple student Cariann Denise Hithon, 22, of Bowie, Maryland, was shot and killed the evening of Sunday, Oct. 8 in Miami Beach, according to the Temple Student Government and multiple media outlets

The fatal shooting happened after Hithon allegedly crashed a black BMW into several vehicles and fled, NBC10 reports. Later, a group of people including police officers surrounded her vehicle to get her to stop driving. She then pulled away from the crowd, striking and running over an officer.

That’s when one officer fired several shots at the vehicle, striking Hithon, who later died later at a hospital.

Videos from the scene confirm this reporting.

WARNING: The video below contains strong language and graphic footage.

The officer who was struck has been released from the hospital and the shooting is under investigation, according to NBC10.

The Miami Herald reports authorities believe Hithon was in the city to celebrate her 22nd birthday and that authorities believe she had been drinking heavily that day.

Hithon was a transfer student from Hampton University in Virginia who was studying political science, the student government said in a statement. She reportedly planned to pursue a law degree in the future.

“She was going to be the attorney to save the world,” her father Cary Hithon told the Miami Herald. “Everybody that knew her knew she had a great future.”

The Herald reports while at Hampton she had several run ins with law enforcement, including marijuana possession, giving a fake ID to an officer and assault and battery. She was never convicted of those charges, however.

This is the third reported student death this semester. Jenna Burleigh was killed in September and freshman Richard Dalcourt died after falling from his dorm last week.

“This has been a painful semester, Owls,” the student government said in its statement. “We will continue to push unity and peace through these times because pain in easier to deal with when you have people surrounding and encouraging you.”

The student government reminded the community Tuttleman Counseling Center, 1700 N. Broad St., offers on-campus counseling services, as well as of Einstein Health’s Crisis Response Center is available at all times by calling (214) 951-8300.

Patch has reached out to Miami Beach Police and will update the story when more details are made available.

Below is a video from 2013 showing Hithon and others discussing civility:

Image via YouTube screenshot