Gun mix-up led to customs officer’s death at west Miami-Dade shooting range, sources say

MIAMI – A gun mix-up led a U.S. Customs and Border Protection Officer to accidentally shoot and kill fellow Officer Jorge Arias at a west Miami-Dade gun range Wednesday morning, sources told Local 10 News.

Officers stood outside the Miami-Dade County Medical Examiner’s Office Friday to honor Arias, 40, ahead of a procession to a local funeral home.

WATCH: Procession for fallen CBP Officer Jorge Arias

Arias, who was assigned to the Miami International Airport in his regular duties, was working as a firearms instructor at the time.

Law enforcement sources said the shooting, which happened at the county-owned Trail Glades Range, near Southwest Eighth Street and Krome Avenue, took place during a role-playing exercise.

During that exercise, each person participating swapped their real weapon for training guns.

Noon report:

Sources said the officer doing the exercise with Arias briefly left the room and switched back to his real gun, but forgot to swap it back out for the training weapon when he came back, leading him to accidentally shoot Arias in the chest after the exercise began.

Arias, a husband and stepfather of two and a U.S. Coast Guard veteran, was pronounced dead after being airlifted to Jackson Memorial Hospital.