A person shot a man at a four-story apartment complex in Miami on Monday morning and set a fire there that engulfed the complex and sent dozens of residents fleeing, the authorities said.
The fire prompted a rescue operation that lasted about eight hours and that led to the evacuation of more than 40 residents, some of whom were carried to safety from their balconies, the authorities said.
The fire began around 8:15 a.m. on the third floor of the Temple Court Apartments, a rental complex west of Interstate 95 near downtown Miami, according to Lt. Ignatius Carroll Jr. of the City of Miami Department of Fire-Rescue.
The authorities arrived to find one man in the building with a gunshot wound to his torso, said Lt. Pete Sanchez of the Fire Department. The man was taken to a hospital in critical condition, he said.
Mayor Francis X. Suarez of Miami said at a news conference on Monday afternoon that a suspect had been taken into custody. He did not identify the suspect.
Atlantic Housing Foundation, which manages the apartment complex, said in a statement that the gunshot victim was an employee of the Temple Court Apartments.