Gunmen kill guard in robbery at mall: An armored-car guard was shot dead inside a store at Dadeland Mall, and police were searching for two robbers.

Dec 02, 2008 (The Miami Herald - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- FD | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- Police conducted a manhunt Monday night for two robbers who shot and killed an armored-car driver inside the Express clothing store at Dadeland Mall as frightened shoppers took cover.

The armored-car company that employed the slain man, Carlos Alvarado, 51, offered a $20,000 reward for the killer. The FBI sent agents to help Miami-Dade police. Officers issued a bulletin for a 2000 white Lincoln sedan, which was believed to be the get-away car.

"It was very brazen what these subjects decided to do today," said Detective Alvaro Zabaleta, a Miami-Dade police spokesman.

He added, "We could have had multiple victims in this case."

Alvarado, an employee with Maryland-based Dunbar Armored, was inside the Express store just after 11:15 a.m. when two armed men fired, striking him. He was taken by helicopter to Jackson Memorial, where he was pronounced dead. Alvarado, of Hialeah Gardens, worked two security jobs to help put his two children through college.

"He was really proud. He wanted us to keep studying and he didn't want us working too much," said his daughter, Karla Alvarado, 21. She and her brother, Carlos, 22, are enrolled at Florida International University.

Alvarado had worked with Dunbar since 1999. He had never had any security scares, his daughter said. He always wore his bullet-proof vest, kept his gun near and urged younger guards to be vigilant.

But the gunmen surprised him inside Express, while the second guard waited outside in the armored car.

"He was the hardest working person you'd ever meet," said Karla's boyfriend, Youlen Celorio, 27. "Poor guy never had a chance."

Alvarado was born in Peru. He lived here more than two decades, his daughter said. With a smile, she remembered his sarcastic, teasing streak.

AVID MECHANIC

He was also an avid mechanic who constantly worked on cars -- and dreamed of one day owning a yellow Ford Mustang.

"He never did get it because he always got us the newest cars," Karla Alvarado said, sobbing.

As his family mourned, police continued the search for his killers, asking any witnesses who hadn't spoken with investigators to come forward.

The shooting alarmed shoppers.

"It was eight shots. I heard them all. It was very scary. I'm still shaken up," said Joanne Brown, who was inside the Limited when the shooting happened next door at Express.

Jennie Block of Coral Gables was inside the Limited Too shopping with a friend's daughter when the shooting happened.

TAKE COVER

"I said for everyone to get down, take cover," Block said. "There were about eight or 10 gunshots, rapid fire. It was clear at that point the shooters or whoever had run away."

Though scared, Block said she and her friend's daughter continued shopping. The mall remained open except for a small area around the Limited and Express.

Beatrice Gonzalez spent the morning a few yards away at Macy's and Ann Taylor but had no idea about the shooting until she walked outside to her car and found the garage blocked off by crime scene tape.

She said a mall shooting during the busy holiday season was frightening but acknowledged it could have happened anywhere.

"It's not that Miami is any safer or more dangerous than other places," Gonzalez said. "But these days, I don't think anywhere is perfectly safe anymore."

Detectives offered few details about the crime, other than to say investigators are seeking two men dressed in dark clothing. The men were seen running from the mall with a money bag.

"Our hearts and prayers go out to the victim, his family and friends," mall management said in a prepared statement.

LINCOLN SEDAN

A bulletin issued on police scanners told officers to be on the lookout for a cream-colored 2000 Lincoln sedan, Florida tag L83AY. One suspect was a thin, 5-foot-10 man, with a black hooded sweatshirt, dark pants, boots and a silver handgun. The other had a heavier build and wore a dark-blue hoodie.

Anyone with information is asked to call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-8477.

Miami Herald staff writer Jose Pagliery and photographer Tim Chapman contributed to this report.

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