More than 24 hours removed from a frightening pre-dawn police chase and shooting on South Beach that left a driver dead, four bystanders wounded, and three officers injured, a number of questions remain.

Chief among them: Why police didn't find a gun inside the bullet-riddled car, despite reports to investigators that shots rang out from inside the vehicle.

Sgt. Alejandro Bello, president of the Miami Beach Fraternal Order of Police, said a dozen officers - eight from Miami Beach and four from outside the department - were involved in the confrontation with the still unidentified driver and the subsequent shooting.

Bello said he couldn't discuss specifics because of the ongoing investigation, but said the officers acted responsibly when they fired a barrage of bullets into the driver's car after he allegedly struck an officer with his car and then tried to run over other officers during a reckless three-block chase. "I'm confident that my officers and all officers involved acted appropriately," Bello said. "We're getting information that this guy was armed or that there was a shooting going on."

Source: Miami Herald