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Diplomat's Teen Son Charged in Shootout Wasn't Involved, Dad Says

A Canadian diplomat's 15-year-old son -- already charged with murder in a deadly shootout with drug dealers police say he and his brother were trying to rob -- now faces new charges, after police say he threatened to shoot a detective in the head while in custody.

But the boy's father has said his younger son didn't kill anyone and was simply at the wrong place at the wrong time, looking out for his older brother.

The younger teen is in custody and his 17-year-old brother was killed in a shootout when police say the pair -- both sons of Roxanne Dube, a prominent Canadian diplomat working in Miami -- tried to rob the drug dealers in a deal gone wrong. Another man is also charged.

The brothers' father, Germano Wabafiyebazu, told Canada's Global News that he was stunned by his older son's death and defended his younger son, who he said fired shots only to alert police.

"You canโ€™t believe. You canโ€™t believe. Terrible. You canโ€™t believe that happened, but what can I do?" Wabafiyebazu said in an interview that aired Wednesday on NBC 6.

The older son was killed in the Monday shootout following a drug deal gone wrong, police say. Another 17-year-old named Joshua Wright was also killed, that teen's family confirmed. The Canadian government is working with Miami police to investigate.

Police believe Dube's and Wabafiyebazu's sons had been planning to rob the drug dealers, as NBC 6 first reported. The pair showed up to the drug deal in a Canadian government vehicle with official consular plates, multiple law enforcement sources told NBC 6.

The shooting began after the older Dube son went into Wright's apartment, one law enforcement source said. The younger brother had stayed in the car outside to act as a lookout, sources said.

Wabafiyebazu told Global News that after his younger son heard the gunshots, he rushed into the house to find his older brother dead, then began shooting in the air, drawing police to the scene and leading to his own arrest.

The older teen had been getting into trouble recently, Wabafiyebazu said, and appeared to have developed a problem with marijuana.

He said he had worried about what might happen when his children moved with his ex-wife to Miami, and about what kinds of friends his older son might make there.

"I would lie to you if I didnโ€™t notice or expect it, that something like that would happen to him," the teens' father said, adding that he had not had any such worries about his younger son.

One of the accused drug dealers in Monday's shootout was also arrested and charged with felony murder.

Anthony Rodriguez, 19, who had been wounded and driven away, was caught and charged with felony murder and possession of marijuana with intent to sell.

Rodriguez had been arrested back in February on gun and drug charges, after police said they found a loaded stolen gun, drugs and $4,000 in cash in his car at a gas station. The charges against him were dropped.

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