Miami-area shootings mark bloody Memorial Day weekend: Gun Extremism
The video showed three people getting out of the vehicle, one gripping a handgun while the other two carried what police described as “assault-style rifles.”
MIAMI: Gunfire that wounded two people in Miami Beach wrapped up a violent Memorial Day weekend in the Miami area, which included a mass shooting that killed two and injured 21 others, law enforcement authorities said.
Miami Beach police received multiple 911 calls reporting a shooting just after 11:30 p.m. Monday. Officers found one person struck in the shoulder and another in the leg, spokesman Ernesto Rodriguez said in a social media post. Both were taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital.
During the investigation, the heavily traveled MacArthur Causeway was shut down in both directions. It had reopened by early Tuesday.
Rodriguez said “several possible suspects" had been detained.
Meanwhile, a manhunt continued Tuesday for three masked suspects who opened fire early Sunday outside a Miami banquet hall. On Monday, police released a surveillance camera video that showed a white SUV driving into an alley at a strip mall housing El Mula Banquet Hall in northwest Miami-Dade County, near Hialeah.
The video showed three people getting out of the vehicle, one gripping a handgun while the other two carried what police described as “assault-style rifles.” They began spraying bullets indiscriminately into the crowd, though police said the assailants had specific targets in mind.
In addition to the two fatalities, three others were hospitalized in critical condition. Police did not release the victims' names, citing privacy laws.
The SUV used in the shooting was found Monday submerged in a canal about 8 miles (13 kilometers) east of the banquet hall. Police said it had been reported stolen two weeks ago.
Miami-Dade Police said Sunday’s shooting was unrelated to a drive-by shooting Friday night that killed a person and injured six others outside another venue in the the Wynwood area. Some witnesses likened the scene to a “war zone” after a barrage of dozens of bullets sent people scurrying for cover.
“This is a weekend when we should be out remembering, enjoying time with loved ones, and instead we’re here mourning,” Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said during a Monday press conference.
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