Who blasted the bullets that hit 6 bystanders in mass shooting at a trendy Doral bar?
Days after a chaotic shootout between an armed patron and police at a crowded, popular outdoor bar in Miami-Dade left two people dead — and several others, including an officer, wounded — questions linger around who fired the bullets that hit six innocent bystanders.
Doral Police Chief Edwin Lopez said several law enforcement agencies were trying to piece together clues through forensics, surveillance and police body camera videos and witness interviews. The chief underscored, however, that it’s far too early to “speak to the particulars of projection rounds.”
“Anything is possible,” added Lopez. “But we’re confident the officers followed policy and procedures.”
As of late Monday, it’s not clear why the department had not named the cops.
Steadman Stahl, president of the South Florida Police Benevolent Association, which represents the officers, also reiterated that it’ll take time to determine who fired the bullets that struck multiple patrons. Though he said he’s certain that forensics will make it clear, eventually.
“Any time you have a gunfight in a crowded bar, nothing good can come of it,” said Stahl. “Police are shooting at the target. They’re shooting at the subject that put everything in motion.”
How mass shooting at Doral bar unfolded
The shooting began around 3:30 a.m. Saturday at the Martini Bar, one of the few remaining businesses still open at that hour in CityPlace Doral, the relatively new, enormous gathering spot on Northwest 36th Street and 83rd Avenue, according to police and witnesses.
They say that Jamal Wayne Wood, 37, and another man got into an argument. When a 23-year-old security guard, George Alejandro Castellanos, came over to intervene, Wood shot him to death on the first floor of the bar’s covered terrace.
Two Doral officers in uniform, but working off-duty, were just outside the bar when they heard the gunfire and raced towards it, police said. They subsequently confronted Wood.
Both officers fired rounds at him; Wood fired back. He was killed.
One of the officers was struck in the upper thigh and applied a tourniquet on himself, Lopez told reporters Saturday outside the crime scene. The wounded officer, who has been with Doral police for four years, was taken in stable condition to Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Ryder Trauma Center and expected to recover.
Police have not released the names of the officers who shot at the gunman. They have been placed on administrative leave pending an investigation by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
Caught in the gunfire were six patrons of the Martini Bar who had nothing to do with the altercation that led to the shootings, according to police. Paramedics took the bystanders to various hospitals and at least one of them arrived at HCA Kendall Trauma Center in critical condition.
Miami-Dade Police Department identified them as Lester Williams Gonzalez, 28, Frank Miguel Jerez, 34, Yaniris Jerez, 30, Sonia Munoz Torres, 48, Gerard Patrick Delaney, 57, and 38-year-old Carlos Milan.
Though it’s always going to be dangerous for police to try and eliminate a threat in any congested environment, key details surrounding the exchange of gunfire in the standoff between Wood and the responding officers are murky.
Among them: Did Wood continue to fire his weapon after shooting Castellanos, striking one of the bar patrons? How were the officers able to identify Wood? Who fired first when he was confronted? Did the officers firing at Wood hit any bystanders? And if so, how many?
Who was the security guard killed?
In an online fundraiser, family and friends of Castellanos, the security guard killed in the shooting, said he was a beloved son, brother and a father to a 1-year-old girl.
In a month, Castellanos would have graduated from Florida International University with a degree in biological science and a minor in criminal justice.
FIU will award Castellano’s degree to his family at the university’s Spring 2024 graduation ceremony in May, FIU spokeswoman Madeline Baró told the Miami Herald.
“George was a hard-working and dedicated student, and we hope that the awarding of the degree will be a reminder to all of those who know and love him of his commitment to higher education, the promise of a bright future, and his perseverance toward achieving his goals and dreams,” Baró said in an email.
READ MORE: Security guard killed in Doral bar shooting was an FIU student and future police officer
Castellanos was also “making the proper procedures” to become a police officer, his family detailed. His death is being investigated by Miami-Dade police.
“George’s unwavering love and dedication to his 1-year-old daughter, Everlyn Marie Castellanos, shone through in every facet of his life,” the family said in the GoFundMe fundraiser, organized to pay for Castellanos’ funeral arrangements in addition to supporting his daughter and her mother, raising over $80,000 as of Monday evening. “He worked tirelessly as the head of security at Martini Bar in Doral, always striving to create a brighter future for his precious daughter.”
