Two dead, over 20 injured in Miami mass shooting, police say
Two people were killed and over 20 others were injured in a mass shooting in Miami early Sunday, police said.
Three people got out of an SUV and "began shooting indiscriminately into the crowd" of people who were standing outside a "scheduled event" at an establishment on 186th Street, in the Hialeah area west of Miami Gardens, Miami-Dade police said in a statement.
NBC Miami reported that the venue was a banquet hall that had been rented out for a concert.
Investigators were hunting for the shooters, who returned to their vehicle and fled, the statement said.
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Miami-Dade Fire Rescue found two people dead and transported eight others to hospitals, said the statement, which said 12 other victims went to hospitals on their own. At least one victim was transported in critical condition, the statement said.
Angelica Green, the mother of one victim, said her son called in the middle of the night to tell her he was on his way to the hospital.
"He called us frantic, telling us he had been shot, that it hurts, it hurts and that he loves us and wants us to know," Green told NBC Miami. "My husband is like, 'No, stay with us, stay with us.' We hop in the car and we're talking to him to keep him alert."
Miami Dade Police Director Alfredo "Freddy" Ramirez III called the incident "another targeted and cowardly act of gun violence" on Twitter.
I am at the scene of another targeted and cowardly act of gun violence, where over 20 victims were shot and 2 have sadly died. These are cold blooded murderers that shot indiscriminately into a crowd and we will seek justice. My deepest condolences to the family of the victims.
— Alfredo "Freddy" Ramirez III (@MDPD_Director) May 30, 2021
It was the second major shooting in the Miami area in as many days. One person died after seven people were shot Friday night, NBC Miami said.
Calling it a "despicable, cold-blooded act," Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava tweeted that her heart was breaking for the families of the victims.
"We will do everything we can to bring the shooters to justice and turn the tide on this violence," she said.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis called for "swift and severe" against the shooters in a tweet Sunday.
"We mourn the loss of the two victims and are praying for the recovery of the more than 20 people injured at El Mula Banquet Hall near Hialeah," he said. "We are working with local authorities to bring justice to the perpetrators."
There were at least 200 mass shootings in the country in the first 132 days of this year, said a report by the Gun Violence Archive, a nonprofit research group.
