'One Incident Is Too Many': Violent Weekend Sees 4 Shootings Stretching From Coconut Creek To SW Miami-Dade
MIAMI (CBSMiami) – It was a violent weekend across South Florida with multiple shootings. Gunshots rang out from Coconut Creek to southwest Miami-Dade.
Video captured one shooting that occurred around midnight Sunday in the 500 block of NW 51 Street.
Police arrived to find two adult males with gunshot wounds. One was pronounced dead on the scene. The other was transported to Jackson Memorial Hospital in stable condition.
Neighbors told CBS4 an unknown vehicle opened fire at the victims, who crashed into at least five cars trying to avoid the gunshots, leaving a trail of destruction.
Then on NE 135 Street and NE 2 Avenue, Miami-Dade police say a driver following another vehicle opened fire. One of those bullets when through the windshield, grazing the passenger in the shoulder.
He was treated on the scene and released.
Then Saturday, a house party at a Miramar home being used as an Airbnb ended with someone being fatally shot.
"I thought it was just exhaust or a bang from a car and then someone speeding off and driving off," said J Cole, a Miramar resident. "But when I came out this morning I thought that might have not been that."
And gunshots also rang out in Coconut Creek, where the body of 33-year-old Justin Liddell was found in a car in a parking lot on the 4300 block of Coconut Creek Parkway.
While it seems like a lot of shootings in one weekend, former Miami-Dade Police Maj. Ignacio Alvarez, who is now an attorney, says we have to put the numbers into perspective.
"You're talking about four instances, but over a tri-county area. What we do need to look at is where we are at today," he said. "And when you look at the statistics being put out by the Miami-Dade Police Department, violent crime is down 19.75%."
But despite the downtick on violent crime, Alvarez there is still a lot of work to be done.
"One incident is too many – there were four. What we do need from the community is for the community needs to be involved, give information, give witnesses, give anything they know about an incident, work with the police departments," he said.
Police agree they need your help solving all of these cases. So anyone with information about any of the shooting is asked to call Crime Stoppers. The Broward the number is (954) 493-8477, while the Miami number is (305) 471-8477.