Two Spring Break Shootings In 48 Hours On Miami Beach, One Arrest Made
MIAMI BEACH (CBS Miami) - One man has been arrested in connection to a shooting on South Beach early Monday morning, it was the second shooting in the entertainment district in as many days.
Two women were hit when shots rang out near 7th Street and Ocean Drive, near the Avalon Hotel. One woman had a non-life-threatening injury, the other was grazed by a bullet.
Tamika Williams is in town for a volleyball tournament.
"It was just a shock to hear the gunshots and all of the commotion outside of the window," she said. "It was like a couple of pow, pow, pows and you heard all of the screaming and everyone saying 'run'." "run."
Lo Mills said he was heading home when he briefly made eye contact with the gunman.
"I see a guy with a gun running so I pulled out my gun. I'm thinking he's gonna shoot me, so [when] I see that he ain't gonna shoot me, I let him go," said Mills who told CBS4 he was later detained and questioned by Miami Beach police after they saw him armed. Mills was later released.
Miami Beach police said Derrick Mitchell, 19, was arrested and charged with carrying a concealed firearm and tampering with evidence. Officers reportedly observed him running with a gun and then throwing it in some bushes when he was told to stop. He told police he only fired his gun because someone shot at him first, according to the arrest report. Surveillance video backed up that claim. It showed him pulling a gun and firing five rounds after someone shot at him.
The primary shooter remains at large.
The second shooting happened Sunday around midnight near 8th street and Ocean Drive.
"I saw the police with their weapons drawn first, they ran north on Ocean, and then they came back and surrounded what was either a vehicle or a person," said Miami Beach resident and hotel owner Mitch Novick who was among those who witnessed the chaos.
According to Miami Beach police, two of the people shot were taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. A third victim showed up at Mount Sinai Hospital with a gunshot wound, also non-life-threatening.
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Surveillance video shows the moments after the shooting when hundreds of people ran away from the scene, then moments later, the large crowds ran back, creating a situation Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber said has become way too common.
"No community, no police force, should have to suffer through this. You know I'm really tired of it, frankly, I'd love to get rid of spring break. I wish the spring breakers would go somewhere else," he said.
Gelber said the city has been doing everything in its power to control the crowds. That includes adding more officers, goodwill ambassadors to engage the tourists and even programming to keep them entertained.
"We're being held hostage to a business model that really attracts an enormous amount of people in a very, very confining, constrained area. There are some businesses that love the revenue but you cannot pay me for this kind of concern and this kind of damage," said Gelber.
Sentiments echoed by some of those visiting the beach.
"I basically ran by the guy that got shot and I saw him get shot and I was like the worst thing I've ever seen," said tourist Mareo Jackson.
"Do I recommend anyone coming down here for spring break, absolutely not, absolutely not," said Miami resident Ella Munez, "Two years ago it wasn't like this."