Third Victim Dies Following Mass Shooting Outside Banquet Hall In NW Miami-Dade
MIAMI (CBSMiami) - Miami-Dade police announced Thursday evening that a third victim from the weekend mass shooting in Northwest Miami has died.
Police said Shaniqua Peterson, 32, had "succumbed to her injuries."
News of her death comes hours after another victim's family asked for the public's help in the case.
Melanie Bruton, whose son Desmond Owens was one of two men who lost their lives, is inconsolable. As she wept, she needed comfort and support as she struggled to approach the crime scene where there is a makeshift memorial for the victims with candles, stuffed animals, and balloons.
The gunfire erupted around 12:30 Sunday morning while a crowd waited to get inside for an album release party by Courtney Paul Wilson, 24, better known as rapper ABMG Spitta at the El Mula Banquet Hall at 7630 N.W. 186th St.
Police said they've confirmed there were multiple shooters "from various locations" outside the banquet hall and called it a "coordinated attack." Surveillance video shows some of the shooters arrived in a white Nissan Pathfinder late Saturday night and parked close to the banquet hall.
The video shows three people getting out of the vehicle, one gripping a handgun while the other two carried what police described as "assault-style rifles." Another video showed another person shooting from a different angle.
Authorities say the Pathfinder had been stolen. It was found Monday in a canal. Police are trying to find a 2nd vehicle in the mass shooting. It's described as a black vehicle with two people inside.
Thursday, police, prosecutors, and elected officials from all over Miami-Dade, along with federal agencies announced the launch of "Operation Summer Heat."
CBS4's Bobeth Yates report on Operation Summer Heat:
It's 12-weeks of stepped-up enforcement to combat crime before another major blow-up.
Owens and Clayton Dillard III also died in the mass shooting. They were both 26-years-old.
The shooting left over 20 people injured. Two of the victims remain in critical condition at a hospital, police said.
The motive for the banquet hall shooting is still unknown, but investigators were focusing on social-media feuds involving the local rappers who hosted the show.
"A lot of these violent acts you're seeing on their social media. You're seeing them call each other out, they're giving verbal cues," Miami-Dade Police Director Alfredo "Freddy" Ramirez said during Thursday's press conference. "Some of the songs have verbal cues that are triggering rolling violence, real-time violence. Back in the '90s it was drug turf wars. Here it's a little bit of that but a lot of it is showing off."
Miami-Dade Police are appealing for the public's help. They remind you that you will remain anonymous when you call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at (305) 471-TIPS (8477).
There is a cash reward of $130,000 for information leading to an arrest and conviction.
