Crowds gather at Ocean Drive and 8th during spring break on Saturday, March 18, 2023, in Miami Beach, Fla. Miami Beach officials imposed a curfew beginning Sunday night, March 19, after two fatal shootings and rowdy, chaotic crowds that police have had difficulty controlling. (D.A. Varela/Miami Herald via AP)
Miami, March 20 (RHC)-- In the U.S., Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber announced a curfew on Sunday after two fatal shootings over the weekend on Ocean Drive amid an influx of spring-breakers and out-of-city visitors.
“As I’ve said many times, we don’t ask for spring break in our city. We don’t want spring break in our city. It’s too rowdy, brings too much disorder and it’s simply too difficult to police,” Gelber said in a video message to residents on Sunday.
“While most may come here to enjoy the amenities of Miami Beach, the overwhelming volume of visitors, a few that come with bad intentions in the presence of guns creates a wholly intolerable situation.”
The latest shooting occurred on Sunday morning at about 3:30 a.m., where one man was shot and later died at a hospital, and another was wounded, Miami Beach police said. The police confirmed on Twitter that it was a “targeted and isolated” incident.
Miami Beach police said they responded to another scene where two people were suffering from gunshot wounds on Friday night at about 10:40 p.m. Police said in a statement on Twitter that one of the victims died in the hospital, and the other was left in critical condition.
“Both shootings were between visitors to Miami Beach and did not involve residents,” Gelber said. “In both cases, police were literally seconds away from the incidents and arrests were made within minutes. That said, it is clear that even an unprecedented police presence could not prevent these incidents from occurring.”
Miami Beach has long been a popular spring break destination among college students, and officials have previously needed to enact emergency powers to control the large crowds. Gelber said in his video message that the high volume of people has created a “peril that cannot go unchecked,” especially over the last three weeks.
