Florida shootings usher in bloody U.S. holiday

Two dead, dozens injured after two incidents mar Memorial Day weekend

MIAMI—Violence ushered in the Memorial Day weekend in South Florida, when gunmen indiscriminately sprayed bullets into crowds at two Miami venues. Two people died and at least 20 others were injured early Sunday morning during a shooting outside a banquet hall, about a day after a drive-by shooting killed one person and injured six.

Authorities called on the public to help identify the shooters.

“This type of gun violence has to stop. Every weekend it’s the same thing,” said the police director of Miami-Dade County, Alfredo “Freddy” Ramirez III, whose officers were hunting down three suspects believed to have been involved in Sunday’s violence.

“These are cold blooded murderers that shot indiscriminately into a crowd and we will seek justice,” Ramirez said in a tweet.

Two people died at the scene, police said. As many as 25 people went to various hospitals for treatment.

Clayton Dillard and his family waited outside the El Mula Banquet Hall in northwest Miami-Dade County, where Sunday’s shooting took place shortly after midnight, hoping for news about a loved one they feared was among the two fatalities. “I know he’s there,” Dillard said, “but they won’t let me come claim him.”

As of Sunday afternoon, police had not released the names of the victims, whose bodies were awaiting to be removed from the scene — more than 16 hours after the shots rang out outside the banquet hall, which had been rented out for a concert.

Police said the gunfire began when three people got out of an SUV shortly after midnight and shot into a crowd with assault rifles and handguns. The shooting was targeted, Ramirez said, but did not elaborate.

More than two dozen people crowded behind yellow police tape and a line of squad cars as police continued their investigation into Sunday evening.

Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis joined in mourning, saying on Twitter he was “praying for the recovery” of the victims and pledged help from state authorities.

Sunday’s shooting came a little over a day after a drive-by shooting claimed the life of one person outside another venue in the Wynwood area. Six others were injured. Some witnesses likened the scene to a “war zone” after a barrage of dozens of bullets sent people scurrying in the night.