22 SHOT IN CROWD AMBUSH
2 killed in attack on Miami-area concert
Two people were killed and more than 20 others wounded in a mass shooting outside a rap concert near Miami early Sunday — when three gunmen who had been lying in wait began firing “indiscriminately into a crowd,” police said.
The shooters jumped out of an SUV and fired into the crowd with assault rifles and handguns shortly after midnight at El Mula Banquet Hall in Hialeah, according to police.
“I am at the scene of another targeted and cowardly act of gun violence, where over 20 victims were shot and 2 have sadly died,” Miami-Dade Police Department Director Alfredo “Freddy” Ramirez III tweeted.
“These are cold-blooded murderers that shot indiscriminately into a crowd and we will seek justice. My deepest condolences to the family of the victims.”
Eight people were taken to a hospital by medics and at least a dozen victims went to various area hospitals by private means. Police said the death toll from the shooting could increase — with three of the wounded listed in critical condition.
The bullets began flying following a show that featured local rapper ABMG Spitta, the Miami Herald reported. The hall, inside the Country Club Shopping Center, had been rented out as part of a Memorial Day weekend album-release party.
According to Ramirez, a white Nissan Pathfinder pulled up to the venue, then three shooters stepped out and opened fire on the crowd.
Video of the shooting suggested it was a targeted attack, police said. The footage shows the gunmen sitting in the SUV for up to 40 minutes before moving in and unleashing a hail of bullets at around 12:30 a.m. — just as the crowd poured out of the concert, CBS-TV in Miami reported.
The gunmen fired “at least 100 rounds,” including from assault weapons — and some in the crowd shot back, law-enforcement sources told the station.
The report said that rapper Foepack also performed and that investigators believed he or Spitta was struck in the ankle.
After the shooting, relatives of the victims gathered outside the Ryder Trauma Center at Jackson Memorial Hospital — some joining hands in prayer.
“Words can’t explain how I feel right now,” said Chad Harris, whose 19-yearold daughter was among those shot. “She’s in surgery right now. We’re just praying.”
Angelica Green told reporters outside the hospital that her 24-year-old son and her nephew were among those struck by gunfire — recounting a “frantic” phone call from her wounded son.
“The worst phone call of my life,”
Green told the Herald. “He was telling us, if something happens to him, that he loves us. We said, ‘We love you, too, but you’re gonna survive this.’ ”
“He’s not a statistic,” she told CNN. “He’s a graduate from college last year. So he’s educated. He was going out with his educated cousin to just celebrate the weekend, and they had not made it into the club as of yet.”
Green said her son, who was hit once in the abdomen, underwent surgery and was expected to survive — but she added that her nephew was shot four times and suffered “pretty massive wounds.”
It was the third shooting in the Miami area since Thursday. On Friday, one person was killed and six wounded in a drive-by shooting in Miami’s Wynwood neighborhood. The day before, three people were injured in a shooting and car chase near Casino Miami JaiAlai, according to the Herald.
Meanwhile, philanthropist and TV personality Marcus Lemonis offered a hefty reward for information leading to the arrests and conviction of the El Mula Banquet Hall gunmen.
“I’m offering a $100,000 reward to help authorities in my hometown @MiamiDadePD arrest and convict the suspect/suspects,” Lemonis tweeted. “Pass this on.”
Lemonis, host of the CNBC series “The Profit” and “Streets of Dreams,” got a shoutout from Ramirez on Twitter.
“Grateful for this contribution @marcuslemonis,” the police director tweeted. “This is our community, we are stronger together.
“We need our county to step up with information. If you know something, you can remain anonymous by calling @CrimeStopper305.”
The Miami-area mass shootings come after disgruntled San Jose, Calif., rail-yard worker Samuel Cassidy allegedly killed nine co-workers and wounded multiple other people before killing himself in a shooting rampage on Wednesday.