PARTY GETS ‘BREAK’
Miami Beach shuts down coed revelers
Miami Beach officials imposed a curfew Sunday night in the wake of two fatal shootings during spring break.
The city said in a news release the curfew would last from 11:59 p.m. Sunday until 6 a.m. Monday, with an additional curfew likely to be in place Thursday through March 27.
The restriction mainly affects South Beach, party central for most spring breakers.
The shootings, one on Friday night and the other early Sunday, that left two people dead and “excessively large and unruly crowds” led to the decision, the release said.
Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber said in a video message posted Sunday that crowds and the presence of numerous firearms has “created a peril that cannot go unchecked” despite a massive police presence and many city-sponsored activities.
The latest shooting happened at about 3:30 a.m. Sunday on Ocean Drive in South Beach, according to Miami Beach police. A man was shot and died later at a hospital.
Dontavious Leonard Polk, 24, was arrested on suspicion of firstdegree murder.
In Friday night’s shooting, one man was killed and another seriously injured.
“The identities of all parties cannot be released while the investigation is ongoing,” the department tweeted.
Some revelers were determined to stay the course the day after the first shooting, Saturday.
A woman identified by the Miami Herald as 22-year-old Ronny from Pittsburgh told the news outlet she was only a few feet away from the gunfire on Seventh Street and Ocean Drive in the Friday night chaos.
“No one is trying to be dodging bullets on vacation,” she said Saturday while partying at the scene of the gunplay.
“I’m always having fun regardless, but y’all have to chill with that shooting stuff,” she said.
More than 100 other spring breakers were gathered on the nearby beach on Saturday, drinking and dancing, the outlet reported.
“We’re going to play it by ear and see how drunk [the crowd gets],”said Peter Sint, a 23-yearold from Miami-Dade who was worried about the possibility of more bloodshed.
Last year, the city imposed a midnight curfew following two shootings, also on Ocean Drive. The year before that, there were about 1,000 arrests and dozens of guns confiscated during a rowdy spring break that led Miami Beach officials to take steps aimed at calming the situation.