Miami Beach declares a state of emergency and a curfew starting at midnight TONIGHT
Miami Beach has declared a state of emergency and instituted a curfew beginning at midnight tonight after two shootings over the weekend left two dead.
The city announced the crackdown Sunday morning that will ban revelers from outside between 11:59 p.m. Sunday and 6 a.m. Monday morning due to shootings and “excessively large and unruly crowds.”
A similar curfew will be imposed from Thursday and throughout the weekend, until Monday March 27, but this will be discussed in more detail at a committee meeting on Monday.
It will be in place for an area of Miami Beach stretching from 23rd Street and Dade Boulevard in the north to the Government Cut in the south, Biscayne Bay in the west and the Atlantic Ocean in the east.
There was no curfew on Saturday night, following a fatal shooting on Friday on Ocean Drive.
A second fatal shooting occurred in the early hours of Sunday morning, prompting the curfew.
Officers initially said the first shooting was an isolated incident during what had so far been a week of peaceful celebration in the city’s social district.
An arrest was made following gunfire on South Beach’s Main Street Friday night, which at the time was packed with Spring Breakers and closed to traffic due to St. Patrick’s Day.
Several blocks were cordoned off with yellow crime scene tape as police arrested someone in connection with the incident – it is still unclear if it was the shooter
Gunfire erupted in a Miami Beach neighborhood crowded with revelers enjoying booze-filled spring break parties. One person was killed and another injured, sending dozens rushing to safety
On Friday, a man was killed and another injured as dozens of people scattered and ran for cover.
The injured man, initially reported to be in critical condition, is now believed to have been released from hospital.
Four firearms were recovered from the scene and the suspect is said to have “cooperated fully”. It is not known if the suspect has been charged in the fatal shooting.
Early Sunday morning, a second shooting also occurred on Ocean Drive in South Beach, according to Miami Beach police.
A man was shot and later died in a hospital, and officers pursued a suspect on foot. Their identities have not been revealed, nor any possible charges.
On Sunday, the Miami Beach Police Department tweeted, “The identities of all parties cannot be released while the investigation is ongoing.”
“The Miami Beach Police Department’s workforce remains bolstered and supplemented with assistance from neighboring law enforcement.”
But just a day after a fatal shooting disrupted Spring Break festivities in Miami Beach, revelers returned to the crime scene to continue celebrating on Ocean Drive.
One party girl, Ronny, 22, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, told the Miami Herald she was just feet away from the gunfire that erupted on Seventh Street and Ocean Drive.
“Nobody tries to dodge bullets on vacation,” she said as she returned to the scene of the crime to continue raging.
“I’m still having fun regardless, but y’all gotta chill with this filming thing,” she said, adding that some of her peers are “out here trying to recreate ‘Scarface.’
Peter Sint, a 23-year-old from Miami-Dade, was somewhat concerned about the possibility of more violence.
‘We’ll play it by ear and see how drunk [the crowd gets]’, he told the outlet.
“There are a lot of people here, and I just think something is going to happen at some point.”
Party On: Spring Breakers continued their celebrations even after Friday night’s deadly encounter
Miami Beach officials have declared a state of emergency and a curfew that will begin Sunday evening
The curfew was decreed on Sunday morning, after the absence of a curfew on Saturday
Crowds have been getting rowdy for days as some students hold their own boxing matches in South Beach
A stylish approach: A girl poses in a gorgeous oversized hat for a photo in front of the Miami Beach sign on her Spring Break adventure
A pair of Spring Breakers pose on Miami Beach, Florida
More than 100 spring breakers were gathered on the nearby beach where the shooting happened a day later. Drink, dance and hang out listening to Afro Beats and Billboard hits.
Footage from Friday night’s shooting showed people diving for cover and running from multiple shots fired. Several blocks have been cordoned off with yellow crime scene tape.
The shooting is the second in many years during spring break in South Beach.
Last year, the city imposed a midnight curfew following two shootings also on Ocean Drive – the same was not imposed after this week’s shooting.
The year before, there had been around 1,000 arrests and dozens of firearms confiscated during a rowdy spring break that led Miami Beach officials to take steps to calm the situation.
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