Two people have been killed and more than 20 injured after three gunmen opened fire outside a Florida concert venue in the early hours of yesterday morning.
Gunfire erupted after three people got out of a white Nissan Pathfinder SUV and, armed with assault rifles and handguns, unleashed a volley of bullets at revellers who had gathered at the El Mula Banquet Hall near Hialeah, a city in Miami-Dade county. Police believe the shooting was targeted, although the motive remains unclear.
Two people died on the scene and others were transported to local hospitals, with one of the victims reportedly in a critical condition. The gunmen fled and got away.
“I am at the scene of another targeted and cowardly act of gun violence,” Miami-Dade police director Alfredo Ramirez said on Twitter. “These are cold-blooded murderers that shot indiscriminately into a crowd and we will seek justice.”
The carnage at the dancehall, which had been rented out for a rap concert, came barely 24 hours after another mass shooting in which at least one person was killed and six wounded only 12km away at Wynwood in Miami.
“This type of gun violence has to stop,” said Mr Ramirez. “Every weekend it’s the same thing.”
He told the Miami Herald: “It is very difficult to stop a small amount of individuals who want to go out there and commit murder, and it takes all of us to stop this.”
Florida governor Ron DeSantis tweeted: “We are working with local authorities to bring justice to the perpetrators. Justice needs to be swift & severe!”
Friends and family of those at the concert held a vigil outside the Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami.
“Words can’t explain how I feel right now,” said Chad Harris, whose 19-year-old daughter was undergoing surgery. “We’re just praying.”
A local businessman has offered a $100,000 (€82,000) reward to help catch the suspects.
The attack was just the latest of more than 220 mass shootings in the US this year. It is estimated that at least 17,000 people have died as a result of gun-related violence.
The killings came days after a public transit worker in San José, California, killed nine people at a depot before shooting himself. (© Telegraph Media Group Ltd 2021)