Nine individuals were shot on the Hollywood Beach Broadwalk on Monday, and numerous children were among the injured. Two suspects have been apprehended, and at least three others are still being sought by police.
The Broadwalk was bustling with Memorial Day weekend revelers when the incident took place near Johnson Street at around 7 p.m. According to the Hollywood Police Department, four of the nine victims are juveniles and five are adults. The ages of the children are between 1 and 17, and those of the adults are between 25 and 65.
Both Memorial Regional Hospital and Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital received patients. Three adults were treated and released from the hospital by Tuesday morning, while the remaining victims were listed in stable condition. No information about them was made public.
The prompt response of good Samaritans on the scene was credited by hospital staff as a contributing factor to the patients’ successful recoveries. “Nowadays, people learning how to hold pressure on something that’s bleeding, someone that knows control pressure, is like the new CPR,” Memorial Regional’s Dr. Andrew Rosenthal said.
Among those who rushed to aid the hurt was Sean Bennett. He claims he spotted a 15-year-old who had been sh*t twice and tried to stabilize him until help arrived. “He was in a lot of pain, he was in shock, but he did well,” Bennett said. According to the police investigation, the incident began with a fight between two groups of people.
A portion of the fight was captured on surveillance video. People could be seen running or taking cover in the moments after gunshots were heard in the live video feed from Hollywood Beach provided by the city of Hollywood. Also visible on the floor in the footage are what appear to be two firearms.
Kayla Buzon, a witness, said that she heard gunfire from a hotel balcony. “In an instant you heard at least six gunshots go off,” she said.
“You could see multiple people laying down on the ground. Three people from what I could see and one woman that was sitting off to the side where her leg had gotten grazed by a bullet. Really the scariest part was seeing parents dragging their children almost across the floor to get behind the small wall barrier that was literally the only protection that anyone had trying to stay clear of all the chaos that was going on.”
The recordings of the frantic 911 calls were also made public on Tuesday. “The Margaritaville. Please. On the beach. They’re shooting out here,” one caller says. “Did you see who was doing the shooting?” the operator queries. “No! We didn’t see nothing. We don’t know where he came from a different area and then hit a guy on the beach. A guy near us,” the caller says.
Another caller said they heard five shots fired in quick succession, while a third said they saw a body lying on the ground. According to authorities, there were extra police on duty at the beach over the holiday weekend, and some of them heard the gunfire and came to investigate.
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A witness’s cellphone footage revealed paramedics treating several injured beachgoers. “I heard like three gunshots and I just see a wave of people running off, like screaming and running out,” witness Marvin Mikhail said. Multiple people were apprehended by responding officers.
Two persons were arrested on guns charges, police said Tuesday, but they were not the shooters. Morgan Deslouches and Keshawn Paul Stewart, both 18, were the two males that were detained. Officials said they’ve been charged with conceal carry, and in Deslouches’ case, grand theft of a handgun and defacing the serial number of a firearm.
Five handguns were reported recovered by police on Tuesday. One firearm was reported stolen in Miami-Dade County and another was stolen in Texas. As part of their investigation, authorities have released images of three individuals they believe to have been involved in the shooting.
“It’s unfortunate when we have law-abiding citizens come to our beach to enjoy the day that gets disrupted by a group of criminals who engage in this type of violent activity,” Hollywood Police Chief Chris O’Brien said late Monday.
The news is confirmed by the tweet that follows:
Hollywood Beach Mass Shooting: Suspects Arrested, Sought in Florida https://t.co/FmiynKhPq8
— Logan Ratick (@Logan_Ratick) May 31, 2023
“We will leave no stone stone unturned. We have numerous agencies out here assisting us today to include state and federal agencies. These that were involved in the incident today will be held accountable for their actions.” Hollywood Mayor Josh Levy said during a news conference on Tuesday that neither of the two suspects were from the city.
HPD and the FBI and are asking for the public’s help in identifying the suspects involved in the Hollywood, FL shooting that occurred on 5/29/2023.
Videos & photos can be submitted: https://t.co/9MXGi69igA
You can also call: 1-800-CALL-FBI @FBIMiamiFL pic.twitter.com/Rl8Qh9iuwq— HollywoodFL Police (@HollywoodFLPD) May 30, 2023
“I’m very confident that we will apprehend those three persons,” Levy said. “When you do something like this in broad daylight, with CCTV cameras up and down our Broadwalk, you will be identified and you will be caught and brought to justice.”
“We’re not gonna tolerate this kind of behavior in a beautiful beach setting. We’re a very peaceful city and we will not tolerate people coming into our city and behaving in this way with no regard to people that are in harm’s way with iinocent bystanders injured like they were yesterday.”
Levy expressed his astonishment at the violent act and blatant contempt for the people on the Broadwalk. “It’s pretty crazy, right? In broad daylight, in the middle of a holiday weekend with thousands of people on one of the busiest public beaches in the country, for people to come in and suddenly start shooting at each other in broad daylight, who does that?” he said.
“You wonder what kind of people our society is raising for them to be so inclined to act in such a criminal way.”
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