(MIAMI) — At least three people were fatally shot and multiple others were injured early Sunday in the second mass shooting to erupt on consecutive weekends in Miami-Dade County, according to police.
The shooting happened at around 2 a.m. in a strip mall hookah lounge restaurant following a graduation party in Kendall, Miami-Dade Police Director Freddy Ramirez said at a news conference.
He said a barrage of gunfire broke out when one or two cars pulled up into the strip mall and someone inside one of the vehicles opened fire on people leaving the hookah lounge.
Police said two men and a woman were killed, and six others — three men and three women — were injured and rushed to hospitals in private vehicles.
The woman who was fatally shot was identified as Florida Department of Corrections officer Tyleisha Taylor, said Mark Inch, secretary of the state’s Department of Corrections.
“We are devastated to learn a member of our FDC family, Officer Taylor, was killed in a fatal shooting,” Inch said in a statement to ABC affiliate WPLG-TV in Miami. “Our prayers are with her family as they navigate this unimaginable loss.”
An all-points bulletin was issued for a dark-colored Chevrolet Malibu and a white Toyota Camry that witnesses saw speeding away from the chaotic scene, police said.
One car, carrying two victims who died from gunshot wounds, crashed into a wall at nearby Miami Dade College’s Kendall campus, authorities said. A firearm was discovered in the vehicle, but it remained unclear if it was used during the shooting.
Police said the six people who were injured were listed in stable condition at hospitals.
No arrests have been made.
“This violence has to stop. This is completely frustrating. Every weekend is the same thing,” Ramirez said. “We’ve got to stop it here in Miami-Dade County. We’ve got other victims and their families that are destroyed over senseless violence, over stupidness, reckless shooting, innocent people getting hit.”
In a Twitter post Sunday, Ramirez wrote, “We all have the responsibility to report these killers.”
Our community was again painfully struck by gun violence overnight. No one is immune, this shooting took the life of a correctional officer. We all have the responsibility to report these killers. My deepest condolences to those affected by this intentional act of violence.
— Alfredo “Freddy” Ramirez III (@MDPD_Director) June 6, 2021
The shooting came a week after a mass shooting outside a banquet hall in Hialeah, Miami-Dade County, left three people dead and 20 wounded.
No arrests have been made in the shooting in Hialeah, which is about 17 miles north of Kendall. Police released a security video showing a stolen SUV pull up to the El Mula banquet hall and open fire on victims leaving a concert celebrating a local rapper’s birthday.
The banquet hall shooting occurred two days after one person was killed and six were injured in a drive-by shooting in Miami’s Wynwood arts district.
The surge in gun violence in the area spurred Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava on Friday to order stepped-up enforcement and protection across the county, specifically in commercial areas with a history of criminal activity and where businesses operating illegally have been shut down.
“The safety and wellbeing of all our families and neighborhoods is my top priority, and we must put an end to this cycle of violence and senseless killings,” Levine Cava said in a statement. “I am fully committed to making sure Miami-Dade Police Department has all the resources needed to pursue these criminals and keep our community safe.”
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