HOLLYWOOD, Fla. — Two people have been arrested after nine people were injured Monday evening in a shooting on a beach boardwalk in Hollywood, Florida, authorities said.
The shooting took place on a boardwalk near the beach, known as the Hollywood Broadwalk, between Johnson Street and Garfield Street, the Sun-Sentinel reported. A dispute between two groups ended in gunfire at about 6:45 p.m. EDT, according to the newspaper.
Police identify 2 shooting suspects, release 911 tapes
Update 12:20 a.m. EDT May 31: Police identified the two suspects as Morgan Deslouches, 18, of Hollywood, and Keshawn Paul Stewart, 18, of Dania Beach, WPLG-TV reported.
According to a probable cause affidavit, Deslouches is facing charges of grand theft of a firearm, carrying a concealed firearm and altering the identification of a firearm, the Sun-Sentinel reported. Stewart is facing a charge of carrying a concealed firearm, according to the newspaper.
The 911 calls from the incident were released on Tuesday, WPLG reported.
In that audio, concerned callers are heard trying to alert authorities, according to the television station.
“We just ran into the hotel room, and I immediately called you,” one caller, a woman, told a 911 dispatcher, according to the Sun-Sentinel. “People are all hiding up against the walls. There’s a bunch of little kids outside.”
Another man gave his name and telephone number but few details, according to the television station.
“There was a shooting here,” the man told the dispatcher. “I heard it. It was about, like, a couple hundred feet from me, and a whole bunch of people ran up to the ocean.
“All right, let’s get out of here, bro,” the man said before hanging up.
-- Bob D’Angelo, Cox Media Group National Content Desk
‘Let’s get out of here’: 911 calls of Hollywood Broadwalk shooting show horrific end to holiday https://t.co/yD5uEFshsd pic.twitter.com/O1fVfR5KKB
— South Florida Sun Sentinel (@SunSentinel) May 30, 2023
2 men believed to be connected with shooting arrested
Update 2:40 p.m. EDT May 30: Two men believed to be involved in Monday’s shooting have been arrested on weapons charges as authorities continue to search for those involved, authorities said Tuesday.
“We are looking for three individuals we believe may be related to this shooting,” police public information officer Deanna Bettineschi said Tuesday.
Mayor Josh Levy said that with the cameras set up on the Hollywood Broadwalk and the fact that the shooting happened in broad daylight, he was confident that the shooters would be identified and brought to justice.
“We’re not going to tolerate this kind of behavior in a beautiful beach setting,” he said. “We are (a) very peaceful city. We will not tolerate people coming into our city, behaving in this way with no regard to people that are in harm’s way, with innocent bystanders being injured like they were yesterday.”
Six of the nine people injured in Monday’s shooting remained hospitalized on Tuesday, Bettineschi said.
— Theresa Seiger, Cox Media Group National Content Desk
Victims range in age from 1 to 65, police say
Update 6:04 a.m. EDT May 30: The nine victims of the shooting range in age from a 1-year-old to a 65-year-old, Hollywood Police Department spokesperson Deanna Bettineschi told reporters. The adults range in age from 25 to 65, and the children were ages 1 to 17.
— Debbie Lord, Cox Media Group National Content Desk
Update 10:48 p.m. EDT May 29: The nine victims included six adults and three children, Yanet Obarrio Sanchez, a spokesperson for Memorial Healthcare System, told The Associated Press. All of the victims were in stable condition, she said.
Original report: Police confirmed that nine people were injured. No deaths have been reported.
Nine people were shot and injured a shooting on the Broadwalk in Hollywood near the end of the Memorial Day weekend, a police spokesperson said. https://t.co/U8ad5ZCDUc pic.twitter.com/AvYbNg0Lzr
— South Florida Sun Sentinel (@SunSentinel) May 30, 2023
One person was detained by police and officers are searching for a second person, WPLG-TV reported.
Earlier, Hollywood Mayor Josh Levy confirmed that there were victims but did not provide further details.
“Police are responding right now,” Levy said. “We have victims treated by police and paramedics on scene and transported to the hospital.”
The injured victims were taken to Memorial Regional Hospital and Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital, a spokesperson told the Sun-Sentinel. The ages and genders of the victims have not been released.
Memorial Healthcare System spokesperson Yanet Obarrio Sanchez told WTVJ that up to five victims were being treated at Memorial Regional Hospital’s trauma center.
“It is a fluid situation,” Sanchez told the television station.
In a Facebook post, the Hollywood Police Department asked residents to avoid the Broadwalk and other areas near the beach “due to an ongoing investigation.”
“Thank you to the good Samaritans, paramedics, police and emergency room doctors and nurses for their immediate response to aid the victims of today’s shooting,” Levy said in a statement, according to WFOR-TV.
“Police have the scene under control. I think there is no ongoing threat but obviously it’s one of those situations where it’s probably better to clear out of the area and proceed home and not be in that area at this point in time,” Raelin Storey, a city spokesperson, told the Miami Herald.
VIdeos posted on social media showed people fleeing the area, the Sun-Sentinel reported.
Hollywood is located in southern Broward County, about 11 miles south of Fort Lauderdale and 20 miles north of downtown Miami. It is a popular tourist spot, and the area was crowded for Memorial Day weekend.
“Our beach has millions of beachgoers a year. It’s a very popular and beautiful destination,” Levy said, according to the newspaper. “This is a never before occurrence. Ordinarily, it’s a peaceful beach.”
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