Three people were killed and five injured after gunfire erupted at a graduation party in Miami-Dade County, Florida, over the weekend.
Investigators found that a group of people were gathered outside a business in a strip mall early Sunday morning when a person or persons started shooting.
A graduation party in the area, on 104th Street and 109 Court, was just finishing up, Freddy Ramirez, director of the Miami-Dade Police Department, told reporters at the scene.
“As patrons were leaving, one or maybe two vehicles pulled up and started to fire at the crowd,” he said.
Bullets struck several people. A vehicle that fled from the scene crashed into a wall at a nearby college. Both occupants of the vehicle died. Investigators found a firearm inside the vehicle. Another person died from gunshot wounds. That victim was later identified as Tyleisha Taylor, a Florida Department of Corrections officer.
We are devastated to learn a member of our FDC family, Officer Taylor, was killed in a fatal shooting. Our prayers are with her family as they navigate this unimaginable loss,” Mark Inch, secretary of the department, said in a statement.
Five people in total were injured.
Investigators said in a press release on Sunday that the motive of the shooting is not clear. A police spokesman declined to answer on Monday when asked whether a suspect or suspects have been identified. Anyone with information on what happened was encouraged to contact the authorities.
“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,” Ramirez said in a statement.
Another shooting in the Miami-Dade area, described as a “domestic related” incident, left three dead and three injured early Sunday.
The shootings took place about a week after a mass shooting outside a concert in the county left two dead and over 20 wounded. Investigators said they found multiple shooters were involved but have not announced any arrests.
Police officials launched “Operation Summer Heat” late last week, which involves increasing surveillance in high-crime areas and adding crime analysts and license plate readers, Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said on CNN’s “New Day” on Monday.
“And we’re turning to the public. We cannot do this without the community. We have rewards that have been offered, significant rewards, sometimes people are afraid to speak out and fear retaliation, because some of these are retaliatory,” she said. “So we urge anyone with information, see something, say something.”
