Two people were arrested, three are at large, and five handguns were recovered after the shooting that wounded nine people, including a 1-year-old child, on the busy Hollywood Broadwalk Monday evening, police said Tuesday.
Hollywood police believe the shooting occurred after a dispute between two groups of people, said Deanna Bettineschi, a spokeswoman for the agency. So far, police have not shared details on what sparked the fight.
The Broadwalk, a popular beachside destination, was crowded with families and people enjoying the end of Memorial Day weekend when gunfire broke out just before 7 p.m. People began to run. Officers, paramedics and good Samaritans went to help those who were shot.
Police detained two people after the shooting, but later determined they were not the shooters. Both were arrested on firearms charges. Of the five handguns recovered, two were stolen, Bettineschi said, one from Texas, the other from Miami-Dade.
Detectives are still trying to identify three other people they believe were involved in the shooting. Police released photographs of two of the people early Tuesday morning, then a third suspect about noon.
“We are asking the community, if you know who the three pictured may be, please contact police,” Bettineschi said.
The nine injured people include five adults, ranging in age from 25 to 65. The four wounded youth range in age from 1 to 17 years old, Bettineschi said. The injured were taken to Memorial Regional Hospital and Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital. Three have been treated and discharged. The other six remain in the hospital in stable condition.
Hollywood resident Cat Uden was out walking her dog Monday night when she heard what sounded like a dozen or more sirens.
When Uden saw news reports that there’d been a shooting on the increasingly crowded Broadwalk, she wasn’t surprised at all.
“I think a lot of parents are going to be afraid to bring their kids to the beach on weekends and holidays now,” Uden told the South Florida Sun Sentinel.
She usually avoids the busy zone near Johnson Street on weekends and holidays anyway. But now that nine people have been shot, Uden says she has no plans to go back.
“I absolutely would avoid central beach,” Uden said. “I notice it is getting worse. We’ve had a lot of fights on the Broadwalk where all the bars are. Our beach is turning into Miami Beach. And we want to be the sleepy, quiet family beach. We don’t want to be Miami Beach.”
Vacationers and locals returned to the largely empty beach Tuesday morning, some shaken up by the events of the evening before.
Joe Sainato, 26, was visiting Hollywood with his girlfriend from New Jersey when they heard the shots from their hotel room. They had walked past the scene of the shooting several times earlier that day.
“I asked my girlfriend, was that an engine or a gun?” he recalled Tuesday, standing on the beach a few feet from where the shooting took place.
Though Sainato had visited the area before, it was his girlfriend’s first time.
“She’s like, ‘I wanna go home,’” he said.
Anyone with information should phone Hollywood police at 954-764-4357 or 954-967-4567. Tipsters also can email or text to hollywoodpdtips@hollywoodfl.org
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