At least nine people, including children, were hospitalized Monday after an altercation ended in gunfire at the Hollywood Beach Broadwalk, police said.
Hollywood Police spokesperson Deanna Bettineschi said they received calls about multiple people who were shot near Johnson Street after two groups got into an altercation, which resulted in gunfire.
Nine gunshot victims — including four children between the ages of 1-17 years old — were taken to Memorial Regional Hospital and Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital, Bettineschi said. Five adults between the ages of 25-65 were also hospitalized.
One of the victims was in surgery, while the rest were in stable condition, police said.
Police detained one person of interest and said another person is at large.
“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,” Hollywood Mayor Josh Levy said in a post on Facebook.
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Video from the city of Hollywood’s live feed of Hollywood Beach appears to show the moments immediately after the shooting — people are seen running or seeking cover when gunshots were fired.
Cellphone video from a witness shows paramedics tending to multiple people with injuries on the beach.
“I heard like three gunshots and I just see a wave of people running off, like screaming and running out,” Marvin Mikhail said.
People were seen running for their lives or taking cover in video that apparently shows the moments gunfire erupted on Hollywood Beach, injuring nine people.
At Memorial Regional Hospital, a patient unrelated to the shooting described the chaos as paramedics brought the shooting victims to the trauma center.
“There was a whole bunch of traumas and we were hearing it off the speakers all through our visit here,” Cheyenne Ramos said. “It was pretty intense there were a lot of nurses in and out of the emergency room trying to see what was going on because there was so many people coming in.”
People were asked to avoid the area from Johnson to Garfield Streets in addition to the Hollywood Beach Broadwalk. A reunification area was set up at the Johnson Street and North Ocean bus loop.
Beaches in South Florida, including the Broadwalk, have seen a rush of visitors in recent days for Memorial Day weekend.
Hollywood Police is asking anyone with tips or information to contact hollywoodtips@hollywoodfl.org.
Further details were not available. Check back with NBC6 for updates.
