A Miami shooting early on Tuesday left two people dead and several others injured. The shooting took place in Liberty City, a neighborhood in Miami that is known for excessive violence and rampant crime.
Neighbors were saddened, but not shocked. Resident Jose Hernandez said gun violence is pretty much a daily ritual in the area.
“I have friends who have been killed,” Hernandez said. “This violence has to change.”
Local police know that things have to change, but will have to continue to re-evaluate their strategy.
“We have reached a tipping point in the district where the criminal element has no fear of our police officers and are beginning to act with impunity,” said the release signed by Miami police Sgt. Javier Ortiz. “Folks, people are getting killed in groups three blocks outside of our police station. If this isn’t a wake up call to our stakeholders, I don’t know what is.”
The street was full of shell casings and onlookers later on Tuesday morning as police continued their investigation.
Miami City Manager Daniel Alfonso disclosed that those killed include a 20-year-old man and a teenage girl. Police officials say a 17-year-old girl was critically wounded in the shooting and several others were hit also.
As residents stood around the scene of the Miami shooting, a woman could be heard crying and yelling, “My baby ain’t deserved this. They treated him like a dog.”
At this pont police still don’t know what happened at the scene and say many area residents are afraid to speak to authorities.
Police spokeswoman Frederica Burden said of the Miami shooting,”I’m not sure how it occurred. We’re investigating it now. I don’t know if they were all outside standing, some in a car, some not in a car. I don’t know that yet.”
A sad story. Hopefully, this will indeed be the wake up call that is needed for some changes in local law enforcement.
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