Suspects in custody after officer-involved shooting in South Beach
A police chase in South Beach led to an officer-involved shooting that happened in the area of Sixth Street and Alton Road late Sunday, disrupting an otherwise calm Memorial Day weekend in the seaside city.
Miami Beach police said that around 10:35 p.m., an altercation in the 200 block of Ocean Drive escalated to a point where two people were shot. Both victims were taken Jackson Memorial Hospital.
Police chased a suspect vehicle to Sixth and Alton, where police shot one of the suspects. That suspect was taken to Jackson Memorial. Other suspects were taken into custody at the scene; police have not said how many.
Update: Incident began at non-police involved shooting along 200blk of Ocean Drive. Two patients with gunshot wounds transported to JMH. https://t.co/VYAP9i0LHu
— Miami Beach Police (@MiamiBeachPD) May 29, 2017
One witness told the Miami Herald he saw a flurry of police activity in the area around 10:40 p.m. as he was driving home. Daniel Ciraldo said he saw police while he was in his car under the overpass where the MacArthur Causeway merges onto Alton Road. Then he heard gunshots when he was near the intersection of Sixth and Alton.
“Then I saw a bunch of cops running north,” said Ciraldo, who lives in the Flamingo Park neighborhood.
A resident of a nearby condo tower captured the gunshots in an Instagram video. Eight shots can be heard in the video.
Authorities quickly closed Alton Road from Fifth to Eighth streets, including the flyover from the MacArthur Causeway where cars merged onto northbound Alton Road. An helicopter hovered over this stretch of Alton Road for several hours.
#Traffic Update: ALL eastbound traffic on MacArthur Cswy is CLOSED. Use I195 or Venetian to enter Miami Beach. https://t.co/YYXNrSxxZj
— Miami Beach Police (@MiamiBeachPD) May 29, 2017
At around 11:45 p.m., police closed all eastbound traffic on the MacArthur Causeway, sealing off a main entrance into Miami Beach. This closure remained in place early Monday.
An early morning statement from Beach police said the investigation is in the early stages, and more information would be available at around 8:30 a.m. at the Miami Beach Police Department.
Herald writer Martin Vassolo contributed to this report.
This story was originally published May 28, 2017 at 11:15 PM with the headline "Suspects in custody after officer-involved shooting in South Beach."