Moment three gunmen pull up at Miami rapper’s birthday party armed with assault rifles and indiscriminately unload into crowd – killing two and wounding 22
- The gunmen pulled up to the venue in a white SUV armed with assault rifles
- The El Mula Banquet Hall had been rented out for a concert and several people were gathered outside as it ended when gunfire broke out
- Police believe shooting was targeted but no arrests were immediately made
- Miami Police Chief Art Acevedo called for the justice system to ‘throw the book’ at ‘cowardly misfits’ caught with firearms while committing a crime
- No one has been arrested for the attack, which police say was ‘targeted’
- The party was for a local rapper called ABMG Spitta – it’s unclear if he was harmed
Police have released surveillance footage of the moment three unidentified gunmen arrived at a rapper’s birthday party in Miami-Dade on Sunday night before opening fire on the crowd inside, killing two people and injuring another 22.
The gunmen were shown jumping out of a white SUV at El Mula Banquet Hall in Northwest Miami-Dade in the early hours of Sunday morning. They were all dressed in black and appeared to be carrying rifles.
Once inside, they opened fire on the crowd, killing two people, including Clayton Dillard III and one other person. Clayton was identified by his father on Monday.
It’s still unclear if the gunmen were targeting anyone in particular, or if they wanted to shoot indiscriminately.
The party was for ABMG Spitta, a local rapper whose real name is Courtney Paul Wilson. It’s unclear if he was harmed.
The shooting was one of two over the weekend – a third person was killed at a different shooting.
This the moment the three gunmen arrived at the El Mula Banquet Hall in Northwest Miami-Dade in the early hours of Sunday morning
The gunmen are shown getting back into the car after shooting dead two people and injuring 22
Clayton Dillard was named by his father as one of the victims. He was 24
At a press conference on Monday morning, Dillard’s father, who is also called Clayton, screamed ‘they killed my son! Killed my son!’
He had to be subdued by local police officers. Detectives said the shooting was a targeted attack.
The party was for local rapper ABMG Spitta. It’s unclear if he was harmed
‘This type of violence has got to stop. Every weekend it is the same thing. This is targeted,’ Miami-Dade Police Director Alfredo “Freddy” Ramirez said.
Authorities believe the shooting was targeted, but no arrests were immediately announced. After the shooting, the trio of gunmen then got back into the car and fled the scene.
Many of the victims were taken to Jackson memorial Hospital where a crowd of friends and relatives had gathered this morning to pray and wait for news.
A mother of one of the victims Angelica Green told NBC Miami that her son had phoned her in the middle of the night to say he was on his way to the hospital.
‘He called us frantic, telling us he had been shot, that it hurts, it hurts and that he loves us and wants us to know,’ she said.
Clayton Dillard’s father interrupted a police press conference on Monday screaming ‘they killed him!’
Miami-Dade Police Department Director Alfredo Ramirez III said the violence was getting out of control
‘My husband is like ‘no stay with us, stay with us.’ We hop in the car and we’re talking to him to keep him alert.’
Police were seeking help from the community to identify and arrest the shooters.
American businessman and philanthropist Marcus Lemonis tweeted that he will contribute $100,000 for information that leads to capture and arrest of the shooters.
‘I’m offering a $100,000 reward to help authorities in my hometown @MiamiDadePD arrest and convict the suspect/suspects .. pass this on,’ he wrote.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis called for ‘swift and severe’ justice.
‘We mourn the loss of the two victims and are praying for the recovery of the more than 20 people injured at El Mula Banquet Hall near Hialeah,’ he wrote in a tweet. ‘We are working with local authorities to bring justice to the perpetrators.’
Gun-related homicides have surged across the United States over the past year.
On Wednesday, a public transit worker shot dead nine people at a California rail yard before turning his gun on himself as police arrived.
Mass shootings have occurred in recent months at a FedEx facility in Indianapolis, an office building in California, a grocery store in Colorado and at several spas in Atlanta.
Two people have died and up to another 25 left injured after gunmen fired indiscriminately into a crowd gathered for a concert in south Florida in the early hours of this morning