Police: 12 wounded in shooting at Miami party
MIAMI (AP) -- A shooting that wounded 12 people at a birthday party early Monday caused a chaotic scramble that sent partygoers begging for shelter at neighbors' front doors in the shadows of downtown Miami's glistening skyscrapers.
A couple hundred people had gathered for the party in the run-down Overtown neighborhood when three men wearing black opened fire around 12:45 a.m., police said.
The 12 victims were hospitalized, and three were in critical condition, Miami police spokesman Detective William Moreno said. Another woman was struck by a vehicle as she fled for safety, and police said she was hospitalized in stable condition.
Rescuers and neighbors who opened their doors when they heard the shots described the scene as mayhem.
"There were a couple hundred people running around outside, running for cover because there was still shooting in the area," said Miami Fire-Rescue spokesman Lt. Ignatius Carroll.
Initially, there were not enough ambulances to take the victims to the hospital, he said.
It was unclear if the shooting happened in a home or in the street. Bullet casings at the scene indicated a semiautomatic rifle and two pistols were used, Miami Police Chief John Timoney said. Many were sprayed across the road amid plastic foam cups and paper debris from the party, and among other shell casings that apparently came from Fourth of July celebrations, he said.
"There's a lot of casings," Timoney said.
Police believe the gunman missed their intended target at the party, Timoney said.
Beyond the yellow police tape that blocked off about four blocks in the area of the shooting, neighbors said they lost track of how many shots they heard, the noise waking them from sleep over the rattling of their air conditioners.
"It was like an army out here," said Rose Godbolt MacFarland, who lives on the corner of the street where the shooting occurred.
Eight young people then clamored at her front door, looking for safety, she said. The 58-year-old let them in, but only after patting down one for fear that he, too, was armed.
Clay Adams, 72, had just taken her toddler grandchildren inside and locked her front door when she heard the gunshots, followed by the pounding footsteps of people running past her house.
They were looking for open doors. "Anywhere they could get in, they were looking for cover," she said.
MacFarland ventured outside once the shooting stopped. She said she found one of the shooting victims lying on the ground across the street, blood streaming from his side. A former housekeeper at a hospital, she said she did what she saw doctors and nurses do in the emergency room: She held his hand and asked him questions until ambulances arrived.
"I told him he was going to make it," she said. "I told him he was strong. I just tried to keep him talking."
If you have any information on this shooting, call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS. Remember, you can always remain anonymous, and you may be eligible for a reward.
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
