MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – A 17-year-old girl was killed in a Friday morning shooting outside a west Miami-Dade County hookah bar, police said.
The shooting occurred shortly before 2 a.m. in the parking lot outside the Hookah Palace on Southwest 26th Street.
Miami-Dade police Detective Angel Rodriguez said someone in an unknown vehicle approached the teenager and shot her.
She was taken to Kendall Regional Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead.
The owner of the hookah bar told Local 10 News that he was told there was a fight outside and he later recognized the victim as someone who usually hangs around his store.
Shell casings and evidence markers could be seen throughout the parking lot.
"This is not typical at all," one person who works at the strip mall said. "You know, I've been working around this area for over a year now and, obviously, this is really the first time that something like this has happened."
The victim's friend, Diosnel Martell, told Local 10 News reporter Liane Morejon that the victim "was at the wrong place at the wrong time."
The shooting occurred at the same shopping center where police were called to reports of a threat against an AMC movie theater earlier this week, although no connection has been drawn between the two incidents.
Rodriguez said detectives don't have a description of the shooter or the getaway vehicle.
"It's a shame for her family and mom, and she's a really young girl," Martell said.
Anyone with information about the shooting was asked to call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS.