MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – Emotions are running high after a violent Memorial Day weekend.
It started Thursday evening near Casino Miami when a barrage of bullets went flying into a white car. Moments later, the car would knock down a sign and crash into a pole.
The driver of the white car was hit by gunfire and the passenger was grazed by a bullet. A man can be seen hanging out of the window of a black car firing a gun.
An innocent bystander was hit by a bullet in his arm and witnesses rushed to help him. Three people were injured in that shooting.
On Friday night, a deadly mass shooting occurred in Miami’s Wynwood district.
Local 10 News cameras captured video of more than three dozen evidence markers next to shell casings. Seven people were shot and one of the victims died.
And on Saturday, the gun violence continued. Police say a white Nissan pathfinder pulled up to a banquet hall in Northwest Miami-Dade.
Three shooters got out the car and fired multiple rounds into the crowd, injuring more than 20 people and killing two.
The back-to-back mass shootings have community advocates like Ed Haynes fed up and he says something needs to change.
“It’s gut wrenching,” said Haynes, who became the first Black police officer hired in Miami Shores in 1990.
Now a community advocate, he works with Circle of Brotherhood.
“It’s very disheartening to be honest with you and our community is tired. We are tired of being tired,” he said.
Through his organization, Circle of Brotherhood, Haynes is hoping to promote peace and encourage people to speak up after tragedies such as what’s happened this Memorial Day weekend.
“There is a lot of fear in the community from retaliation,” Haynes said.
On Monday, Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava will host a press conference about efforts to stem the tide of gun violence, her office announced Sunday.
According to the announcement, she’ll be joined by Chief Public Safety Officer JD Patterson and Miami-Dade Police Department Director Alfredo “Freddy” Ramirez III at the Fred Taylor Miami-Dade Police Headquarters in Doral.
In all three of the shootings, police are looking for the people responsible.
They are asking anyone who may have information to call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at (305) 471-8477. Tipsters can remain anonymous.