DORAL, Fla. – Doral’s community leaders held an emergency meeting Wednesday to discuss the city’s safety measures after two people were killed and seven were injured in a shooting at CityPlace last weekend.
The shooting occurred around 3:30 a.m. April 6 at Martini Bar, off Northwest 36th Street.
Police said Jamal Wayne Wood, 37, had gotten into an argument with a woman when a 38-year-old man and the bar’s security personnel moved to intervene. That’s when witnesses told police Wood pulled out a gun.
Shortly after, police said the gunman shot and killed George Alejandro Castellanos, who was working as a security guard at the bar. He was 23. Authorities confirmed another guard sustained injuries to the hand.
Police said six innocent bystanders were caught in the crossfire – four males and two females.
“The officer shot and killed the subject, however, the officer also sustained a gunshot wound to the lower extremity,” Miami-Dade Police Detective Alvaro Zabaleta said.
Investigators found a Springfield Armory XD .40 pistol at the bar and the medical examiner’s office took Wood’s body, who was the bar patron accused of firing his weapon.
On Wednesday, a city meeting convened in Doral to address the incident and explore measures to prevent its recurrence.
The initial altercation occurred just half an hour before closing time, at 3:30 a.m.
Local 10 News has learned that four venues at CityPlace Doral possess permits to serve alcohol until 4 a.m., but Martini Bar is not among them.
City attorneys are trying to see if there’s a loophole within the city ordinance that allowed the Martini Bar to be open and serve alcohol at that time of the morning.
“I think it’s terrible that there’s a bar at 3:30 in the morning serving liquor and more liquor,” said a Doral resident. “There should be more regulations or more strict things in order to prevent more tragedies in this city.”
Doral Mayor Christi Fraga is aiming to curb alcohol service until 4 a.m. and introduce metal detectors at CityPlace’s bar entrances as preventive measures.
“To my understanding, Martini Bar didn’t have an extended permit,” Fraga said at the meeting. “They were allowed to operate per our ordinance that was established in 2007. That is my understanding, but we are reviewing that as well.”
Those topics are expected to be discussed at the city’s next commission meeting at the end of the month.