Yahoo Sports ‘It’s time to go:’ Frantic 911 calls reveal chaos during Hollywood Beach mass shooting
When gunfire erupted Monday evening on the Hollywood Beach Broadwalk, thousands of beachgoers scattered, ducked for cover and ran into nearby businesses and hotels. Some rendered aid. Others called 911.
Nine people, including four children ages 1 to 17, were shot on Memorial Day after police said a dispute between two groups escalated.
Each of the callers reported a different number of people shot, presumably due to calls coming in at different times. But none were able to identify a shooter.
One caller said she ran into her hotel room when she heard five shots. In a calm voice, she told the operator what she was seeing: an injured person and a single police officer responding.
She also said she noticed a group of five or six men in the crowd who were “causing a ruckus” at her hotel earlier that day.
“Again, I don’t know if they’re exactly involved with what’s going on, but they’re people I saw here earlier causing a ruckus and now they’re around where a ruckus is going on right now.”
While trying to relay information, another panicked caller turned to a loved one and exclaimed: “The vacation is over. It’s time to go.”
“They’re shooting out here, or they was shooting,” he told the operator. “I think it stopped though.”
Police make arrests, but are there more?
Hollywood police on Tuesday announced the arrest of Morgan Deslouches, an 18-year-old from Hollywood, and Keshawn Paul Stewart, an 18-year-old from Dania Beach, on gun charges in connection to the mass shooting. They were arrested a few blocks away from the crime scene, though detectives said they haven’t been identified as the shooters.
Stewart, who pleaded not guilty in court on Wednesday, remained behind bars at Broward County’s Main Jail while Deslouches has since been released on a $20,000 bail, records show.
READ MORE: Two arrested in Hollywood Beach shooting. Businesses say security a growing concern
On top of that, detectives recovered five guns of which two were stolen from Miami-Dade County and Texas respectively, Hollywood police said Tuesday morning in a news release.
READ MORE: Police need help identifying three more people ‘involved’ in Hollywood Beach shooting
Police were looking for three other people Tuesday in connection to the shooting, police said, and surveillance footage of the incident was released in hopes to identify and locate the trio.
Detectives didn’t provide descriptions of the individuals nor did they immediately say how they were involved in the shooting.
Anyone with information about the shooting should contact the Hollywood Police Department at 954-764-4357(HELP) or 954-967-4567. Tipsters can e-mail or text any video or photos they may have to hollywoodpdtips@hollywoodfl.org. Information can also be given anonymously to Broward Crime Stoppers at 954-493-8477(TIPS) or browardcrimestoppers.org.
The FBI is asking for the public’s help in identifying the people involved in the shooting. Videos and photos can be submitted online at fbi.gov/hollywoodbeachmemorialdayshooting. Tipsters may also call the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI.
