MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA - MARCH 23: Miami Beach Police Department dispatched 301 officers to deter misconduct as thousands of college students and non-students attend Spring Break festivities in Miami Beach on March 23, 2019 in Miami, Florida, USA. (Photo by Sean Drakes/Getty Images)
Miami Beach is once again imposed a curfew Sunday night following a violent and deadly spring break weekend where two people were shot to death in separate incidents as well as huge groups of rowdy crowds flooding the streets.
In a video message posted Sunday, Mayor Dan Gelber said that the number of people and guns have created a “peril that cannot go unchecked.”
“We don’t ask for spring break in our city,” Gelber said. “We don’t want spring break in our city. It’s too rowdy, it’s too much disorder and it’s too difficult to police.”
The curfew began around midnight Monday and was lifted at 6 a.m., city officials declared in a press release.
Authorities are considering another curfew from Thursday until March 27. The restrictions are focused primarily on South Beach – a popular tourist destination for spring breakers.
Under the curfew, everyone must be cleared from businesses by midnight.
Hotels are allowed to work later to serve their guests, however only restaurants can make deliveries.
The curfew doesn’t apply to local residents, emergency services, hotel guests and anyone else going to and/or from work.
According to the Miami Herald, those who do not meet the above criteria will be subjected to arrest.
On Monday, the city commission is scheduled to meet to discuss further measures.
Much of the curfew stems from two separate yet deadly shootings that occurred within days of each other.
The Miami Beach police confirmed a man was fatally shot on Ocean Drive in South Beach at about 3:30 a.m. Sunday.
Cops in that shooting managed to chase down a suspect, police revealed on Twitter.
The alleged shooter was identified as 24-year-old Fort Lauderdale native Dontavious Leonard Polk, according to news stations citing police reports.
Polk remained held on first-degree murder charges as of Monday morning, CBS Miami reported.
He was walking with three other men on the sidewalk when he stepped towards the victim and shot at him, per NBC 6 South Florida.
The victim, who has not yet been publicly named, fell to the ground as Polk continued to shoot him several more times before fleeing the scene.
However, police were already in the area and managed to chase Polk down and take him, where a gun and bullet casing were recovered.
A second person was wounded in that shooting, but is expected to recover, according to NBC 6. Another man died and another injured after a separate shooting took place two days earlier, terrifying club and restaurant patrons.
Authorities located for firearms at the scene and held one person in custody, but no further details have been released as of Monday morning.
Mayor Gelber went on to noted that none involved in the deadly shootings were city residents.
“In both cases, police were literally seconds away from the incidents, and arrests were made within minutes,” the mayor said. “That said, it is clear that even an unprecedented police presence could not prevent these incidents from occurring.”
The city had similarly placed a curfew last year after another set of shootings on Ocean Drive.
And in 2021, cops arrested upwards of 1,000 people while confiscating dozens of guns amidst another violent spring break.
