Harrowing footage has been captured of the moment gang members armed with automatic weapons open fire in a south Florida neighborhood in what police say was a targeted attack, prompting local residents to evacuate in the middle of the night. That’s what it means.
Neighborhood security camera footage showed a group of people with weapons standing in a residential area of Miami Gardens shortly after midnight Wednesday and opening fire as a silver Nissan approached.
At least three hooded figures can be seen crouching on the ground, ambushing oncoming vehicles and rapidly firing into passing vehicles.
Neighbors said they heard at least 50 shots from high-powered weapons. This brazen shooting ultimately caused the driver to run off the road and destroy a neighbor’s front yard fence. According to NBC6.
The video also shows three people staggering out of the targeted car and sprinting away from the scene.
As gunshots echoed through the neighborhood, residents hurriedly took shelter inside their homes, some of which were riddled with bullet holes.
“Around midnight, you start hearing a lot of ‘bangs’, really big automatic weapons firing.” witness Luis Rivera told WSVN.
“I ran into the hallway and said to my wife, ‘Knock on the floor,’ because they were shooting guns outside,” he said.
Rivera said her 6-year-old daughter hid with her mother.
Her daughter told the station: “I was scared, shaking and nervous.”
Another neighbor showed the station that the couch in the living room, where her 7-year-old son watches TV every day, was riddled with bullet holes.
Fortunately, the family said the child was asleep at the time of the shooting.
Ring camera footage reviewed by police shows Rivera’s fence being knocked down as the victims tried to escape from the car.
“One of them tried to jump over the fence over there, and I guess he was scared of the big dog that I was back there,” Rivera said.
The armed suspects can be seen running to another vehicle and leaving.
Other nearby residents’ homes and cars were also hit by bullets, including one whose car could not be started Thursday morning due to the damage.
Miami Gardens Police Chief Delma K. Noel Pratt said Friday that at least one person inside the car exchanged gunfire with a group of gunmen outside who were waiting for the car to arrive.
Noel Pratt added that no arrests or injuries were reported.
Police said the people inside the Nissan were not cooperating with authorities, even though they were victims.
“This is very concerning to us. This is about our entire community and we don’t take this too lightly,” Noel Pratt said.
Despite the lack of cooperation, Noel Pratt insisted residents should not fear.
“I want the public to know that they should not be afraid, because as you can see, this was a targeted shooting,” Noel Pratt said.
