Miami city leaders have held a meeting to essentially cancel Spring Break next year after the vacation period celebration saw two people shot and killed over a 72-hour period.
During a commission meeting on Monday, Mayor Dan Gelber voiced his strong opposition to boisterous Spring Breakers coming to Miami Beach. Plans discussed included closing liquor stories, installing metal detectors and putting on ticketed events for next year.
The weekend starting March 17 saw two men fatally shot and revelers jumping on a car, brawling in streets and even trashing a slushie shop on the main drag, despite the city imposing a curfew on Sunday night.
Jordan Idahosa, 21, was shot at 10:40pm on the night of March 17 in the South Beach neighborhood – one of two people killed during the wild weekend of student debauchery.
Footage of the incident showed people diving for cover and running from several gunshots being fired. Several blocks were cordoned off with yellow crime scene tape.
During a commission meeting on Monday, Mayor Dan Gelber voiced his strong opposition to boisterous Spring Breakers coming to Miami Beach
The weekend starting March 17 saw two men fatally shot and revellers jumping on a car, brawling in streets and even trashing a slushie shop on the main drag, despite the city imposing a curfew on Sunday night
The second shooting happened around 3:30 a.m. Sunday on Ocean Drive in South Beach, according to Miami Beach police. A male was shot and died later at a hospital, and officers chased down a suspect on foot, police said on Twitter.
Their name has not been released and the suspected gunmen for both shootings were arrested.
Gelber said during a commission meeting on Monday that he wants to make Miami Beach a less desirable destination for Spring Break partygoers.
This year, the police from various South Florida agencies found the crowds difficult to maintain.
During Monday’s meeting, Gelber said: ‘We are doing everything we can to tell the world we don’t want you here.’
Jordan Idahosa, 21, (pictured) was shot at 10:40pm on the night of March 17 in the South Beach neighborhood – one of two people killed during the wild weekend of student debauchery
Gelber and city officials said past violence and pandemonium has led them to predict that it will carry on for future Spring Breaks unless they take action to prevent it.
‘This is not an all-inclusive resort where people can do what they want,’ Gelber said. ‘We certainly aren’t Las Vegas or New Orleans.’
Miami Beach officials voted in support of a South Beach curfew and closing down liquor sales early next March, although the final decision on the liquor sale crackdown has not yet been made.
On Monday, Miami Beach police released citywide numbers between February 27 and March 27, which includes peak Spring Break time.
A total of 488 arrests were made, and more than half of those were for felony arrests.
The chaotic weekend saw two men shot dead including this horrific moment Dontavious Polk allegedly shot a man point blank on Ocean Drive early Sunday morning
Police said that 105 firearms were impounded.
The possibility of rolling back the sale of liquor will be discussed again in a meeting next month.
Miami Beach officials imposed a curfew starting on the night of Sunday, March 19.
The city said in a news release that the two separate shootings on Friday night and early Sunday that left two people dead and ‘excessively large and unruly crowds’ led to the decision.
The news release said the curfew would be from 11:59 p.m. Sunday until 6 a.m. Monday, with an additional curfew likely to be put in place Thursday through to Monday, March 27.
The curfew was mainly for South Beach, the most popular party location for Spring Breakers.
Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber said in a video message posted on the Sunday after the shooting that the crowds and presence of numerous firearms has ‘created a peril that cannot go unchecked’ despite a massive police presence and many city-sponsored activities meant to keep people busy.
‘We don’t ask for spring break in our city. 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,’ Gelber said.
Over that weekend, Miami was hit with hundreds of arrests, while Fort Lauderdale had only one or two minor incidents with their bikini-clad crowds.
After the students partied throughout the day there were violent confrontations with police in the evening as officers had to use pepper balls to dispel the crowds in Miami
Authorities in Fort Lauderdale said that there were ‘no major incidents’ related to the 2023 Spring Break, except for a teenager who assaulted Def Leppard drummer Rick Allen and a separate incident of a fight with a security guard at a bar.
Ohio spring-breaker Max Edward Hartley, 19, violently attacked the one-armed drummer outside of the Four Seasons.
A police report from Fort Lauderdale Police said Hartley, from Ohio, was hiding behind a pillar outside the hotel before he rushed at the drummer and knocked him to the ground, causing him to hit his head.
Last year, the city imposed a midnight curfew following two shootings also on Ocean Drive.
The year before that, there were around 1,000 arrests and dozens of guns confiscated during a rowdy spring break that led Miami Beach officials to take steps aimed at calming the situation.
