From AllHipHop:
Hip-Hop music is once again in the cross-hairs of activists in Miami, after a deadly shooting on South Beach early yesterday morning (May 30th), that left one man dead, three police officers hurt and four bystanders injured.
Police officers open fired into the driver’s car, after he allegedly struck an officer with the vehicle and tried to run over several others, during a wild, three block chase down Collins Avenue as Urban Beach Week concluded.
An investigation has begun into the police officers actions, because a gun was not found in the car, or on the victim.
South Beach Police chief Carlos Noriega said during a press conference yesterday that there may have been other passengers who fired at police, then exited the car.
Noriega also acknowledged that police may have been responsible for shooting and wounding the four innocent people on the street during the incident.
In total, seven people, including three Miami Beach police officers, were sent to the hospital and treated for minor wounds.
According to the Miami Herald, there were so many police officers from various agencies on South Beach during the Urban Beach Weekend event that investigators are still trying to determine what department and which officers fired their weapons.
Urban Beach Week has been a lightning rod for controversy since it was founded on South Beach in 2001.
There have been several high-profile shooting deaths during Urban Beach Week, while police have been accused of racial profiling during the event, which draws as many as 200,000 tourists.
“I think we need to take back the city for the residents,” said Miami Beach Commissioner Jerry Libbin. “It’s just not right that people live in fear.”
Libbin and other officials are seeking to and Urban Beach Week and replace the popular Memorial Day event with a more multicultural gathering, which could include a new Jazz festival.
