Dramatic 911 calls capture chaos of mass shooting on Hollywood beach boardwalk in Florida
Nine people, four children and five adults, were injured in the Memorial Day shooting
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Audio recordings of the phone calls panicked beachgoers made to 911 during the Hollywood Beach Broadwalk shooting in Florida have been released.
On Tuesday, the Hollywood Police Department released the recordings which give some insight into the chaotic frenzy people walking along the boardwalk experienced when gunfire began.
“Oh my gosh, I don’t know what’s going on,” one woman says in a panicked voice to dispatchers.
The shooting began just before 7pm local time on Monday (29 May) on the busy Hollywood, Florida boardwalk.
In another call, a man frantically asks police to “Come to Hollywood Beach! “The Margaritaville, please, on the beach.”
He added, “They’re shooting out here.”
Videos taken from the live camera feed of the boardwalk showed people running for their lives and hiding behind objects as they try to avoid stray bullets.
Another man told a 911 dispatcher, “Two people got hit. A lady and another lady got hit.”
Nine people were injured in the crossfire of the shooting – four children ranging from one year old to 17 years old and five adults between 25 and 65.
Due to the holiday weekend, police had stationed more law enforcement officers than usual on the Hollywood Beach Boardwalk.
Good samaritans, first responders and nearby law enforcement were able to tend to victims’ injuries as they awaited emergency services to bring them to the hospital.
As of Tuesday evening, six people were in stable condition in the hospital while three others had been discharged.
Josh Levy, the mayor of Hollywood, sent thoughts, prayers and the hope of a speedy recovery to victims in a statement.
He added that the shooting was “completely unacceptable” and condemned the shooters for coming into the city, “with guns and no regard for the safety of the law-abiding public around them.”
Police said the shooting began after two groups of people got into a dispute that escalated.
Authorities detained multiple people and arrested two 18-year-old men on firearm-related charges. However, the two are not suspected to be the shooters responsible for the mass shooting.
Hollywood Police Department and FBI are still searching for three suspects and asking the public to come forward with any information that may be helpful to the investigation.