KEY POINTS

  • Crowd was leaving a hookah lounge when someone opened fire
  • A State Correctional Officer was killed during the shooting
  • Two vehicles were seen speeding away from the crime scene 

Three people were fatally shot and at least six injured in a mass shooting following a graduation party in Miami-Dade County.

The shooting was carried out Sunday in a strip mall hookah lounge restaurant in the suburb of Kendall, at around 2 a.m., reported WPEC. According to Miami-Dade Police Director Freddy Ramirez, two cars pulled up in front of the strip mall and someone inside one of the vehicles opened fire on people leaving the hookah lounge.

A woman and two men were killed and six others injured in the incident were rushed to the hospital in private vehicles. A state correctional officer, Tyleisha Taylor was among the killed, said Mark Inch, secretary of the state's Department of Corrections.

"We are devastated to learn a member of our FDC family, Officer Taylor, was killed in a fatal shooting. Our prayers are with her family as they navigate this unimaginable loss.” Inch said in a statement to WPLG.

Authorities have issued an all-points bulletin for a dark-colored Chevrolet Malibu and a white Toyota Camry that sped away from the scene.

A car, carrying two of the victims killed, crashed into a wall at the nearby Miami Dade College's Kendall campus. According to the police, a firearm was recovered from inside the vehicle. It is unclear if the firearm was used during the shooting.

"I’m horrified by this tragedy and heartbroken for the loved ones of those we lost," said Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava in a statement. "We will not allow a small group of violent actors to terrorize our community, and violent offenders will face the full weight of the law."

Six people injured in the shooting are in stable condition, said police. No arrests have been made yet.

"No one is immune," tweeted Ramirez. "We all have the responsibility to report these killers."

"This violence has to stop. This is completely frustrating. Every weekend is the same thing," ABC News quoted Ramirez, as saying. "We’ve got to stop it here in Miami-Dade County. We’ve got other victims and their families that are destroyed over senseless violence, over stupidness, reckless shooting, innocent people getting hit."

The latest round of shooting came after last week’s mass shooting outside a banquet hall in Miami-Dade County, which left three dead and 20 injured.

Miami Dade police officers collect evidence from the parking lot outside the hall that was the scene of the shooting
Miami Dade police officers collect evidence from the parking lot outside the hall that was the scene of the shooting AFP / CHANDAN KHANNA
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