Last week, everyone from city officials to Pitbull himself barraged Miamians with a simple plea: Try to celebrate the new year without firing your handguns like Yosemite Sam.
It's not clear how many people watched Pibtull's "One Bullet Kills the Party" promo and decided not to fete the new year with live ammunition. But as 2017's first workweek dawns in South Florida, this much is clear: Gun violence didn't take a break for the holiday weekend.
Ten people were wounded in two mass shootings over the holidays, an alarmingly bloody beginning to a new year in Miami.
The first shooting rattled a gathering in West Little River just before 6 p.m. New Year's Day. Police say a car with four or five men inside opened fire on a crowd outside a home near NW 81st Street and 14th Avenue, a block of small but tidy pastel-painted homes.
The gunfire struck seven people: Alfredo Hudson, 30; Tekeiki Taylor, 43; Ramont Gage, 15; Dewayne Hammet, 18; Aaliyah Barr, 17; Shaquanna Ross, 20; and Tamyra Milfort, 17.
Amazingly, no one has died from their injuries, although Hudson was hit five times, including once in the mouth, his relatives tell the Miami Herald. Milfort remained in serious condition as of yesterday, but most of the other victims have been released.
Police still don't know what sparked the shooting and so far haven't been able to find the men in the car who fired on the crowd. Anyone with information can call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-8477.
The second mass shooting hit Coconut Grove last night, but details are still scarce. Bullets flew around midnight at Grand Avenue and Elizabeth Street, according to a Miami Police release, hitting two men and a woman, who were taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital.
An Miami Police spokesperson says there's no update this morning on the circumstances of the shooting or the victims' conditions.