MIAMI GARDENS, FLA. (WSVN) - Three schools in the Miami Gardens area were briefly put on lockdown after reports of gunfire in the area.
According to Miami-Dade Public Schools, Barbara Hawkins Elementary, Carol City Middle and Carol City High were placed on lockdown while police investigated reports of gunfire at a Popeye’s right next door to the high school, late Wednesday afternoon. The lockdown has since been lifted.
No injuries were reported, but several teenagers were outside the Popeye’s at the time.
“Yeah, I heard two, that’s it — just two, and I ran,” said one student.
Another student said she heard the gunfire and ran for cover. “We were just talking when they started shooting, so we ran behind Popeye’s,” she said.
Yellow crime scene tape could be seen around the restaurant, and broken glass littered the ground outside the restaurant — a lower window had been shattered.
The owner of a convenience store near the Popeye’s said he took action as soon as he heard the shots. “[At] that time, I was busy with the kids, so I heard the sounds — only two shots,” said the store owner. “I locked the door. [At] that time, also, many school boys and girls are inside my store.”
The situation echoes the recent shooting of three Carol City High School freshmen, just five days earlier. The trio were walking home near Northwest 188th Street, when they were hit in a drive-by shooting. The three were treated for wounds that were not life-threatening.
The shooter(s) are still at large for that shooting.
The Popeye’s is now up and running.
The Miami Herald reported that the school board’s meeting was interrupted with news of the gunfire, which lead to the decision to put the three schools on lockdown.
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