MIAMI BEACH, FLA. (WSVN) - Police have arrested two men less than 24 hours after a shooting that happened near a popular restaurant in Miami Beach put two people in the hospital.
Miami Beach Police announced the arrests of Wisdom Awute and Christopher Urena on Tuesday after a Monday night shooting near Prime 112, in the area of Ocean Drive and First Street.
“We’re on the balcony. We run, we duck. It was scary,” a witness said. “When you hear gunshots, you just go down.”
One of the victims in the shooting was hit in the leg, and another was shot in the torso. According to the arrest report, the victim who was shot in the torso remains at Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Ryder Trauma Center in critical care and has been paralyzed.
Awute faces charges of attempted first-degree murder and aggravated assault with a firearm.
Urena faces multiple charges that include attempted first-degree murder and aggravated assault with intent to commit a felony.
Police detained several men after they made a traffic stop on the MacArthur Causeway.
According to the arrest report, following an altercation that started when the victims tried to get into their car near the popular steakhouse, police allege Awute “extended his arm and pointed a firearm directly at [the victim], which made him fear for his life, thinking he was going to be shot at. Defendant Awute then redirected his aim towards [another victim] and discharged the firearm, striking [him] on his right calf.”
The arrest report also stated Awute, who is a rapper himself, was part of 29-year-old rapper DaBaby’s entourage. DaBaby, whose real name is Jonathan Lyndale Kirk, was questioned by detectives but was not charged.
Awute is said to be a recording artist under DaBaby’s record label.
Meanwhile, police allege Urena, following a verbal altercation with a group of men, “retrieved a firearm and intentionally fired at the victim.”
The report also states Urena allegedly got into a Chrysler 300 that did not belong to him and accelerated. He also faces charges of third-degree grand theft and possession of a firearm, weapon or ammunition by a convicted felon.
Although the shooting happened around 50 feet away from Prime 112’s front door, the steakhouse paid off-duty uniformed Miami Beach Police officers to stand guard, Tuesday night. The restaurant will continue to pay for the off-duty officers going forward.
Copyright 2024 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.