MIAMI BEACH, FLA. (WSVN) - A man has been arrested and charged with murder following a fatal shooting of an employee at the Clevelander Hotel in Miami Beach.
The shooting happened just after midnight on Friday at the lobby of the hotel, located at 1020 Ocean Drive.
Miami Beach Police said a front desk employee asked 29-year-old Brandon Burris to stop sneaking into the hotel’s nightclub.
When the suspect was asked to leave, investigators said, the suspect began punching the victim, identified as 50-year-old Dion Moore.
According to the arrest report surveillance video shows him “removing a pistol from his waistband and firing several shots at the victim, who collapses a few feet away.”
Police said Burris shot Moore six times.
“I just started hearing gunfire — multiple, multiple, shots. I had no idea what angle it was coming from,” said witness Brittany Parnell, who is visiting from North Carolina. “I just remember dropping down; everybody did. It was horrifying.”
Officers arrived at the scene to find the victim suffering from gunshot wounds.
Paramedics transported the patient to Ryder Trauma Center, but he died en route.
Police said Burris fled the scene on foot but was captured half an hour later.
He was arrested and charged with second-degree murder.
7News cameras captured the moment Burris was taken into the Miami Beach Police Department headquarters on Washington Avenue.
A tourist from Chicago who asked to remain anonymous said she was standing by a window and saw it all unfold.
“Once the shots rang out, everybody was running and trying to figure out which way to go, which was crazy because didn’t nobody know where the shots were coming from,” she said. “When I turned around, I saw the gunman drop his bag, shoot another shot and run out the door.”
The tourist and another witness from Chicago, who also asked to remain anonymous, said they both expect this type of violence at home but not on vacation.
“You know, ’cause things like that happen in Chicago, but I wouldn’t have thought about it here,” the other witness from Chicago said over the phone.
“Coming from where I come from, to actually leave violence and be put in the middle of violence is crazy,” said the tourist from Chicago.
Parnell said she will never forget her trip to Miami Beach, which had started out so good.
“The thing is, you never heard any commotion. Everybody was having such a good time,” she said.
Family and friends said Moore leaves behind three adult children.
The Clevelander Hotel’s management released a statement that reads in part, “We are devastated about the tragedy that occurred in the lobby of the Clevelander Hotel … one of our valued employees needlessly lost his life.”
The Clevelander Hotel is cooperating with police in the investigation.
Burris remains in jail without bond. He faces an additional charge of battery on a police or corrections officers.
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