MIAMI (WSVN) - Intense moments unfolded at Casino Miami after, police said, a shooting near the business sent two people to the hospital and left a third victim grazed by a bullet.
7News cameras captured an active scene near the casino, in the area of Northwest 37th Avenue and 36th Street, Thursday evening.
Inside the casino, police officers were seen walking in with their guns drawn.
“Everybody out, now!” an officer is heard saying.
Witnesses said the gunfire left people in a panic.
“It was at least 15, 20 shots,” said a witness.
Witnesses said those shots were exchanged between passengers in two different vehicles.
“I thought my wife in the back was being shot,” said a witness.
That witness said he and his wife were in town visiting and were just inches from the bullets.
“The car almost hit us when it was coming, chasing the other car, and it got in between,” he said. “It almost hit us, and that’s when they started shooting at us, and then we just took off. It was unreal.”
Video posted to Only in Dade showed a white Nissan sedan reversing out of a valet area and crashing into a pole while multiple gunshots were fired.
“A black sedan was chasing the white sedan on the roadway,” said Miami-Dade Police Lt. Carlos Rosario. “There was actually somebody hanging out of the black sedan just shooting. This is in broad daylight.”
Surveillance cameras from a nearby car dealership on 36th Street captured a person shooting at the car in front of them. A white car seen in the video was not involved in the shooting, but it was caught in the crossfire.
Dayana Molina said she heard the gunshots and ducked.
“A man opened the door, getting out of the car holding on to his shoulder,” she said through a translator. “Then, his girlfriend got out of the car and yelled, ‘Help me!’ He would start falling back. He wanted to go to sleep. My boss would lift him back up, telling him, ‘Don’t fall asleep. Don’t fall asleep.'”
“You see the video. It was crazy,” Marcos Lazzeri, a good Samaritan, said. “He give the shirt. We made like a tourniquet on the shoulder. He was losing a lot of blood.”
Lazzeri added the man they helped save had picked up a friend from Miami International Airport around 30 minutes before the shooting.
“I can tell you it’s not the image that, here in Miami, that we want to sell,” he said.
Detectives said the black sedan was following the white sedan, and people in the black sedan kept firing bullets towards the white sedan.
The barrage of bullets sent those inside of the casino scrambling for cover.
“I ran inside the manager’s office, and we closed the door and called 911,” said casino employee Alfredo Polo.
Polo said one of the victims who was shot ran inside the casino for help.
“There was someone inside bleeding,” he said.
Police evacuated the casino shortly after the shooting.
Paramedics transported the victims who were shot to Jackson Memorial Hospital in unknown condition.
7News cameras captured paramedics taking that patients out of ambulances at the hospital.
Investigators said a third victim was grazed by a bullet and is expected to be OK.
Cameras showed at least one car involved riddled with bullet holes.
A man visiting South Florida said he’s grateful to live out the rest of his vacation.
“I’m just glad to be alive, to be able to go home and see my kids,” he said. “Come down to Miami for a proposal vacation, and it’s kind of nerve-racking not to be safe anymore on the streets.”
Police shut down Okeechobee Road east of Northwest 36th Street while they investigated.
Police have not provided further details about who opened fire, as they continue to investigate.
If you have any information on this shooting, call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS. Remember, you can always remain anonymous, and you may be eligible for a $5,000 reward.
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