A search was underway in Florida on Thursday for a gunman who shot and wounded three women — one of whom remains in critical condition — during a dispute about politics, police said.
The conflict unfolded early Wednesday outside a Miami apartment complex near N.W. 5th Ave. and 19th Street, just a few miles away from the city’s downtown area, Miami Police spokesman Mike Vega told CBS News.
Vega said a group of people were gathered together and drinking alcohol, but their talks turned heated when the focus shifted to the recent presidential election, which saw former President Donald Trump reclaim the White House.
The tension continued to escalate as the conversation carried on, Vega said. Eventually, one of the people involved walked to a nearby vehicle, grabbed a gun and opened fire.
“It seems that alcohol, along with the election discussion, led this person to go to the vehicle, grab a gun and start shooting,” Vega said. “This is not acceptable. We have to handle our differences and respect each other’s beliefs. We need to either reach an agreement or simply avoid such topics.”
When officers arrived on the scene around 12:30 a.m., they discovered three women suffering from gunshot wounds. They were all rushed to a local hospital — one of them in critical condition after being shot in the stomach, while the other two were stable at the time.
None of the victims have been identified, but police said they were all either in their 20s or 30s.
Neighbor Suly Ashe told CBS Miami she was startled awake by the sound of gunfire, which was immediately followed by screams.
“It is horrible,” she said. “Whoever is President now is President for all of us, whether we are Democrat or Republican. It doesn’t matter. It’s our country. It’s very sad that this happened.”
So far, no arrests had been made in connection with the shooting nor had they identified a suspect as of Thursday afternoon.
An investigation into the violence is ongoing and anyone with information has been asked to contact Miami police or Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers.
