The city of Miami Beach, Florida, declared a state of emergency on Sunday after two deadly shootings and reports of unruly spring break crowds.
The city declared a 11:59 p.m. curfew to take effect on Sunday until 6 a.m. on Monday, according to an order (pdf) published online. Additional curfew restrictions will be likely imposed on Thursday and will last until next Monday, March 27, the order said.
Two separate shootings Friday evening and early Sunday morning that left two dead along with “excessively large and unruly crowds” were cited as reasons for the order, the city of Miami Beach said. A meeting will be held by the city commission this week on other potential restrictions.
In a video message released on Sunday, Democrat Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber said that “as I’ve said many times, we don’t ask for spring break in our city.” He added: “We don’t want spring break in our city. It’s too rowdy, brings too much disorder and it’s simply too difficult to police.”
“While most may come here to enjoy the amenities of Miami Beach … a few that come with bad intentions in the presence of guns creates a wholly intolerable situation,” Gelber said.
Miami Beach police told local media outlets that Friday’s shooting, officers responded at around 10:40 p.m. One of the victims later died at the hospital and the other was in critical condition., the department wrote on Twitter.
Another shooting occurred at 3:30 a.m. on Sunday morning, officials said. One man was shot and killed, while another was wounded, said the Miami Beach police.
“Both shootings were between visitors to Miami Beach and did not involve residents,” Gelber remarked in the video. “In both cases, police were literally seconds away from the incidents and arrests were made within minutes. That said, it is clear that even an unprecedented police presence could not prevent these incidents from occurring.”
Miami Beach, located on an island off the coast of Miami, has been a popular spring break spot for college students for decades. With Sunday’s declaration, it’s the third year in a row that spring break-related emergencies have been declared over unruly crowds and violence.
Under the curfew, people must leave businesses before midnight, although hotels can operate later only in service to their guests. The city release said restaurants can stay open only for delivery and the curfew won’t apply to residents, people going to and from work, emergency services and hotel guests. Some roads will be closed off and arriving hotel guests may have to show proof of their reservations.
The city’s order said the curfew won’t apply to people traveling back and forth from work or residents of the city who are going to their homes.
Last year, the city imposed a midnight curfew following two shootings, also on Ocean Drive. The year before that, there were about 1,000 arrests and dozens of guns confiscated during a rowdy spring break that led Miami Beach officials to take steps aimed at calming the situation.
“While our daytime programming has helped with crowd control and daytime incidents and arrests are down from last year, the volume of people in our city, the unruly nature of too many and the presence of guns, has created a peril that cannot go unchecked,” Gerber said.
And while Gerber has repeatedly said that his city doesn’t want spring break visitors, Miami Beach’s website notes that it “attracts millions of visitors to its world-famous shores each year” and has “the finest dining experiences anywhere, including two of the newest Michelin-starred restaurants.”
When the city implemented a curfew last year, Gerberg said at the time: “This isn’t your father’s, your mother’s spring break.”
“This is something totally different. We don’t ask for spring break, we don’t promote it, we don’t encourage it, we just endure it, and frankly it’s something we don’t want to endure,” Gelber added.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.