Miami Beach declares state of emergency after weekend shootings

Miami Beach, Fla., declared a state of emergency on Monday and will impose a curfew starting on Thursday after two shootings over the past two days.

City manager Alina Hudak said that the curfew will begin Thursday at 12:01 a.m. and will end at 6 a.m. Monday, March 28, adding that she had the authority to enforce the curfew only through the weekend, according to Local 10, the area’s ABC affiliate. 

“It is my hope that our city commission will authorize me to impose the same for the following weekend,” Hudak said.

“Over the last two nights, five innocent people were shot in our streets,” Mayor Dan Gelber (D) said at a press conference on Monday, according to the Miami Herald.

“We didn’t ask for spring break and we don’t want it,” the mayor added, according to Local 10. 

The area saw one shooting on Sunday and another on Monday morning, injuring a total of five people, the outlet reported.

The Miami Herald reported that the recent restrictions are not as strict as policies imposed around this time last year, when the city looked to curb spring break crowds during the COVID-19 pandemic by imposing an 8 p.m. curfew.

The city also closed major causeways to incoming traffic, a move Hudak said the city cannot legally do this year.