Two dead and over 20 injured in Miami mass shooting, police say

Two people were killed and over 20 injured in a mass shooting in Miami early Sunday, the Miami-Dade Police Department said in a statement.

Three people got out of an SUV and “began shooting indiscriminately into the crowd” that was standing outside a "scheduled event" at an establishment on 186th Street, in the Hialeah area to the west of Miami Gardens, the statement said.

NBC's Miami area station reported that the venue was a banquet hall, which was rented out for a concert.

Investigators were hunting for the suspects who returned to their vehicle and fled the scene after the incident, the statement added.

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Miami-Dade Fire Rescue found two people dead when they got to the scene and transported eight people to various local hospitals, the statement said, adding that 12 other victims went to hospitals on their own.

At least one victim was transported in critical condition, the statement said.

A mother of one victim said her son called her in the middle of the night and told her he was on his way to the hospital.

“He called us frantic, telling us he had been shot, that it hurts, it hurts and that he loves us and wants us to know," Angelica Green told NBC Miami. "My husband is like 'no stay with us, stay with us.' We hop in the car and we're talking to him to keep him alert."

Miami Dade Police Director Alfredo "Freddy" Ramirez III called the incident "another targeted and cowardly act of gun violence" on Twitter.

It was the second major shooting in the Miami area in as many days. One person died after 7 people were shot on Friday night, the station said.

Calling it a "despicable, cold-blooded act," Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava tweeted that her heart was breaking for the families of the victims.

"We will do everything we can to bring the shooters to justice and turn the tide on this violence," she said.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis called for "swift and severe" action to be taken against the shooters in a tweet Sunday.

"We mourn the loss of the two victims and are praying for the recovery of the more than 20 people injured at El Mula Banquet Hall near Hialeah," he said. "We are working with local authorities to bring justice to the perpetrators."

There were at least 200 mass shootings in the country in the first 132 days of this year, a report by the Gun Violence Archive, a non-profit research group, said.

Ben Kesslen contributed.