Residents Demand Action in Wake of Overtown Shooting
Commissioner, police chief urge no retaliation in shooting that killed 1, wounded 12
By HANK TESTER and BRIAN HAMACHER
Updated 7:30 AM EDT, Thu, Jul 9, 2009
A Miami city commissioner is calling for action following the mass shooting in Overtown that killed one person and left 12 wounded.
Commissioner Michelle Spence-Jones joined dozens of concerned citizens yesterday to denounce the deadly Monday morning shooting and demand a response from the community.
"I want you to understand they went to a party in a community to have a good time," said an emotional Spence-Jones. "They didn't go to Iraq, they didn't go to war. They went to have fun."
Spence-Jones begged that there be no retaliation for the shooting, urged police to take zero tolerance on any unlawfulness in Overtown and requested residents support a federal ban on assault rifles.
"The reality is, until it hits your front porch, until it affects your family, that's when you want to say something," Spence-Jones said.
At least one assault rifle was used in the shooting, an AK-47, as well as five pistols, according to police. Shots were fired into the crowd of hundreds from two seperate directions. Two of the wounded are still in critical condition. One woman was also struck by a car in the mad scramble to flee the scene.
"We can't have retaliation, that's just going to make a horrible situation that much more horrible," said Police Chief John Timoney.
Residents want to see more from the community and more from local law enforcement.
"People are dying, so we're calling everybody to the carpet here to get busy, get their hands busy...we all need to work together," said Nathaniel Wilcox, with community action group PULSE. "We want to see police officers not only just ride through our community in their air conditioned cars, we want them to get out and walk the streets."
First Published: Jul 9, 2009 6:20 AM EDT
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