It’s Wednesday, June 2nd – and NBC 6 has the top stories for the day.
No. 1 - New surveillance footage shows the terrifying moments when a trio of gunmen opened fire on a crowd outside a Miami-Dade County banquet hall, leaving two people dead and more than 20 others injured.
The video clip shows the crowd running and scrambling for cover outside El Mula banquet hall at 7630 Northwest 186th Street early Sunday as the gunmen unleashed a hail of bullets. Miami-Dade Police officials said several people were standing outside when the gunmen began shooting indiscriminately into the crowd. Two 26-year-old men were killed at the scene. Twenty-one other people were shot, eight of whom were transported to hospitals from the scene and the rest drove themselves to the hospital, police said. No arrests have been made, but police said they are still receiving tips.
No. 2 - Rapper DaBaby was among several people interviewed following a double shooting on Miami Beach's Ocean Drive late Monday that left two people hospitalized and two other people arrested, police said.
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Christopher Urena, 29, and Wisdom Awute, 21, face charges of attempted first-degree murder with a deadly weapon and aggravated assault, according to arrest reports. Miami Beach Police officials confirmed that the 29-year-old rapper, whose real name is Jonathan Lyndale Kirk, was among the people interviewed after the shooting. Police later said the rapper had been released. Awute -- a rapper who goes by the name Wisdom and is in DaBaby's music entourage -- is accused of shooting a man in the leg. Urena is accused of shooting someone in the back, who, according to the report, is still in the hospital and paralyzed.
No. 3 - The FBI Miami Division announced a $25,000 reward or more information in the disappearance of a South Florida mother and her young daughter, who vanished without a trace five years ago.
Liliana Moreno and her daughter Daniela were last seen on May 30, 2016, in or near the Home Depot on Okeechobee Road in Hialeah. At the time of their disappearance, Liliana was 41 years old and Daniella was 8 years old. They haven't been heard from since. Following their disappearance, detectives searched their home in Doral and found a number of personal belongings and unfinished meal preparations, indicating that Liliana planned to return. Law enforcement has not ruled out foul play.
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No. 4 - Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill banning transgender girls and women from playing on public school teams intended for student athletes born as girls, escalating a national culture war over transgender rights.
In front of a crowd of supporters inside a private high school in Jacksonville, DeSantis signed The Fairness in Women’s Sports Act, saying the “integrity of competitions” was what the bill was aiming to maintain. Under the bill, a transgender student athlete would have to affirm her biological sex by supplying proof such as a birth certificate. The bill also would allow another student to sue if a school allows a transgender girl or woman to play on a team intended for biological females. The measure approved by the GOP-led Legislature last month stripped some of the most contentious elements from a proposal approved by the House weeks before.
No. 5 - A series of shootings in Miami-Dade County over the Memorial Day weekend has law enforcement concerned the spike in violent crime seen in many major American cities could be taking hold here.
Sunday morning's mass shooting outside El Mula banquet hall -- which killed two and wounded 21 -- was just the largest of the shootings dating back to Thursday. Add to the list a shooting death Tuesday in Golden Glades, two wounded by gunfire Monday night in Miami Beach, an accused armed robber shot to death by one of his also-armed victims near Midtown on Monday and you might sense a pattern. To hear how some are hoping to curb the recent number of shootings in our area, click here for the story from NBC 6 investigator Tony Pipitone.
No. 6 - After a catastrophic coronavirus cruise season, Disney Cruise Line will finally set sail later this month, the company said in a statement Tuesday.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention approved the cruise line's request to conduct a two-night simulation cruise on June 29 on the Disney Dream departing from Port Canaveral. The federal government is getting ready to let cruises sail again, but only if nearly all passengers and crew are vaccinated against the virus. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, however, signed a bill banning business from requiring proof of vaccination, so cruise lines must prove the effectiveness of their COVID-19 safety protocols on test cruises.
