Grammy-nominated rapper DaBaby was one of several people detained for questioning after a double shooting late Monday night outside a popular steakhouse in South Beach that led to two arrests, CBS Miami reports.
Miami Beach Police said Tuesday that DaBaby, whose real name is Jonathan Lyndale Kirk, had been released.
According to arrest reports, Wisdom Awute, 21, and Christopher Urena, 29, both face charges of attempted first-degree murder with a deadly weapon and aggravated assault. Urena also faces charges of grand theft and possessing a firearm as a convicted felon.
The shooting wrapped up a violent Memorial Day weekend in the Miami area.
Police received multiple 911 calls reporting the shooting at just after 11:30 p.m. Monday at the Prime 112 restaurant on Ocean Drive, CBS Miami says.
Officers found one person struck in the shoulder and another in the leg. Both were taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital. Police haven’t released the identities of those wounded. One was treated at a hospital and released, while the second remains in the hospital in critical condition.
The shooting took place on Ocean Drive, a popular strip of restaurants and hotels in South Beach. During the investigation, the heavily traveled MacArthur Causeway nearby was shut down in both directions.
“All of a sudden it was just, ‘pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop,'” Riaan Dadewet told CBS Miami. He described it as a war zone.
“It was just gunfire everywhere. I think it was like 25 to 30 shots,” he said.
“We ran up to our room, looked out our balcony, and saw one of the victims that were shot in the leg, they took off running down in this area,” Reed McLean, who is visiting from New York, remarked to CBS Miami.
According to the station, which cited police, Urena took off in a stolen vehicle after shooting a victim.
Acute, himself a rapper, chased down other people who were running away toward a nearby park and shot one of them in the leg.
DaBaby, 29, was arrested earlier this year in Los Angeles. Beverly Hills police said he took a loaded gun into an upscale store on Rodeo Drive.
The North Carolina rapper’s song “Rockstar” was one of the biggest hits of 2020 and was nominated for a Grammy Award for record of the year.
In other violence over the weekend, a mass shooting outside a banquet hall early Sunday left two dead and 21 wounded, including three who were hospitalized in critical condition. Police didn’t release the victims’ names, citing privacy laws.
A manhunt continued Tuesday for the three masked suspects who opened fire outside El Mula Banquet Hall in northwest Miami-Dade County, near Hialeah. On Monday, police released surveillance camera video that showed a white SUV driving into an alley at a strip mall housing the hall. The SUV was found Monday submerged in a canal about 8 miles east of the shooting scene. Police said it had been reported stolen two weeks ago.
The video shows three people getting out of the vehicle, one gripping a handgun while the other two brandish what police described as “assault-style rifles.” Authorities said the suspects began spraying bullets indiscriminately into the crowd but had specific targets in mind.
Officials also are still investigating a drive-by shooting Friday night that killed a person and injured six others outside a venue in the Wynwood area. Some witnesses likened the scene to a “war zone” after a barrage of dozens of bullets sent people scurrying for cover.
There is no indication the shootings were related to each other.
“This is a weekend when we should be out remembering, enjoying time with loved ones, and instead we’re here mourning,” Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said during a Monday news conference.
