SUV used by gunmen during deadly shooting at Florida banquet hall found submerged in canal
The white SUV police believe carried a group of gunmen to and from a Florida event hall, where more than a dozen people were shot following a rap album release concert over the weekend, was found submerged in the waters of a nearby canal.
Two people were killed and at least another 20 were wounded when gunfire erupted outside the El Mula Banquet Hall around 1 a.m. Sunday. Police said three shooters, all of them sporting ski masks, waited inside the Nissan Pathfinder for nearly 45 minutes before they exited the vehicle and opened fire as the show let out.
Major Jorge Aguiar, head of the Miami-Dade Police Homicide Division, told CBS Miami that “several groups in the parking lot armed themselves and opened fire toward the initial shooters.” While it’s not clear how many people from the crowd discharged their own weapons, more than 100 rounds were unleashed before the suspects jumped back into their SUV and fled the banquet hall, located in the city of Hialeah.
Two 26-year-old men were pronounced at the scene. Police haven’t released their identities, but a father said his son, Clayton Dillard III, was killed in the shooting. Three people were also left in critical condition.
In wake of the shooting, one of the worst in Miami-Dade County, law enforcement called on the community to come forward with any information they may have and release surveillance video from the incident. It shows the trio of gunmen hurriedly exiting their vehicle, taking aim, and then shooting “indiscriminately” into a large group of people.
Just hours later, the Pathfinder was discovered submerged in a canal in the area of 154th Street and Northwest 2nd Avenue. The vehicle had been reported stolen on May 15.
“It is really extraordinary that we have this clear video with the car, the three assailants, with the license plate,” Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava told CNN.
“Our police are working with the federal agents, the municipal agents, the state agents — they’re all sharing information — and I am very, very hopeful.”
A reward for information in the shooting has climbed to $125,000.
Camping World CEO and TV personality Marcus Lemonis said on Twitter that he was offering $100,000 “to help authorities in my hometown ... arrest and convict the suspect/suspects.” The Miami division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives also provided $25,000 to the pot.
