The alleged gunman charged with murdering a reveler on a busy Miami Beach sidewalk during Spring Break on Sunday is accused of shooting him with almost a dozen bullets from a stolen semiautomatic handgun, police records show.
Dontavious Polk, 24, was arrested following the 3:30 a.m. Sunday morning slaying after he allegedly ran from the crime scene and ditched the contraband Glock 27 along the way, his arrest report states.
He was booked later in the day after being hospitalized and treated for pain stemming from a prior gunshot wound, Miami Beach Police said.
The gunman was seen in heart-stopping video slowly walking along the Miami Beach sidewalk in the area of Ocean Drive and 11th Street accompanied by three other unidentified men.
Police alleged Polk had his hands underneath his T-shirt as he slowly approached the victim, who was walking toward him on the sidewalk with his arm around a woman.
The 4-foot-11 suspect, who weighs 140-pounds, is said by police to have opened fire along the sidewalk at point-blank range.
In the surveillence video the crowd near the incident can be seen quickly dispersing as the gunman continues shooting the victim – who has yet to be identified – even after he had collapsed to the ground and stopped moving.
Investigators recovered 11 spent .40-caliber shell casings at the scene, cops said. The victim was rushed to an area hospital, but could not be saved.
Police say they arrested Polk after giving chase for a number of blocks. He has since been charged with first-degree murder. Cops said the attack was “a targeted and isolated incident.”
“We don’t ask for spring break in our city. We don’t want spring break in our city”
Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber
Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber has decried spring break in his community in the wake of Sunday’s bloodshed and another fatal shooting two days earlier night.
“We don’t ask for spring break in our city. We don’t want spring break in our city. It’s too rowdy, it brings too much disorder and it’s simply too difficult to police,” the mayor said.
On Friday, one man was killed and another was critically hurt during a shooting around 10:40 p.m., police said. One person was later taken into custody and police recovered four guns from the crime scene.
Both incidents, the mayor said, involved people who were visiting from out of town. He instituted a strict curfew Sunday and prohibited alcohol sales after a certain time, among other steps, in parts of the city.
“It is clear that even an unprecedented police presence could not prevent these incidents from occurring,” Gelber said. “The volume of people in our city, the unruly nature of too many, and the presence of guns has created a peril that cannot go unchecked.”
Gelber said police had recovered over 70 guns in the past three weeks.
City officials are expected to meet Monday evening to discuss next steps related to Spring Break enforcement.
