MELBOURNE, Fla. — After a downtown shooting left several injured, Melbourne Mayor Paul Alfrey said he wants to address safety issues at Tuesday’s council meeting.
What You Need To Know
- An early morning shooting left several injured as police say people were out hitting the bars downtown
- Police say a fight broke out and shots were fired. Several cars and businesses were also hit and had damage
- The mayor mentioned the city might look into additional safety measures, like the ones the City of Orlando implemented downtown
“As mayor, I will be discussing the need for increased safety in Downtown Melbourne at our council meeting this Tuesday evening,” Alfrey wrote in a Facebook post.
At around 1:15 a.m. on Saturday, police responded to East New Haven Avenue for a shooting. Melbourne police say the bars were open downtown, and a lot of people were out and about as a fight led to the shooting.
As the incident developed, Hurricane Creek Saloon owner Randy Bennett was working the door of his establishment.
"The first couple, were a couple of pops, I thought at first, whatever. Motercycle background noise, we hear those all the time," Bennet told Spectrum News. "But then, 5,6, 7, 8 shots, and people started scattering."
As people ducked for cover on the porch of his saloon, he called 911, and was also able to get video of people running from the scene.
Police arrived moments later.
Police said three people were taken to the hospital, though they have not identified any suspects. Of the three people taken to Holmes Regional Medical Center, two are in critical condition and one has non-life-threatening injuries.
“It’s important that our council has this discussion as fast as possible so we can enact any kind of rules, laws, or whatever it may be, to let people know that downtown Melbourne is safe,” said Alfrey. “We are a law-and-order community, and we are going to continue to stay that way.”
The city council is now considering an ordinance that requires businesses to get a permit to sell alcohol from 11 p.m. until 2 a.m. It's similar to one recently enacted in downtown Orlando.
Alfrey says that it will crack down on restaurants posing as nightclubs.
"When you have a business that's not really running the way it should, it does attract bad actors, and you have to call it for what it is," he said.
The city council will meet at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday.
Anyone with information about the shooting can call the Melbourne Police Department at 321-608-6731 or call the Central Florida Crime Line at 1-800-423-8477.