Folks, I don't know that these are illegals: our media usually doesn't give that info. However drugs are involved. You or I or our families could have been driving by a block away, and had a bullet hit us from the assault weapons used in this attack.

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/14749406.htm

Posted on Tue, Jun. 06, 2006


CRIME

Wave of violence takes three more lives
Three young men were killed in a bold daylight attack in Miami, leaving authorities grasping to stem the escalating violence in North Miami-Dade. Police brace for retaliatory attacks.

BY DAVID OVALLE
dovalle@MiamiHerald.com

JOHN VANBEEKUM / MIAMI HERALD STAFF
TERRIBLE NEWS: A distraught man claiming to be the brother of one of the shooting victims paces along NW 11th Avenue in the rain near the police crime scene. Miami Police responding to a call of shots fired found three people dead near 11th Avenue and NW 39th Street late Monday morning.


The week began with a rash of murders. Check out these other articles: Double murder probed
Clues scant in man's killing
Shot to the head kills teen

In a brazen daylight ambush that may signal an escalating feud between Haitian-American street gangs, three young men were killed Monday morning in Miami when the van they were riding in was ''shot to pieces'' by masked gunmen, police said.

The driver was identified as Luckson Branel, 19, of 37 NW 76th St., and one of his passengers was Lamar Atron Kelly, 20.

The third victim was not identified Monday because his family had not been notified. A fourth man, who survived the rampage, was not identified because of concerns for his safety.


''This is a horrible, frightful incident that occurred in a residential neighborhood,'' said Miami homicide Lt. John Buhrmaster.
Authorities are bracing for retaliatory shootings.

As many as four gunmen were still at large late Monday.

Detectives are probing whether the ambush may be related to the slaying of an 18-month-old boy who was shot last month in Little River, and a slew of other recent homicides in North Miami-Dade, police said.

The killings of the three Haitian-American men marked a deadly 24 hours in the county.

In unrelated cases on Sunday night, two men were found shot to death in a Kendall townhome, and another pair of men were shot, one fatally, while standing outside a home in Miami Gardens.

Monday's ambush adds to an already bloody year in the area.

Between Jan. 1 and May 30, Miami-Dade homicide detectives worked at least 25 homicides involving young black men. The shootings have also claimed -- in the cross-fire -- the lives of two teenage girls and the toddler, Zykarious Kerell Cadillon.

City detectives have worked at least eight homicides this year in which the victims were young black men.

They also worked another case in which a gunman fired at a man and instead killed a 23-year-old woman buying groceries at a Little Haiti market.

Police say many of the killings share similar characteristics: drive-by shootings, reluctant witnesses and the use of assault rifles. Drugs may be at the center of many of the disputes, police say.

Miami and Miami-Dade detectives are sharing information about their cases.

''We are working with them. We know there are some similarities with the cases,'' said Miami-Dade Detective Nelda Fonticiella, a department spokeswoman.

Monday's killings may have been among the most ruthlessly executed.

Witnesses told police that the four men were driving in a rented silver Honda minivan east along the 1100 block of Northwest 39th Street, a small residential side street across from the Dolphin Expressway.

Two Nissan Sentras, one reddish in color, the other white, pulled up to the van about 11:30 a.m. The van apparently tried to back up; its reverse lights were still on when police arrived at the scene.

Witnesses said masked gunmen shot the van ''to pieces'' as it was on the grass on the north side of the street, said Lt. Bill Schwartz, a police department spokesman.

One victim was slumped over in the back seat, a can of Lipton Brisk Iced Tea at his feet.

Another man died on the grass next to the open driver's-side door.

One more man died at Ryder Trauma Center at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami. Another was wounded and hospitalized in critical condition.

Bloody footprints marked the pavement.

About 50 rounds were fired. Shell casings littered the scene, suggesting the assailants used automatic weapons.

The ambush was particularly alarming because the gunfire erupted between a busy expressway and a residential street.

''These people have no regard for life,'' Buhrmaster said.

Family members and friends flocked to the scene. One young man, who said his brothers were among the dead, peeled off his shirt and wailed in agony under a driving rain.

Just hours before he was shot, Branel had been in court for arraignment on felony charges of battery of a police officer, resisting an officer with violence and carrying a concealed firearm, according to court records.

The charges stemmed from a March arrest in which officers said they found marijuana on Branel. Branel pleaded not guilty, and a judge on Monday scheduled Branel to stand trial on the charges June 15.

Kelly was scheduled to go to trial Aug. 28 on a felony charge of selling cocaine near a school. He had pleaded not guilty to the charge, which came from a February arrest, and was free on a $3,000 bond.

Kelly's criminal history included arrests for grand theft, fleeing police, resisting officers without violence, marijuana possession and loitering.

Detectives are trying to determine what role, if any, the death of the toddler on May 21 has played in recent violence.

That night, gunmen assaulted a house at 412 NW 82nd Ter., although the intended target remains unclear.

Miami-Dade police have said the family vowed retaliation and has been uncooperative with investigators.

Anyone with information can call Miami homicide detectives at 305-579-6530 or Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-8477.

Miami Herald staff writer Evan S. Benn contributed to this report.