An officer working at the Sandbar heard shots just before midnight. Damage was reported to the south, with gunfire striking a window at Dover House and leaving bullet casings scattered at Miramar Drive. The Coastal Star/Google Maps image
By John Pacenti
Women dancing on cars. Partygoers livestreaming. Reports of three masked shooters. Nearly four dozen spent bullet casings littering the ground.
A 31-page police report released to The Coastal Star details the harrowing June 21 scene south of the Delray Beach pavilion on State Road A1A as young adults and juveniles scattered to the sound of gunfire.
“I thought it was just a whole bunch of fireworks because it was kind of leading up to Fourth of July weekend and so forth,” said Matt Gracey, who was visiting one of his properties in the first block of South Ocean Boulevard.
“So, then, I went out toward the sidewalk and I saw people running in all different directions and, just about then, I heard the police sirens start, and the whole area was just covered in police cars.”
The Coastal Star requested the report in June and then again in July. It was turned over on Aug. 19. Police redacted many details, even obvious references to A1A, known as Ocean Boulevard in Delray Beach, for reasons unexplained.
“This was a disturbing event that could have resulted in serious harm to individuals,” Delray Beach police spokesman Ted White said on Aug. 26. “We immediately increased police presence in the area and are pleased to report there have been no further incidents. The safety of our community is our top priority.”
One bullet ended up lodged in an Audi. Another shattered a condo’s sliding glass door; another damaged a window at a resort. One person was injured.
“I’ve seen a lot of pictures from residents of the aftermath of that with bullet holes in balconies and in nearby cars,” said Commissioner Rob Long, who at the city’s July 25 budget hearing brought up the shots fired.
Vice Mayor Juli Casale, when shown the police report later, said, “It’s a miracle no one was killed or seriously injured.” She praised the police for reconstructing the scene before the shooting from evidence, surveillance cameras, social media and eyewitnesses.
Still, there have been no arrests in the two months since the incident, according to the report.
“Unfortunately, there were a bunch of kids who came from a different city, based on our investigation, emanated out of Broward County, ended up in Palm Beach County, and then the third location was Delray Beach city,” Police Chief Russ Mager told commissioners at their July 25 meeting.
Similar scenario in March
The scenario, he said, was similar to March 30 when a large group gathered on the top floor of the Old School Square parking garage, at 95 NE First Ave., a block east of Swinton Avenue. One juvenile did end up getting shot at that party.
And indeed, about 45 minutes before the June 21 gunfire, an officer said he dispersed a large gathering again at the garage, which is a mile from the beach. When that officer responded to shots fired on the beach, he noticed the same cars from the garage — and saw the same victim who was shot in March, according to the police report.
“We were like their third stop, similar to the garage scenario,” Mager said of the June 21 shooting. “We were able to identify some of the names from the garage incident. Similar names, the same people popped up in the beach incident. So, they were familiar with Delray Beach. They knew to come here for some reason.”
Officer Henry Lugo was working an off-duty detail June 21 at the Sandbar Delray, 40 S. Ocean Blvd., when he reported shots fired “in the area of the beach,” shortly before midnight, according to the police report, which redacted some key locations.
When officers responded, they found young men and women fleeing. They discovered Nasir Williams, who told officers he had crouched down behind a Nissan Altima, which then hit his leg as it sped away.
A window had been struck at the Dover House Resort at 110 S. Ocean Blvd., according to the police report.
One witness told investigators he saw a man shooting southbound toward a group of individuals, taking cover behind vehicles before running northbound toward Atlantic Avenue.
Two women told police they saw three men wearing masks and shooting. The men were livestreaming on their phones at the party, the women said.
Bullets, damaged property
Police early on June 22 found 27 bullet casings, both 9 mm and .45 caliber, and a live round near Miramar Drive. An additional 17 casings — and another live round — were found later that day after a bicyclist approached an officer, who was canvassing the crime scene, to say his tire had been punctured after riding over several spent bullet casings, according to the police report. Police redacted the A1A location of those casings.
A woman who lives at a complex south of the intersection of A1A and Miramar Drive reported blood droplets near her Audi, though later testing turned out negative for blood. A bullet was lodged in one of the car’s doors. The homeowners association of another condo complex reported a sliding glass door in the front penthouse was shattered.
What detectives reported
Police obtained surveillance videos from businesses on South Ocean Boulevard and from a parked Tesla. They found an advertisement for an “invitation only” party to start at 11 p.m. at an unknown location.
Scouring social media, police found a video showing some women dancing on top of an unknown vehicle. One of the women was observed “falling on the front windshield of the vehicle, causing it to shatter,” the police report notes.
In another video discovered on social media, gunshots could be heard in the background. “Rounds were fired rapidly, possibly being shot from an automatic firearm or altered semi-automatic firearm,” the investigator stated in the report.
Officers talked to their confidential sources and what emerged was that a large party was shut down in Parkland by police. An “after party” in Lake Worth Beach also got shut down, “causing partygoers to migrate back south to Delray Beach,” according to the police report.
A confidential source said that the shooters were from Lake Worth Beach, but investigators were unable to confirm the tip. The tipster also provided a video of a man holding a weapon. He wore red shorts with black sandals and black socks and a dark-colored backpack.
Mager told commissioners that the added patrols would send a signal to people using Delray Beach as party central to move on. “I want to send a message that you don’t do that in Delray Beach,” he said. “For me to do that is to have a show of force. I want them to see us out there.”
If it wasn’t for discussions on the budget, Mager may have not been questioned by Long and spoken about the barrage of gunfire shots on A1A.
Gracey said that shortly after June 21, a friend called up the Police Department.
“He was told, rather abruptly, that it wasn’t their job to inform the public of situations like that — which stunned us a little,” Gracey said. “It certainly concerns me that we’re not being told about some incidents around our town.”
Delray Beach police ask anyone with information about this crime to contact Detective Kyle Kinney at 561-243-7828.
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