Nine People Wounded in Memorial Day Shooting Near Florida Beach

Gunfire between two groups near a beach in Hollywood, Fla., left at least nine people wounded on Monday, officials said, in a shooting that sent dozens of panicked beachgoers fleeing or ducking for cover.

Deanna Bettineschi, a spokeswoman for the Hollywood Police Department, said at a news conference on Monday night that police responded earlier in the evening to reports of shots fired near the Hollywood Beach Broadwalk, about 20 miles north of Miami.

When police arrived, they found several people with gunshot wounds, and they began rendering aid, Ms. Bettineschi said. The victims were taken to local hospitals, including a children’s hospital.

Six adults and three children were among the victims, and they were all in stable condition Monday night, a spokeswoman for the Memorial Healthcare System said in an email.

It is unclear what led to the shooting or how many people were involved.

“There was a dispute between two different groups, and that’s when there was the gunfire,” Ms. Bettineschi said.

One person of interest was in custody on Monday night, and the police were searching for another, she added.

The episode was one of the latest instances of gun violence in the United States, with shootings that have taken place in common places such as schools, malls, dance halls, banks and workplaces.

The shooting on Monday took place in a busy area along Hollywood Beach that is surrounded by bars, restaurants and hotels and where crowds had gone on the Memorial Day holiday. Videos circulating on social media around the time of the shooting showed people ducking for cover, while others ran off from the boardwalk area.

Other videos showed police officers and bystanders rendering aid to victims on or near the sand of the beach.

“Thank you to the good Samaritans, paramedics, police and emergency room doctors and nurses for their immediate response to aid the victims of today’s shooting,” Mayor Josh Levy of Hollywood said in a post on Facebook Monday night.

Ms. Bettineschi said that the police had set up a family assistance center in the area, where witnesses could speak to detectives and where families of victims could get information about their family members.