Boy killed, 2 adults injured in Dania Beach shooting

Deputies search for shooter

DANIA BEACH, Fla. – A boy was killed and two adults were wounded in a shooting Wednesday night in Dania Beach.

Broward Sheriff's Office deputies said the shooting was reported about 7:40 p.m. in the 200 block of Northwest Ninth Avenue.

Rasheed Cunningham Jr., 8, was taken to Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital in Hollywood, where he was pronounced dead.

Deputies said Rasheed was walking with his cousins, who were also shot.

"Tonight a young boy was killed," BSO spokeswoman Veda Coleman-Wright told reporters Wednesday night. "The shooting needs to stop. A child is dead."

The shooting is the fourth since Christmas in the same Dania Beach neighborhood.

"People are angry, because obviously this has been a budding situation," the Rev. J.C. Howard, of St. Ruth Missionary Baptist Church, told Local 10 News. "I'm not sure of all the details, but this has been a budding situation where some individuals, literally, know what's going on out here."

Investigators believe three of the shootings are related.

The first shooting happened on Christmas when a man was killed while walking home in the 200 block of Northwest Sixth Avenue. 

Another shooting took place on Tuesday when a bystander was shot in the 300 block of Phippen Waiters Road. That person survived. 

Deputies are asking for the public's help to stop the violence.

"Listen to the cries from those relatives," Coleman-Wright said. "Come forward with information and help us."

Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 954-493-TIPS.


About the Authors:

Peter Burke returned for a second stint of duty at Local 10 News in February 2014.