One of the men killed in the shootings during spring break in Miami Beach has been identified as a 21-year-old Georgia college student described by his brother as a “warrior” and “scholar.”
Jordan Idahosa, a student at South Georgia State College in Valdosta, was shot dead Friday night on South Beach’s Ocean Drive, the first of two fatal shootings over the weekend in the spring break destination, WALB reported.
“Jordan was a special guy. He went from being homeschooled to being a scholar,” Jordan’s brother, Sammy Idahosa, told the news outlet.
“There’s millions and millions of memories of me and Jordan. We grew up three years apart, and we practically did everything together. He’s like my twin brother,” he added.
He described his brother as a “warrior” who “still is in spirit.”
“Jordan was the first Idahosa to depart from us. It doesn’t feel real,” Sammy said.
One of Jordan’s friends described what happened when shots rang out, killing him and injuring another person.
“My friend had called me to see where I was at, and I turned around for like 10 seconds. After that, all you heard was gunshots. I really didn’t know who it was. I couldn’t see anything,” Javon Johnson told WALB.
Police called the shooting an isolated incident and said that they have arrested one person who is cooperating in the investigation.
Two days later in a separate incident, a gunman opened fire on another reveler at Ocean Drive and 11th Street using a stolen handgun.
Dontavious Polk, 24, was arrested on a charge of first-degree murder after he allegedly ran from the crime scene and ditched the weapon along the way, officials said.
Police called the attack a “targeted and isolated incident.”
Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber has slammed spring break in his community in the wake of the bloodshed.
“We don’t ask for spring break in our city. We don’t want spring break in our city. It’s too rowdy, it brings too much disorder and it’s simply too difficult to police,” he said.
On Sunday, the mayor imposed a strict curfew and banned the sale of alcohol after a certain hour, among other measures, in some parts of the city.
“It is clear that even an unprecedented police presence could not prevent these incidents from occurring,” Gelber said. “The volume of people in our city, the unruly nature of too many, and the presence of guns has created a peril that cannot go unchecked.”
