9 injured in drive-by shooting at Fla. basketball court

MIAMI — Florida police were searching on Tuesday for two people involved in a drive-by shooting on a basketball court that injured nine youths, including a 16-year-old boy with a critical head wound.

The incident occurred on Monday after a dark Nissan Maxima pulled up to a basketball court in suburban Miami. Shots were fired from inside the vehicle at a group, ages 16 to 21, that included players, according to the Miami-Dade Police Department.

Four victims were hospitalized and five sought non-emergency medical care for injuries to their arms and legs, police said.

The most seriously wounded was 16-year-old Trugon Bryson, who suffered a critical head injury, police said.

His medical status was not immediately available on Tuesday, according to a spokeswoman for Jackson Memorial Hospital, who said two of injured had been released from the hospital.

Miami-Dade Police spokesman Romelio Martinez declined to comment further about the incident, which occurred in a community that has long struggled with youth gang activity, according to Local 10, a television station.

The Miami area has seen a cluster of drive-by shootings in recent months.

Last week, a 17-year-old boy died following a drive-by shooting that injured five, local media reported. In September, a bystander was killed when drive-by shooters fired more than 30 bullets in a suburb north of Miami, according to the Miami Herald.