Florida rapper charged with murder after parking row escalated into shooting

Two people were fatally shot, one by police, after a row over a parking space in a popular Florida tourist district escalated into gunfire.

Jeffery Alexander, 19, a rapper from Brooklyn who goes by the moniker 22GZ, has been charged with murder in connection with the incident that took place on Sunday (28 May).

The dispute was triggered when a driver in a white BMW attempted to parallel park along Ocean Drive, in the popular South Beach area in an area that was too small for it and it repeatedly bumped into a parked Buick.

Miami Beach police say that the owner of the Buick asked the driver of the BMW "how many more times he was going to hit his vehicle".

As the argument ensued, a gun was handed to Alexander who was a passenger in the BMW's front seat who fired at Ladarian Tyrell Phillips, 30, of Homestead, Florida, and his friend, and sped off.

Phillips was fatally shot in the back and died the next day at Jackson Memorial Hospital while his friend was shot in the leg, treated then released from hospital.

Police arrived at the shooting minutes later and caught up with the BMW which crashed into two police cars with the car only stopping when two officers opened fire.

One of the occupants of the car was shot and died in hospital, according to the Miami Herald, with another of the passengers arrested after escaping on foot.

The arrest report said Alexander was identified by the victim who was shot and is now being held at a Miami-Dade County jail on charges of second-degree murder and second-degree attempted murder.

According to an Instagram post Alexander was due to perform at a Miami Beach club called Miami LIVE off Northeast 71st Street the night before the shooting.