2 Charged in Shootings Near Popular Gay Nightclub

MIAMI BEACH, FL — Two people were charged Friday in connection with an early morning attack near a popular gay nightclub in South Beach. Police do not believe the club was targeted. The shooting occurred near Score nightclub at 4:40 a.m.

Twenty-six-year-old Marko Jovicic of Hollywood, Florida was charged with aggravated battery while 35-year-old Aleksandar Ilic of Pearland, Texas was charged with aggravated assault with a firearm.

Police said the victims were shot on a sidewalk near 1437 Washington Avenue when Ilic and Jovicic got into an argument with the two victims as they walked along on the street. Ilic allegedly pulled a gun from a white jeep.

"Defendant Ilic then shouted, 'I got something for you' and fired one shot into the ground with both victims being in close proximity," according to arrest documents. "Both victims were struck in their legs by the projectile's fragments."

Police said that Ilic and Jovicic fled the scene in the jeep with two women. The vehicle was subsequently spotted a short time later in a parking spot along the 800 block of Meridian Avenue.

Ernesto Rodriguez of the Miami Beach Police Department said police do not believe the Score nightclub was targeted in any way by the attack. He said that traffic along the 1400 block of Washington Avenue was closed for a time in both directions.

Both victims were taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital with non-life threatening injuries, according to Miami Beach police.