Florida city bans drinking on beach after spring break shooting
By Letitia Stein12 hours ago
By Letitia Stein
TAMPA, Fla. (Reuters) - A Florida city on Tuesday banned drinking on its beaches for the remainder of the current spring break season, after seven people were shot during a raucous party over the weekend.
Government officials in Panama City Beach, Florida, passed the temporary ban during an emergency meeting called to address the out-of-control crowds of college students coming to party.
The shooting on Saturday, which critically injured three students from Alabama A&M University, has roiled a community that had been struggling to reign in the debauchery associated with spring break, without losing its lucrative business.
Beginning Wednesday, no drinking is allowed on the beaches and in parking lots in Panama City Beach, local officials said. The ban lasts through April 18, which marks the end of its spring break season.
"We will not stop spring break. What we hope to do is just make it a safer spring break," Mario Gisbert, Panama City Beach's city manager told Reuters.
Commissioners in surrounding Bay County, Florida passed a similar ordinance earlier in the day, extending the ban to beaches outside the city limits.
Some 300,000 college students have been flocking in March and April to the Florida Panhandle town with a reputation for around-the-clock parties. But calls to ban drinking on the beach last year were rejected over concerns about ending what has become big business for many hotels and bars.
City and county officials plan to discuss the future of spring break at a joint meeting on Thursday. Both bodies also have extended an ordinance shutting down the bars at 2 a.m. instead of 4 a.m.
Two of the three injured students were improving, Alabama A&M University officials said in a Facebook post on Monday. The status of a third student, who suffered a head injury, was unchanged.
(Reporting by Letitia Stein; Editing by Sandra Maler)
By Letitia Stein12 hours ago
TAMPA, Fla. (Reuters) - A Florida city on Tuesday banned drinking on its beaches for the remainder of the current spring break season, after seven people were shot during a raucous party over the weekend.
Government officials in Panama City Beach, Florida, passed the temporary ban during an emergency meeting called to address the out-of-control crowds of college students coming to party.
The shooting on Saturday, which critically injured three students from Alabama A&M University, has roiled a community that had been struggling to reign in the debauchery associated with spring break, without losing its lucrative business.
Beginning Wednesday, no drinking is allowed on the beaches and in parking lots in Panama City Beach, local officials said. The ban lasts through April 18, which marks the end of its spring break season.
"We will not stop spring break. What we hope to do is just make it a safer spring break," Mario Gisbert, Panama City Beach's city manager told Reuters.
Commissioners in surrounding Bay County, Florida passed a similar ordinance earlier in the day, extending the ban to beaches outside the city limits.
Some 300,000 college students have been flocking in March and April to the Florida Panhandle town with a reputation for around-the-clock parties. But calls to ban drinking on the beach last year were rejected over concerns about ending what has become big business for many hotels and bars.
City and county officials plan to discuss the future of spring break at a joint meeting on Thursday. Both bodies also have extended an ordinance shutting down the bars at 2 a.m. instead of 4 a.m.
Two of the three injured students were improving, Alabama A&M University officials said in a Facebook post on Monday. The status of a third student, who suffered a head injury, was unchanged.
(Reporting by Letitia Stein; Editing by Sandra Maler)
