91³Ô¹ÏÍø

Watch CBS News
CBS Mornings

Massive spring break crowd flees Florida beach as "takeover" events cause chaos

By
Cristian Benavides
Correspondent, CBS Newspath
Cristian Benavides is a CBS News correspondent based in Miami.
Read Full Bio
Cristian Benavides

/ CBS News

Spring break "takeovers" have started to overwhelm some Florida cities and local officials.

The massive gatherings are organized on social media and pose danger "because they are organized by promoters and the city is not aware of it," Daytona Beach Commissioner Stacy Cantu said.

In Daytona Beach, Florida, a large crowd present for a so-called "beach takeover" event fled after hearing what they thought were gunshots.

"It was people crushing water bottles to start a stampede," said Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood.

Officials say more than 50 deputies were in the middle of the crowd and no shots were fired during the incident. 

The city of Daytona Beach did respond to multiple shootings over the weekend and the sheriff's office reported more than 130 arrests with spring break in full swing.

"VSO deputies made 133 arrests in spring break crowds this weekend," the sheriff's office said in a post on its . "There were no shootings on the beach this weekend. Widespread videos posted online this weekend falsely claimed crowds were running from shots fired."

The post went on to say the sheriff's office is aware of upcoming "spring break/invade Daytona events being promoted on social media" and it's working with local government and law enforcement.

Last month, five teenagers were shot at a "takeover" event in Jacksonville, Florida.

Spring break restrictions

Meanwhile, a in Fort Lauderdale doubled down on spring break restrictions and officials in Miami Beach say they have seen success from their new approach. 

This year, Miami Beach is looking to attract a more health conscious crowd.

On its , the city announced regulations to keep visitors safe, including DUI enforcement and security checkpoints to beach entrances on Ocean Drive.

The Miami Beach Police Department has reported 21% fewer arrests as compared to the same time last year.

Kelsie Hoffman contributed to this report.

In:

© 2026 91³Ô¹ÏÍø. All Rights Reserved.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
const link = doc.createElement('link'); link.rel = 'stylesheet'; link.href = '/fly/fly/bundles/cbsnewscontent/css/cmp-banner.min.css?v=fd53910ecf4604072044ab7c46d9b028'; doc.head.appendChild(link); doc.body.innerHTML = CONSENT_MESSAGE; } else { el.insertAdjacentHTML('afterend', CONSENT_MESSAGE); } }); } function hidePrivacyMessage() { // Remove from the main document document.querySelectorAll(`.${CONSENT_MESSAGE_CLASS}`).forEach(el => el.remove()); // Remove from inside any iframes document.querySelectorAll('iframe').forEach(iframe => { const doc = iframe.contentDocument || iframe.contentWindow.document; doc.querySelectorAll(`.${CONSENT_MESSAGE_CLASS}`).forEach(el => el.remove()); }); } function activateGatedScripts() { // Handle both new format (cmp-gated-script) and old OneTrust/Ketch format (optanon-category-4) const gatedScripts = Array.from(document.querySelectorAll('script.cmp-gated-script, script.optanon-category-4')); // Activate scripts sequentially with a small delay to avoid timing issues let delay = 0; gatedScripts.forEach(function(placeholder, index) { setTimeout(function() { // Skip if already processed if (placeholder.hasAttribute('data-cmp-processed')) { return; } placeholder.setAttribute('data-cmp-processed', 'true'); const newScript = document.createElement('script'); newScript.type = 'text/javascript'; // Try new format first (data-cmp-src), then fall back to old format (data-src) const src = placeholder.getAttribute('data-cmp-src') || placeholder.getAttribute('data-src'); if (src) { newScript.src = src; } else if (placeholder.textContent) { // Inline script - just copy the content newScript.textContent = placeholder.textContent; } // Handle new format attributes (data-cmp-attrs) - for both inline and external scripts const attrs = placeholder.getAttribute('data-cmp-attrs'); if (attrs) { const tempDiv = document.createElement('div'); tempDiv.innerHTML = '
<\/div>'; const tempAttrs = tempDiv.firstChild.attributes; for (let i = 0; i < tempAttrs.length; i++) { // For external scripts, allow defer/async. For inline scripts, skip them (not valid) if (src || (tempAttrs[i].name !== 'async' && tempAttrs[i].name !== 'defer')) { newScript.setAttribute(tempAttrs[i].name, tempAttrs[i].value); } } } // Copy other attributes from old OneTrust format for (let i = 0; i < placeholder.attributes.length; i++) { const attr = placeholder.attributes[i]; // Skip attributes we've already handled or don't want to copy if (!['class', 'data-src', 'data-type', 'data-cmp-src', 'data-cmp-attrs', 'data-cmp-processed', 'type', 'async', 'defer', 'src'].includes(attr.name)) { newScript.setAttribute(attr.name, attr.value); } } placeholder.parentNode.replaceChild(newScript, placeholder); // If external script, manually trigger window.onload handlers after it loads // This handles widgets that use window.onload for initialization if (src) { newScript.addEventListener('load', function() { // If page already loaded and script set a new onload handler, trigger it if (document.readyState === 'complete' && window.onload) { const originalOnload = window.onload; window.onload = null; // Clear temporarily to prevent loops originalOnload(); // Execute the handler } }); } }, delay); delay += 500; // 500ms delay between each script to allow full loading }); } cbsoptanon.onScriptsReady(function(cmp) { cmp.ot.targetingAllowed(function(allowed) { if (!allowed) { showPrivacyMessage(); } else { activateGatedScripts(); } }); cmp.ot.awaitInitialConsent(function(consent_model) { cmp.ot.addOnConsentChangedHandler(function() { cmp.ot.targetingAllowed(function(allowed) { if (allowed) { hidePrivacyMessage(); activateGatedScripts(); } else { showPrivacyMessage(); } }); }); }); });