Police said the victims were bystanders caught in gunfire during a parking lot altercation.
HALLANDALE BEACH, FL — A father and his 11-year-old daughter were shot Saturday afternoon while sitting in a car outside a McDonald’s in Hallandale Beach, police said, as investigators searched for at least one suspect.
Police said the two victims were not the intended targets and were caught in gunfire after an altercation in the restaurant parking lot. Both were taken to a local hospital in stable condition. The girl was conscious and alert after the shooting but was expected to undergo surgery, officials said.
The shooting happened around 1:35 p.m. Saturday at the McDonald’s in the 800 block of West Hallandale Beach Boulevard. Police said the family had arrived at the restaurant when the mother went inside to pick up food. The father and daughter stayed in the vehicle. Capt. Megan Jones of the Hallandale Beach Police Department said investigators believe the gunfire followed a confrontation involving other people in the parking lot. “We had two innocent bystanders here injured due to an altercation that had nothing to do with them,” Jones said.
Investigators said the shooting appeared to involve a planned confrontation. Jones said someone appeared to be waiting at the McDonald’s for another person to arrive. When that person got there, gunfire was exchanged, police said. The father and daughter were struck while inside their vehicle. Their names were not released Saturday, and police did not release the child’s exact injury. Officials also did not release a full description of the suspect or suspects. Police said one of the people involved in the exchange may have been a McDonald’s employee, though they did not say whether that person was the target, a shooter or another participant.
Witnesses described a sudden burst of gunfire in a busy commercial area along Hallandale Beach Boulevard, a main east-west road through the southern Broward County city. Television footage from the scene showed a bullet hole in the rear driver’s side window of a dark SUV and evidence markers placed near the vehicle and restaurant. The SUV was later towed from the lot. Police tape blocked off the McDonald’s and nearby areas as detectives worked the scene. The restaurant closed after the shooting while police collected evidence and reviewed what happened.
The Hallandale Beach Police Department is leading the investigation, with the Broward Sheriff’s Office confirming the local agency has primary control of the case. Detectives remained at the scene Saturday reviewing surveillance video and searching nearby areas. Police said they were conducting a house-to-house search as they looked for the suspect. No arrests had been announced by Saturday evening, and officials said the cause of the altercation remained under investigation. Jones said police believed the shooting was isolated and that detectives were working to identify and find all people involved.
The shooting left customers and workers shaken at a place normally tied to routine family errands and quick meals. One witness said he heard someone screaming outside after the gunfire. Another witness said he heard two shots before police quickly surrounded the area. Jones said the mother ran outside after hearing the shots and found her husband and child wounded. Police did not say how many people fired weapons, how many bullets were recovered or whether any weapon had been found.
As of Saturday night, the father and daughter remained hospitalized in stable condition, and police continued searching for the people involved. Investigators had not announced charges or a next briefing date.
Author note: Last updated June 28, 2026.