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ACTIVE SCENE
Police swarm near Fort Lauderdale Holiday Inn after ‘shots fired’ during Florida Spring Break season leaving ‘1 injured’
The shooting reportedly happened inside the hotel
A POLICE officer has been injured after being shot in Florida.
Cops swooped in on a Holiday Inn Express parking lot in Fort Lauderdale on Thursday morning.
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Witnesses claimed the shooting happened inside the hotel, according to the NBC affiliate WTVJ.
The shooting began on the pool deck that's above the garage, per The Sun Sentinel.
One guest said they were told about an active shooter situation as they headed downstairs.
"We were waking up to have breakfast at the hotel, and staff pushed everyone into an event room," Alexis Boettcher, from Ohio, told The Sun Sentinel.
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"I came downstairs. They told me there was an active shooter and I couldn’t go back in the building."
Fort Lauderdale police have said the officer was taken to hospital after suffering non-life-threatening injuries.
Cops have since confirmed there is no active shooter situation.
The cop, who hasn't been identified, has been taken to the city's Broward Health Medical Center.
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Pictures from the scene show SWAT teams surveying the parking lot of the Holiday Inn.
An officer was also seen sitting in the back of an open ambulance.
Cops are diverting traffic away from the hotel and have closed roads.
SPRING BREAK FEARS
The shooting comes as revelers flocked to the Florida city for spring break celebrations.
During the St. Patrick's Day weekend celebrations, partygoers were seen downing drinks on the beach, enjoying the weather, and wrestling with their pals.
But cops have been seen patrolling busy areas and beaches as they crack down on lawlessness.
There were fears that Fort Lauderdale would be overwhelmed by spring break revelers, but officials say these concerns have not materialized.
"It's not the kind of place you're going to see a lot of twerking on the hoods of cars and stuff like that," Dean Trantalis, the city's mayor, told WPLG.
Meanwhile, officials in Miami Beach have cracked down on lawlessness that has been associated with spring break festivities in recent years.
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City officials are championing a campaign that says Miami Beach is breaking up with spring break.
Local lawmakers have banned revelers from playing loud music on beaches and boozing on the sand, as well as cracking down on marijuana consumption.
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