By TERRY SPENCER Associated Press
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HOLLYWOOD, Fla. — Police launched a search Tuesday for three suspects they believe to be the gunmen who opened fire along a crowded Florida beachside promenade on Memorial Day, wounding a 1-year-old and eight others while sending people frantically running for cover.

Hollywood police sought the public’s help in identifying the gunmen, who ran from the scene during the chaos of hundreds of people fleeing for their lives and diving for cover as shots hit bystanders.

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Two people involved in the altercation that led to the shooting — Morgan Deslouches and Keshawn Stewart, both 18 — have been arrested on firearms charges, police said. Five handguns have been recovered, with one of them reported stolen in the Miami area and another in Texas, they said.

Police and witnesses said the shooting began as a group of people fought in front of a busy stretch of shops on the Hollywood Oceanfront Broadwalk about 7 p.m. Monday.

The sound of gunshots sent witness Alvie Carlton Scott III ducking for cover behind a tree before he fled on foot at the command of a police officer. Another witness, Jamie Ward, said several young men were fighting when one of them pulled a gun and started firing.

One witness told police that she recognized a group of young men in the area later Monday as being involved in the shooting, according to an arrest report. When an officer approached the group, he noticed one of the men, later identified as Deslouches, trying to hide a black backpack. The officer reported that he ordered the man to sit and then took the man’s bag. Inside, the officer found a 9mm handgun loaded with seven rounds, the report said.