The meeting came one day after three men were shot Sunday during a massive Easter party at Coquina Beach attended by 15,000 people from across Southwest Florida. Most attendees, including many children, were Latinos who have a history of getting together to eat, talk and have fun at the beach on religious and cultural holidays. Dozens of police officers were present at the time of the daytime shootings, which authorities say involved gang members from Arcadia and the Tampa area.

But as city and law enforcement officials try to quell the increasing gang activity and violence, they all agree that solutions won't come easy. The victims, three brothers from Arcadia linked to the SUR 13 gang, were shot shortly before 4:30 p.m.

Police believe suspects Rene Vasquez-Mendoza, 22, and Santiago Delgado, 21, both of Plant City, are members of the rival Norte 14 gang. For Chappie, the incident dramatically illustrated the growing gang problem countywide. "The dirty little secret here is that you don't go to the beaches of Manatee County on the holidays because it's not safe," Chappie said.

Members of the region's Latino community, who flock to Longboat Key's Coquina Beach every Easter, are worried the shooting at the annual Easter celebration could cast a pall on what has traditionally been a family event. For more than a decade, a Sarasota resident named Conchita, who refused to give her last name, has had the same family tradition on Easter Sunday and Cinco de Mayo: grab a grill, a portable stereo and suntan lotion, and head to Coquina Beach. Her extended family -- aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents -- would do the same.

In fact, thousands of Tampa Bay area Latinos have turned Easter and Cinco de Mayo at Coquina Beach into impromptu family reunions. But for Conchita, who was afraid to give her last name if she spoke of gangs, an increase in local gang violence and the shooting death of her cousin in March ruined the tradition. This year, she did not go to Coquina on Easter.

"We were afraid that there would be gang retaliations," she said. "The gangs have always been there, but it's getting a lot worse, and I don't think it is going to get any better." Evidence of the problem can be seen in the brazen nature of the incident, officials say.

The shooters were mere feet from some of the estimated 40 armed law enforcement officers patrolling the beach. "That's pretty bold," said Detective Sgt. Lenard Diaz of the Bradenton Beach Police Department.

But Diaz sees no easy solution to preventing violence on a public beach. "What can you do? The crazy thing would be to pat everybody down before they go in.

Is that going to happen? No." Closing the beach for holidays is not an option, he said.

"The Board of County Commissioners needs to step up to the plate to address this problem," Chappie said. Vasquez-Mendoza, who authorities say had a .380 automatic, faces three counts of attempted first-degree murder and weapons charges.

Delgado, who police say had a .22 caliber revolver, faces weapons charges. The victims, all from Arcadia, were Salvador Estrada, 27, Jose Estrada, 20, and a 17-year-old boy identified by police only as "F.

E." Salvador Estrada was struck three times near his stomach. Jose Estrada suffered one hit to the center part of his chest.

The juvenile was hit either once or twice in his upper left shoulder. Both guns were discharged, but only bullets from the .380 hit the victims, investigators said.

The victims were in stable condition Monday at Bayfront Medical Center in St. Petersburg. The Manatee County Sheriff's Office has sent a special team of officers to the beach on Easter for nearly 10 years because of concerns about gang violence.

Members of the Multi-Agency Gang Task Force were also at the county-run beach. Representatives from multiple gangs have used the beach for years, prompting a regular police presence during the holidays, said Sheriff Brad Steube. "We noticed years ago that it wasn't just one gang out there -- it was several," Steube said.

"We just try to be the mediators." There's no evidence Sunday's shootings were tied to the gang problem in Manatee County, because both the suspects and the victims were from out of town, Steube said. Evidence of a large gathering was piled everywhere near the beach parking lot: discarded beer bottles, eating utensils, empty food packages and a large pile of plastic Easter eggs.

Last modified: April 10.