It was not that long ago that this sleepy beach side village turned chaotic. There were a lot of cars leading into town, as far as the eye could see. Some residents tell horror stories from Easter weekend and now they're fearing a repeat.
Pirates Alley Cafe banks on weekend business, so losing an entire Saturday just doesn't cut it, especially since they already lost one last month.
"It was bad. It was crazy," restaurant manager Stephen Marsden said.
It was Easter weekend. Thousands flooded the island for a massive party promoted on social media, and the cafe was forced to close.
"People were in fear of their lives, honestly because they couldn't walk out of the house or say anything because of fear of something bad happening," Marsden said.
Law enforcement was overwhelmed, businesses under siege and when it was all over, 26-year-old Derrick Milam and two others had been shot, Milam fatally.
"Everybody was scared. They were totally scared," Longtime Surfside resident Donn Ebarb said.
Ebarb had never seen anything like it.
"Solid lights coming into our town," Ebarb said.
And hopes to never see it again, though now he's worried about the ads online promoting yet another big party. This one will be a biker beach bash. Surfside police are gearing up and locals are hoping they learned some lessons.
"We don't want another episode of what happened on that one Saturday," Ebarb said.
The Surfside police chief say they've canceled the reservation for the beach house that the promoter had rented for this weekend and they plan to barricade the street that it's on. He also says the city won't issue permits for entertainment and he plans to triple his police force this weekend and is meeting the with the Brazoria County Sheriff's Office on Thursday to strategize.
He says the party won't happen, although online, it looks like almost 300 people have made RSVPs so far and those ads are still acti
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