Two dead, six injured in downtown Orlando shooting early Friday, police say

Two people are dead and six injured as a result of an early-morning shooting in downtown Orlando, according to the Orlando Police Department. The shooting occurred in the early hours of Friday morning, amid Halloween celebrations. A 17-year-old suspect previously arrested in 2023 for grand theft has been taken into custody.

According to OPD chief Eric Smith, police officers responded to reports of shots fired at 1:07 a.m. at Central Boulevard and Orange Avenue, where video provided by OPD shows crowds of party-goers running to avoid gunfire, with officers and at least two police cruisers visible in the video, surveilling the crowd.

Smith said a description of the suspected shooter was put out “right away” for OPD. Minutes later, officers witnessed a second shooting south of Washington Street on Orange Avenue, where an officer then identified and tackled the suspected shooter to the ground, taking the suspect into custody. According to Smith, they have no other suspects. Video of the shooting, as it occurred, has been shared by OPD.

“We believe he’s the only suspect right at this time,” Smith said at an early morning press conference.

Police are currently aware of eight people, total, who were shot. Two have been pronounced dead. The six remaining victims were transported to Orlando Regional Medical Center from the scene and are reportedly in stable condition, per OPD. The names of the victims have not been identified. However, Smith said the age of the victims range from 19 to 39 years old.

Smith says OPD had about 100 officers downtown at the time of the shooting, in anticipation of large crowds for Halloween festivities. “The officers responded very quickly. The officers did a great job.”

The motive for the shooting, or whether the victims were known to the suspect, is unknown at this time. Police say they’re investigating. “Whatever his mindset was, he was going to shoot no matter what,” Smith said. “He walked by multiple officers. We followed where he came from. He walked by at least 10 officers. Walked directly by them.” The shooter did not enter any clubs, Smith said.

State Attorney Andrew Bain, present at the press conference early Friday, said his office has worked in collaboration with OPD to “respond quickly” to the needs of the community. “Obviously, our thoughts and prayers are with several victims that we have tonight, and so we are going to do our job to make sure that we secure justice for those victims.”

Smith, when questioned by the press on what more OPD can do moving forward to enhance or strengthen security downtown, admitted that just adding more officers downtown, when many were already present isn’t going to solve the issue of firearm accessibility or gun violence by itself. “It does start outside of what my job is,” said Smith. “It starts, you know – I don’t want to say it starts at home. But it starts in our community, coming together to work together and figure out a better way [for] people to solve their problems.”

The city of Orlando has imposed several new rules for nightlife businesses downtown in the last few years to enhance security measures, in response to fatal mass shootings in the past.

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This article appears in Oct 30 – Nov 5, 2024.