Shootings kill 2 and wound 7 during Halloween celebrations in Orlando
ORLANDO, Fla. — A gunman who opened fire during a Halloween street party that drew thousands of costumed revelers to downtown Orlando killed two people and wounded seven others early Friday, authorities said.
Officers quickly arrested a 17-year-old male suspect, Police Chief Eric Smith said during a briefing. Authorities have not yet determined a motive.
The gunman fired around 1 a.m. in downtown Orlando’s bar and restaurant district. Officers responded as costumed revelers ran away, and the same gunman then fired again about a block away, Smith said.
The seven injured people, who range in age from 19 to 39, were taken to a hospital and were in stable condition, Smith said. A tenth victim was treated after being trampled by the crowd as people fled.
One of the dead and another injured Halloween reveler were students at the University of Central Florida, the school said in a statement Friday.
The shootings “may have impacted many students who were celebrating Halloween and were in the vicinity of the incident,” the university said. “Our thoughts are with all the loved ones affected at this unimaginable time.”
Smith showed video from street security cameras and a police body camera that recorded the shootings and the suspect’s arrest.
After the first shots were fired, police used surveillance video to provide a description of the suspect, but police then saw him open fire at the second location, Smith said.
“No matter what his mentality was, he was going to shoot no matter what,” Smith said.
Authorities found a gun at the scene of the arrest and have no other suspects, he said. Police announced later Friday that the 17-year-old has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder with a firearm and six counts of attempted first-degree murder with a firearm.
More than 100 officers patrolled the estimated 50,000 to 100,000 people celebrating Halloween Thursday evening and early Friday morning in what is one of the largest events in downtown Orlando each year, Smith said.
The Halloween celebration took place about 10 miles from Orlando’s tourist district and mainly attracts residents of central Florida. Tens of thousands of partygoers usually also celebrate the Saturday after Halloween in the city center.
Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer declared a local emergency for the downtown entertainment district on Friday. For the next seven days, alcohol sales will stop at midnight and a curfew will apply from 1 a.m. to 5 a.m.
“We do not make this decision lightly and we took a number of other actions before we reached this point,” Dyer said.
During previous Halloween celebrations, police closed down downtown streets and used dogs to search for weapons as people walked past entry points, but they changed their procedures after Florida lawmakers passed a permit-free concealed carry law in 2023said the police chief.
“You can carry a gun on the street if you meet certain criteria,” Smith said. “So then that changed, we couldn’t do that anymore.”
Florida State’s Attorney Andrew Baine said his office is waiting for more information from police before deciding whether to charge the teen as an adult.