Orlando police search for motive after Halloween shootings left 2 dead in crowded nightlife district. Here’s what we know

By Paradise Afshar, Andy Rose, Ashley R. Williams and Dalia Faheid, CNN

(CNN) — Orlando police are searching for a motive as they investigate a pair of overnight shootings that left two people dead and wounded six others while tens of thousands celebrated Halloween downtown.

A 17-year-old suspect has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder with a firearm and six counts of attempted first-degree murder with a firearm, Orlando Police announced.

A 19-year-old man and a 25-year-old man were killed in the shooting. The injured victims ranged in age from 18 to 39, according to police. Two of those injured were admitted to Orlando Regional Medical Center in critical condition, but are now listed as stable, hospital spokesperson Marlei Martinez told CNN Friday morning. Additionally, a 26-year-old woman was hospitalized after being trampled as bystanders desperately ran from the scene.

The suspect opened fire in the first location before running away with the crowd, Police Chief Eric Smith said, citing footage of the first shooting. At a second location, police took down the suspect moments after he opened fire, the video showed.

About 100 officers were working a detail in the area, which allowed for a quick response but did not appear to deter the shooter, Smith said.

“Whatever his mindset was, he was going to shoot no matter what,” Smith said. “He walked by multiple officers. He didn’t really care.”

Authorities are confident the shooter acted alone, Smith said Friday afternoon, adding the suspect is not cooperating or speaking with authorities. The suspect was previously arrested on a grand theft charge in 2023, Smith said.

Police are investigating whether the victims were random or known to the suspect. Video captures the moment police say the suspect passes a victim and then turns around and fires.

“Did he know him? Did he just happen to stumble across somebody who is one of his enemies for whatever reason? That’s all part of the case,” Smith said.

The suspect was interviewed Friday morning as police sought a motive, Smith said. “This person right here threw away his life. For what?” Smith said.

Authorities are considering whether to charge the suspect as an adult, said State Attorney Andrew Bain. “Obviously, from the multiple victims and the brazen nature of the crime, there are several aggravating factors that would fit inside the matrix to charge him as an adult,” Bain said.

The gunfire broke out several blocks away from the site of the deadly Pulse nightclub mass shooting that occurred on June 12, 2016, when a 29-year-old shooter fatally shot 49 people. At least 53 others were injured, and police shot and killed the shooter at the scene.

Here’s what we know about the killings and the investigation so far:

‘Everyone started running’ as shots rang out

Large crowds gathered for Halloween festivities scattered as shots were fired just after 1 a.m. Friday, surveillance videos from the scene show.

Sofia Alcala, who works downtown, told CNN affiliate WKMG she heard the gunshots before everyone started “freaking out.”

“Everyone started running,” she said. “I saw a group of people, you know, enjoying Halloween … and then shots fired, and everybody just dispersed. I heard so many girls calling and crying.”

Within minutes, shots were fired at a second location about a block away. “Shortly after reported shots fired, a shooting suspect was located and taken into custody at Washington and Orange,” Smith said. A handgun was recovered at the scene, police said.

Between 50,000 to 100,000 people were in the area celebrating Halloween, which is “one of our busiest nights of the year,” Smith said.

But this year, measures used in previous years to screen people for weapons during the downtown Halloween celebration – including checkpoints and gun-sniffing dogs – were not possible because a 2023 state law allows most people to carry a concealed weapon without a permit, Smith said.

“When the law changed, basically you can carry on a public street as long as you meet certain criteria,” he said.

Mayor Buddy Dyer said the change has “made it even easier for people to carry guns and bring guns downtown.”

Dyer implemented a state of emergency for businesses within Orlando’s downtown entertainment area, which will end alcohol sales at midnight and implement a curfew between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m., he said at a Friday afternoon news conference.

“We want a downtown that is fun and vibrant, but we have experienced lately that brazen criminals are willing to come downtown and shoot and kill innocent victims right in front of our police officers,” Dyer said.

Police said they were looking into what resources to add to secure downtown through the weekend, which is usually a popular hangout spot the Saturday after Halloween, they said.

Some city officials are now considering whether to close off a large section of the downtown area, allowing access from only one point during weekends and special events, Orlando District 5 Commissioner Shan Rose told WKMG.

“We have been working with the businesses and some of the residents downtown to look at options of going to a full, coordinated entry access point,” Rose said.

‘The first thing I did was thank God I’m still here’

Among the two men killed was a University of Central Florida student, the Orlando-based college confirmed to students in an email on Friday shared with CNN.

“Our hearts are heavy with grief as we mourn this tragic, senseless violence, which also resulted in the injury of at least one other student and may have impacted many students who were out celebrating Halloween and in the vicinity of this incident,” the university – the largest in Florida – said in the statement.

Shooting victim Anthony Berry, 20, was grazed by a bullet along his upper scalp – an injury that could’ve been more serious if it had been located a centimeter lower, Orlando Health trauma surgeon Joseph Ibrahim said at a Friday news conference.

“After it happened, the first thing I did was thank God I’m still here,” said Berry, who plans to get into nursing. Berry was walking with a friend when the shooting began.

He recalled seeing the suspected shooter make a quick motion with his hand, so Berry said he ducked before seeing a flash of white light.

His head felt warm and he realized he was injured, Berry said.

“I’m in EMT school, so I just went over trauma assessment. So I had my shirt … held the wound, I knew it was bleeding profusely,” he said. He was later taken to a hospital.

The attack was yet another example of gunfire interrupting ordinary American life, from parade routes to campus homecomings to a night out on the town.

This is the 27th mass shooting in Florida this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive, with more than 400 nationwide. CNN defines a mass shooting as an incident where at least four people were shot, excluding the shooter.

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