Orlando police say they are still searching for a suspect who shot seven people in downtown Orlando early Sunday morning after a large fight broke out, the latest in a string of violent incidents that have plagued the city’s core over the past year.
Sunday’s shooting took place near Wall Street Plaza and Orange Avenue just after 2 a.m., when bars and clubs in the area were closing.
Six victims were transported to Orlando Regional Medical Center, and another person went to AdventHealth on his or her own, Orlando Police Chief Eric Smith said. All seven victims, however, were in stable condition, he said.
READ THE UPDATE: Orlando mayor announces changes to downtown security on weekends
“At approximately 2:22 this morning, at Orange Avenue and Wall Street, a large fight broke out,” Smith said at a briefing. “One of the combatants pulled out a hand gun and fired into the crowd.”
“We don’t have a suspect at this time,” Smith said. “We’re still in the preliminary part of this investigation, so if anyone has any information please call us at 911 or get with Crimeline [1-800-423-TIPS].”
Smith said OPD is also working with businesses in the area to recover any videos of the incident.
A three-minute video posted to social media shows dozens of people running on Orange Avenue after hearing several gunshots. A couple of minutes later, the video shows police tending to two people lying on the street in front of Wall Street Plaza.
Cali Oberbeck, who was at a nearby bar when the shooting happened, told Orlando Sentinel news partner Spectrum News 13 that she and others hid in the bar after the shooting.
“We just heard gunshots and we were stuck upstairs for like an hour, and when we went downstairs were helping everyone clean up because we had nothing else to do because we were stuck, and we just saw someone being carried on a stretcher,” said she said.
OPD said it has increased security downtown following the shooting.
In a statement posted on Twitter, the agency said, “The Orlando Police Department is committed to ensuring the safety of our residents, businesses and visitors. We have increased safety measures and resources in the area and are already looking at increasing those resources and security measures further. Additionally, we are working with businesses in the area to see if there are any videos of the incident.”
At his briefing, Smith said, “At this time our officers are downtown. The area is safe, there is no further threat downtown.”
There have been several reports of violence in and around Orlando’s downtown bar district over the past year, and Orlando’s city officials said they have plans to rein in its nightlife amid the spike in violence. The proposals call for security in private parking lots, new permits for businesses that stay open after midnight and the music to be turned up.
Orlando’s city council voted July 18 to approve the plans as they try to get a grip on the downtown nightlife atmosphere, which includes more than 100 bars and nightclubs, which draw more than 15,000 people who flood bars and spill into city streets on weekend nights.
In May, OPD responded to a shooting in the 300 block of West Church Street and Liberty Avenue intersection, where officers found a 24-year-old man suffering from a gunshot wound. The victim was rushed to Orlando Regional Medical Center and taken into the surgery in a critical but stable state.
Last Halloween, several people were injured in a pair of shootings amid holiday celebrations in downtown Orlando. One of the shootings, which injured four people, happened near North Orange Avenue and Wall Street. The other shooting, near Lake Eola, injured three people.
In May 2021, a military veteran was shot multiple times and killed after a fight about him walking through a downtown Orlando crowd. Joseph Torres, 34, was gunned down less than two hours after 16-year-old Tavyiah King was fatally shot at a Wawa on John Young Parkway in the west side of the city.
Cassie Armstrong, Annie Martin and Roger Simmons contributed to this report.
