CNN
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Orlando police are searching for a motive as they investigate a pair of overnight shootings that killed two people and injured six others as tens of thousands of people 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 said.

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 the injured were taken to Orlando Regional Medical Center in critical condition but are now listed as stable, hospital spokeswoman Marlei Martinez told CNN Friday morning. Additionally, a 26-year-old woman was hospitalized after being trampled as bystanders desperately fled the scene.

The suspect opened fire at the first location before fleeing with the crowd, Police Chief Eric Smith said, citing footage of the first shooting. At a second location, police took down the suspect minutes after he opened fire, the video shows.

About 100 officers were working a detail in the area, which allowed for a quick response but didn’t seem to deter the shooter, Smith said.

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

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

Police are investigating whether the victims were random or known to the suspect. The video captures the moment police say the suspect walks past a victim and then turns and shoots.

“Know him? Did I happen to run into someone who is one of his enemies for whatever reason? That’s all part of the case,” Smith said.

The suspect was being interviewed Friday morning as police looked for a motive, Smith said. “This person here has thrown his life away. For what?” Smith said.

Authorities are considering whether to charge the suspect as an adult, State’s Attorney Andrew Bain said. “Obviously, because of the multiple victims and the despicable nature of the crime, there are multiple aggravating factors that would fit into the matrix to charge him as an adult,” Bain said.

The gunfire erupted a few blocks away from the victim’s location 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 crimes and investigations so far:

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

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

“Everybody started running,” she said. “I saw a group of people, you know, enjoying Halloween … and then shots were fired and everyone scattered. I heard so many girls screaming and crying.”

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

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

But this year, the measures used in previous years to check people for guns 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 handgun without a permit, a Smith said.

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

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

Dyer has implemented a state of emergency for businesses in the downtown Orlando entertainment district that will end alcohol sales at midnight and enforce a 1 a.m. to 5 a.m. curfew, he said in a press conference Friday afternoon.

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

Police said they are looking at what resources to add to secure downtown on weekends, which is typically a popular hangout on the Saturday after Halloween, they said.

Some city officials are now considering whether to close off much of downtown, allowing one-stop access during weekends and special events, said Shan Rose, Orlando’s 5th District Commissioner. WKMG.

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

A University of Central Florida student was among the two men killed, the Orlando college confirmed to students in an email to CNN on Friday.

“Our hearts are filled with pain as we mourn this tragic, senseless violence that also resulted in the injury of at least one other student and may affect many students who were celebrating Halloween and in the vicinity of this incident “, the university said. – the largest in Florida – the release says.

Shooting victim Anthony Berry, 20, was grazed by a bullet along his scalp — an injury that could have been worse if it had been located an inch lower, the surgeon said of trauma at Orlando Health, Joseph Ibrahim, at a press conference Friday.

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