2 dead after Orange County deputy shoots armed man at hotel near Florida Mall, deputies say
ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – Two men are dead and another is hospitalized after an Orange County deputy on Saturday shot an armed man who was confronted by law enforcement at an active crime scene and refused to drop his gun, officials said.
Deputies said before they got to the scene, two men were already discovered shot.
In a briefing at 3 p.m., Undersheriff Mark Canty described the timeline and outcome of what began as deputies’ response to reports of shots fired that began to appear at 12:36 p.m.
“Once on scene, our deputies located one person who had been shot. As they were dealing with that person, they were encountered by another another person with a gun. They challenged that person and asked him to drop the gun,” Canty said. “He refused to comply. At that time, one of our deputies discharged their firearm, striking the suspect.”
In a separate update later Saturday afternoon, deputies said two of those men have died. One is the gunshot victim deputies initially encountered, and the other is the man who was shot by deputies. The third person remains in the hospital, deputies say.
The Orange County Sheriff’s Office first warned the public at 1:22 p.m. to avoid the area of an active crime scene in the area of 7900 S. Orange Blossom Trail, later specified as the Heritage Hotel.
ALERT: Police activity in the area of 7900 S. Orange Blossom Trail. Please avoid the area if possible because of traffic backups and active crime scene.
MEDIA: Staging area in parking lot of 7873 S. Orange Blossom Trail. pic.twitter.com/5TdoK5ZsRW
— Orange County Sheriff’s Office (@OrangeCoSheriff) August 6, 2022
After the man was shot, Canty said a third man was located at the scene with gunshot wounds.
“We also learned that there was another person also shot before our deputies got there. All three people were transported to the hospital for treatment,” Canty said.
No threat to the public remained as of the briefing, and the deputy who shot the man was placed on paid, administrative leave pending an investigation by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, according to Canty.
“I think any time someone pulls a gun and indiscriminately starts shooting at other people, the entire community’s at threat — what’s good about this case is a lot of people called us and our deputies are able to respond to put themselves between innocent civilians and a bad guy,” Canty said. “The people should be confident that the Orange County Sheriff’s Office is out all the time, so we’re gonna go where we’re needed, we’re gonna go where the calls dictate and we’re going to make sure that this community is safe.”
