Horrific new details about UCF student’s death in Orlando mass shooting
A newly released report on Orlando's deadly Halloween mass shooting indicates that one of the two victims was shot during a confrontation between the alleged shooter and a witness, rather than being targeted during the incident.
The Thursday release of the arrest affidavit for accused gunman Jaylen Edgar offered little indication of what led up to the mayhem that wounded seven people in addition to killing two. But it tells a chilling tale of how the carnage unfolded.
Moments after shooting 25-year-old Tyrek Hill — a tow truck driver who was his first victim — in the face around 1 a.m. Friday, Edgar, 17, and his companions continued their way through the crowd downtown before pushing past another man and confronting one of his friends. The friend, 20-year-old Anthony Berry, stretched out his hand thinking he was next, according to the seven-page affidavit included in Orange County court filings.
The report said that prompted an altercation between Berry and Edgar in front of Sly Fox Bar. An "unknown individual" tried separating the two, but then Edgar pulled out a 9 mm handgun and opened fire, grazing Berry and killing Timothy Schmidt Jr. , 19, a UCF student.
Edgar is charged as an adult with second-degree murder in the deaths of Hill and Schmidt. At a news conference Friday at Orlando Regional Medical Center hours after the shooting, Berry said the confrontation escalated quickly and he saw a white flash once Edgar pulled the trigger.
"After it happened, the first thing I did was thank God I'm still here. I have another opportunity to achieve my goals in life," Berry told reporters.
Edgar was arrested by Orlando police officers as he tried to follow the panicked crowd out of the area. Seven people survived injuries from gunfire while an eighth was trampled as partygoers fled the scene — their ages ranging from 19 to 39.
Edgar told police he found the gun "early in the day at another location" and met with a friend downtown before joining another group, according to the affidavit. Though witnesses described Edgar's confrontation with Berry, the report doesn't detail what prompted the teen to shoot Hill, who paramedics pronounced dead at the scene.
Surveillance video released hours after the shooting showed Edgar walking past Hill near the corner of North Orange Avenue and Central Boulevard when he pulled out his gun and shot him in the head at point-blank range. It's not clear from video if they exchanged words during the brief confrontation.
Edgar then made his way from Orange Avenue toward Washington Street, where he fired more shots into the crowd. According to the affidavit, crime scene investigators found nine bullet casings at the scene.
Nearly half an hour before the shootings, one of the officers at the scene said he grabbed Edgar off an Orlando Fire Department vehicle after finding him lying in a stretcher "while people photographed him," according to the report.
In an interview with police described in the affidavit, Edgar said he was under stress, "affected by numerous deaths of loved ones he has had to witness in his life."
Orlando police Chief Eric Smith said around 100 officers were patrolling downtown the night of the shooting but their presence was beefed up in the days after the shooting. Mayor Buddy Dyer also declared a weeklong state of emergency prohibiting downtown bars from selling alcohol after midnight while placing the area under a 1 a.m. curfew.
Dyer ended the state of emergency Thursday, a day earlier than his initial weeklong order ahead of the Electric Daisy Carnival coming to town this weekend. The famed music festival is expected to draw thousands to Tinker Field, located minutes away from downtown.
Starting next week, city officials plan to implement what they say is a longer-term plan to rein in violent crime downtown: Ending the long tradition of closing off Orange Avenue to traffic on weekend nights and instead allowing vehicles to drive on its southbound lanes.
As for Edgar, he's additionally charged with one count of attempted murder. Orange-Osceola State Attorney Andrew Bain told reporters Monday he's leaving additional charges up to a grand jury while charging him with grand theft of a vehicle stemming from an unresolved arrest from last year. No new information was gleaned from court filings detailing accusations against him in that case.
"It's a blatant execution in the middle of our streets," Bain said about the shooting. "That's something that we can't have in our community."
