The State Attorney’s Office for the Ninth Judicial Circuit said the 17-year-old suspect in the mass killing in downtown Orlando on November 1 has been charged as an adult.
Nine people were shot while out having fun on Halloween in downtown Orlando early in the morning of November 1. Two men were killed, seven were hurt, and a woman was hurt when she tried to run to safety and was stepped on.
Shooting in downtown OrlandoThe shooter was quickly identified as 17-year-old Jaylen Dewayne Edgar by Orlando police, who arrested him right after the killing.
Edgar is now officially an adult and is being charged with two counts of Second Degree Murder with a Firearm and one count of Attempted Murder with a Firearm. These charges were brought by information. Since the investigation is still going on, more charges will be brought.
According to Florida law, all first-degree murder charges must be brought by a grand jury. The State Attorney planned to soon bring that charge to the attention of the grand jury.
The defendant was charged as an adult because of several factors that make the crime more serious, such as the fact that multiple people were shot in the middle of downtown while they were out enjoying Halloween.
“This choice was not made without thinking and only after looking at all the evidence,” said Andrew Bain, the state attorney general. “I have looked over all the records and video evidence in this case, and there is no doubt that this person should be charged as an adult.”
Police in Orlando say that 75,000 people were in downtown Orlando the night of the shooting. It shows a complete lack of concern for life to shoot into a huge crowd like that, and the suspect can only be charged as an adult because of how bad the crime was.
The investigation will continue with prosecutors working with the OPD. The OPD has asked the public to send in any videos or pictures from the night of the shooting that could help with the investigation.
The non-emergency number for OPD is 321-235-5300. People who have knowledge can call this number.
The OPD probe found that at about 1:07 a.m. on November 1, officers were called to the area of Central Blvd. and Orange Ave. to reports of shots being fired.
Within minutes, police saw a second shooting happen on Orange Avenue south of Washington Street. Eight people were shot in total.
