Video: Fla. Police Officers Exchange Gunfire with Suspects

Sept. 23, 2021
Two Orlando police officers didn't have a chance to get out of their unmarked vehicle before three suspects began opening fire at them.

By Grace Toohey

Source Orlando Sentinel

Orlando Police Department officers exchanged gunfire Tuesday afternoon with three people, one of whom was wounded but survived, police Chief Orlando Rolón said.

Rolón said two officers in an unmarked car approached the three people, who were standing on a sidewalk about 1 p.m. at Jacobs Place and South Lakeland Avenue, a few blocks from Camping World Stadium.

Before the officers could exit the car, they got into a shootout with the three.

Rolón said it wasn’t immediately clear who fired the first shots, but said officers on OPD’s Special Enforcement Division fired from within their vehicle.

He said one of the three people was found shortly after the shooting with injuries in his arm and leg. The wounded teen, who was detained, is “expected to be OK,” according to the chief.

The agency said officers have since located a second suspect but are still looking for the third person involved.

Rolón said officials believe all three were teenagers. It wasn’t immediately clear if all three teens fired at the unmarked car.

“Right now, we’re kind of puzzled as to how this happened,” he said.

The two officers, who both fired their weapons in the shooting, were not injured, Rolón said, which he added was “very fortunate.”

“We’re very surprised the officers were not hit in this shooting incident,” Rolón said, mentioning that the unmarked vehicle was hit with multiple rounds.

He said the two officers “never had a chance to get out of their car.”

Photos of the police vehicle released by the department show five bullet holes in the front windshield of the Jeep Grand Cherokee and two on the passenger’s side window.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating the shooting.

Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call Crimeline at 1-800-423-8477 or OPD’s non-emergency line at 321-235-5300.

Staff writer Lisa Maria Garza contributed to this report.

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©2021 Orlando Sentinel.

Visit orlandosentinel.com.

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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