Gunman kills 1, wounds 5 at annual zombie-themed festival in Florida Washington Post




Washington Post
Police are looking for a suspect who fatally shot one person and wounded five at a zombie-themed gathering in Florida that sent a crowd of morbid-looking revelers ducking for cover and running through the packed streets.
The shooting occurred around 11:45 p.m. Saturday in downtown Fort Myers, where the annual ZombiCon festival was taking place, according to the Associated Press. Police descended on the area, clearing out bars and wrapping the block in crime-scene tape while other officers hunted for the gunman, the AP reported.
“We didn’t know if it was real of fake,” Naples resident Haley Delmonte told NBC affiliate WBBH. “We ran, then we were like wait…was that real?”
Fort Myers Police Lt. Victor Medico told the AP that the five wounded victims were hospitalized with injuries that were not life-threatening. The fifth victim — identified as Expavious Tyrell Taylor, 20, of Okeechobee — died at the scene, according to the News-Press.
“Taylor graduated from Clewiston High School in May and was listed on the roster at ASA College (Miami), a junior college in Miami, as an offensive lineman,” the paper reported. “According to Clewiston High’s roster, Taylor was a 6-foot-4, 240-pound offensive lineman/defensive end his senior year for the Tigers.”
ZombiCon was expected to draw as many as 20,000 people, and, because of the swell of festival-goers, police believe someone may have captured the shooter on camera. Medico described the crowd as “shoulder to shoulder,” according to the AP.
“There were a lot of witnesses down here, there were a lot of people taking pictures, videos with their cellphone,” he told the News-Press. “Anything that could help with this investigation would be greatly appreciated.”
ZombiCon has been an annual event for a decade, according to the AP. A statement on the ZombiCon group’s Facebook page said the organizers were saddened by the news and offered prayers for the victims’ families:
The organizers of Zombicon, Pushing DaiZies, Inc. are deeply saddened by the news of what happened within the footprint of our event. We take the safety of our patrons very seriously and take precautions in hiring security and police officers for our annual event. Our prayers go out to the family members and individuals involved in the incident.
Fort Myers Mayor Randy Henderson released a statement expressing “profound sadness” over the shooting.
“We pray for all involved in this senseless act of violence,” the written statement said. “I want to reaffirm our commitment to reign in these criminals and assure all citizens of law enforcement’s relentless pursuit of the perpetrators.”
Witnesses described a chaotic scene that began when they heard as many as 10 pops, according to WBBH. The gunfire scattered the terrified crowd, with many not realizing that a shooting had occurred.
One witness, who asked not to be identified, told WBBH that he was 10 feet from the shooter and that the incident felt surreal.
“It felt like something you would see in a movie, and this was definitely a horror movie,” he said.
The witness said he and several others were rescued by an armed security guard at a nearby hotel who pulled them into an elevator and hid them on the fifth floor.
“I was in shock,” he told WBBH. “I was paralyzed from fear … I honestly thought when I was running toward the hotel, I honestly thought I was going to die … all I was thinking was run.”
Despite being strangers, he said, the tiny group “all turned into family for an hour to protect each other.”
The witness thanked the security guard and offered a few words to the shooter, as well: “He’s not a person, he’s just an animal … he changed thousands of people’s lives in less than five seconds.” see more

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