ORLANDO, Fla. — A 17-year-old faces murder charges after a pair of downtown Orlando shootings during crowded Halloween celebrations early Friday ended with two people dead and six others injured.

The suspect, who the Orlando Police Department identified as 17-year-old Jaylen Edgar, was tackled and handcuffed as he tried to follow the fleeing crowd from the scene. He faces two charges of first-degree murder and six counts of attempted murder, OPD announced Friday afternoon.

Police Chief Eric Smith said police were on scene at 1:07 a.m. when officers reported shots fired at Central Boulevard and Orange Avenue. Minutes later, more shots were witnessed south of Washington Street on Orange Avenue where a suspect was taken into custody.

“At this time, we are aware of eight total victims. Two are now deceased, six other individuals who were shot or were transported to (Orlando Regional Medical Center) for further treatment.” Smith said in a short press conference from police headquarters. The two men killed, whose names have not been released, were 25 and 19, police later said.

Video footage released by OPD contained snippets of images from the shootings.

One taken from a surveillance camera on Central Boulevard showed the shooter identified as Edgar firing a single shot at a man’s head from point-blank range just seconds after appearing to exchange words. Police have not said what prompted Edgar to shoot.

Other surveillance video from Washington Street isn’t quite as clear but shows the moment panicking crowds began fleeing in all directions as several people, who were apparently shot, dropped to the ground.

“I saw him shoot, I saw him shoot,” an officer is heard saying on body-worn camera footage. Edgar — who said, “It wasn’t me, it wasn’t me,” as he was swarmed by cops — was wearing a yellow shirt, light blue jeans and backpack, similar to what the shooter was wearing in the Central Boulevard surveillance video.

OPD has not released the names of victims, but Smith said survivors were in stable condition. There was a ninth victim along with those who were shot — a 26-year-old woman injured after being trampled by the crowd.

“In light of this tragic incident, the Orlando Police Department would like to remind the community that safety is our top priority,” the department said in a news release. “Nearly 100 officers were patrolling downtown at the time of the shooting, due to the large crowd expected on Halloween. The Orlando Police Department is also assessing the need for increased patrols downtown this weekend.”

Jordan Booker, 27, was at The Monkey Bar on Wall Street when he and friends saw a crowd of panicked partygoers fleeing the area. After going downstairs, he heard at least two gunshots as people evacuated nearby bars.

In the aftermath, his group hustled back to his car. It took longer than usual, as the car was parked near Orange Avenue and Washington Street and blocked by police at the scene. OPD said Orange Avenue was reopened Friday morning.

“They already had the guy in custody at the time,” Booker said. “I didn’t see him at all; I saw a couple of the victims that looked like they were shot. It was pretty chaotic.”

This marks Florida’s 27th mass shooting in 2024 and the third in Orange County, according to the Gun Violence Archive. The nonprofit defines mass shootings as four or more people either injured or killed in a single event — not including the shooter.

Orange County deputies investigated the most recent mass shooting in April, which left one dead and three injured after gunfire was reported on Gamma Drive in Lockhart.

Before that, Orlando police in February investigated a shooting near Iron Wedge Drive and South Lake Orlando Parkway that killed one — 21-year-old James William III — and injured six others. Court records show no one has been charged with killing William despite several arrests connected to the shooting, including for attempted murder.

On Friday, a news release from Orlando nonprofit No Limit Counseling and Education announced it’s offering free mental health counseling to anyone affected by the latest shooting. In-person sessions were offered at the Downtown Recreation Center in Parramore until 2 p.m. but telehealth sessions are provided “as necessary.”

Anyone in need of those services can call 407-906-0139 or email Intake@NLCounseling.org.

“During times of crisis, it’s essential that we come together as a community to support one another,” CEO Pernell Bush said in a statement.

City leaders have turned a sharp eye to downtown safety surrounding its nightlife in recent years, which was spurred by several high-profile shootings.

In August 2022, on Orange Avenue near Wall Street Plaza, seven people were shot and wounded just after 2 a.m. About a year prior, a U.S. Army veteran was murdered on Orange Avenue about 100 feet from where OPD officers were on patrol.

The city has since flooded the downtown area with cops. On weekend nights when thousands of patrons converge on the neighborhood packed with nightlife, bars and nightclub owners now pay for up to 35 off-duty officers to patrol the Downtown Entertainment Area. They also require security and lighting in private parking lots along with requiring bars and clubs to turn down the volume, enforce occupancy limits and wand patrons for weapons.

Following the 2022 mass shooting, Dyer implemented “controlled entry” checkpoints in the neighborhood — staffed with police dogs and metal detectors to find and confiscate weapons. It mirrored a program the city used previously for major holidays like Halloween and New Year’s Eve, when the neighborhood attracts even larger crowds.

Since then, state lawmakers changed gun laws allowing permitless carry of firearms in public spaces, making such a checkpoint impractical now, Smith said.

“When the law changed and basically you can carry a weapon on a public street as long as you meet certain criteria … when the law changed we can no longer do that,” he said. “With that many people down there we have no idea what somebody has on their person.”

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