Shootings kill 2 and wound 6 during Halloween celebrations in Orlando

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Two people were killed and six others were wounded in two shootings by a single gunman that took place among thousands of costumed revelers during a Halloween street celebration in downtown Orlando early Friday, authorities said.

Officers responded to a report of shots fired in the city’s downtown bar and restaurant district shortly after 1 a.m. as costumed celebrants fled on foot. A second shooting minutes later happened within a short distance of officers and they quickly made an arrest, the city's police Chief Eric Smith said during a briefing Friday morning.

The six wounded, who range in age from 19 to 39, were transported to a hospital for treatment and were in stable condition, Smith said.

A 17-year-old male suspect was taken into custody, said Smith, who showed video from street security cameras and a police body camera showing the two shootings and the suspect's arrest at the second shooting location.

After the first shooting, police used security video to put out a description of the suspect, but the second shooting happened near police and officers saw the attack, Smith said.

“Whatever his mindset was, he was going to shoot no matter what,” Smith said, noting that the suspect's motivation is part of the ongoing investigation.

A handgun was recovered at the arrest scene and there are no other suspects, he said.

There were more than 100 officers patrolling the crowds estimated between 50,000 and 100,000 people who were out celebrating Halloween on Thursday night and early Friday morning in what is one of the biggest events in downtown Orlando each year, Smith said.

The Halloween celebration took place about 10 miles (16 kilometers) from Orlando's tourist district, and it primarily attracts central Florida residents. Revelers usually also celebrate by the tens of thousands in downtown Orlando on the Saturday after Halloween.

During past Halloween celebrations, police officers would close off downtown streets and use dogs to screen for weapons as people walked past entry points, but they changed their procedures after Florida lawmakers passed a permit-less concealed carry law in 2023, the police chief said.

“You can carry a weapon on a public street, if you meet certain criteria,” Smith said. “So then that changed, we could no longer do that.”

Florida State Attorney Andrew Baine said charging the teen suspect as an adult is a possibility but his agency would await further information from the police investigation.

In this body camera image provided by the Orlando Police Department shows police apprehending a suspect after responding to a shooting that took place among crowds during Halloween celebrations early Friday, Nov. 1. 2024 in Orlando, Fla. (Orlando Police Department via AP)

In this body camera image provided by the Orlando Police Department shows police responding to a shooting that took place among crowds during Halloween celebrations early Friday, Nov. 1. 2024 in Orlando, Fla. (Orlando Police Department via AP)

Police investigate the scene of two shootings that took place among crowds during Halloween celebrations early Friday, Nov. 1. 2024 in Orlando, Fla. (WFTV via AP)

Police investigate the scene of two shootings that took place among crowds during Halloween celebrations early Friday, Nov. 1. 2024 in Orlando, Fla. (WFTV via AP)

MARIETTA, Ga. (AP) — Election officials in Georgia’s third-largest county said they’re late in mailing more than 3,000 absentee ballots to voters just a few days before the election.

Election officials in Cobb County north of Atlanta were using U.S. Postal Service express mail and UPS overnight delivery in an effort to deliver the ballots on time. Mail-in ballots must be returned by Election Day on Tuesday in order to be counted.

“We want to maintain voter trust by being transparent about the situation,” county Board of Elections Chairwoman Tori Silas said in a statement Thursday. “We are taking every possible step to get these ballots to the voters who requested them."

Silas blamed the delay on faulty equipment and a late surge in absentee ballot requests during the week before the Oct. 25 deadline.

The late absentee ballots were being mailed with prepaid express return envelopes, which election officials said would ensure they could be returned on time

Georgia voters have shattered early turnout records since advance voting began Oct. 15. As of Thursday, more than 3.6 million ballots, reflecting more than half the state's active voters, had been cast, according to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger's office. The tally includes more than 226,000 absentees.

In Cobb County, election officials said voters whose awaiting absentee ballots were late could still vote in-person on the final day of early voting Friday or on Tuesday. The county's election headquarters planned to stay open to accept hand-delivered absentees through the weekend and on Monday.

However, the Board of Elections said that more than 1,000 of the absentee ballots being mailed late were being sent to people outside of Georgia.

A county spokesperson, Ross Cavitt, declined to comment Friday on what number, if any, of the late ballots still needed to be mailed, citing pending litigation.

Two civil rights groups, the American Civil Liberties Union and the Southern Poverty Law Center, filed a lawsuit Friday asking a Cobb County judge to extend the deadline for counting absentees postmarked by Election Day to Nov 8, three days later.

The complaint was filed on behalf of three Cobb County voters who said they still had not received absentee ballots by mail as of Friday. The lawsuit said that although county election officials “have taken some steps to help alleviate the problem, those actions are not nearly enough to safeguard their right to vote.”

A woman holds up her sticker that signifies that she has officially voted in the state of Georgia, Thursday, Oct. 31, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Jason Allen)