Florida prosecutor says 17-year-old suspect in Halloween fatal shootings will be charged as adult

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — A 17-year-old suspect in a shooting that killed two people and wounded seven others during a Halloween celebration that drew 75,000 revelers to the streets of downtown Orlando, Florida, last week has been charged as an adult, a prosecutor said Monday.

Jaylen Edgar was charged as an adult with two second-degree murder charges and a count of attempted murder, though the case will be presented before a grand jury, which could decide to up the charges to first-degree murder, said State Attorney Andrew Bain.

“This decision was not made lightly, and only after reviewing all the available evidence,” Bain said at a news conference in Orlando.

Edgar is accused of opening fire during a Halloween street celebration that drew tens of thousands of costumed revelers to downtown Orlando’s bar and restaurant district early Friday. Besides the two men who were killed, an additional seven people were wounded and a woman was trampled as people fled in terror, according to the Orlando Police Department.

One of the Halloween celebrants killed and another who was injured were students at the University of Central Florida in Orlando.

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Edgar was tackled at the scene by some of the 100 police officers who were patrolling downtown Orlando.

Among the factors that went into the decision to charge Edgar as an adult were “the brazen nature of the crime” and the fact that multiple people were shot, the prosecutor said.

“To shoot into a massive crowd like that shows a total disregard for life and the only recourse is to charge the defendant as an adult because it fits the egregious nature of the crime,” Bain said. “This was a blatant execution in the middle of our streets, and so that’s something that we can’t have in our community.”

There was no online court docket for Edgar so it couldn’t be determined if he had an attorney. Moreover, the case originated in juvenile court, where records are not public. An email to the Orange County Public Defender’s office seeking information was not immediately returned Monday.

Bain wouldn’t disclose whether authorities knew of a motive and said detectives were still determining how he obtained the handgun.

The Halloween celebration, which is one of the biggest events in downtown Orlando each year, took place about 10 miles (16 kilometers) from Orlando’s tourist district, and it primarily attracts central Florida residents.

In response to the shootings, Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer last Friday issued a local state of emergency for the downtown entertainment area. Under the weeklong order, alcohol sales will end at midnight, and a curfew will be enforced from 1 a.m. to 5 a.m.

During past Halloween celebrations, police would close off downtown streets and use dogs to screen for weapons as people walked past entry points, but they stopped doing that after Florida lawmakers passed a permit-less concealed carry law in 2023.