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Fort Myers police released a description of a suspect in the deadly shooting at a zombie festival and said Monday they had heavily scrutinized a bystander's video showing ghoulish-dressed revelers screaming and running in every direction after four gunshots rang out.
No arrests have been made and police have not released a motive in Saturday's shooting, which killed one person and wounded five others. The chaotic scene sent throngs of crowd goers pouring through the streets.
The shooting happened around 11:45 p.m., just 15 minutes before the event officially ended. Large crowds were still in downtown Fort Myers and authorities quickly cleared out nearby bars and set up crime scene tape, while others patrolled the area with rifles searching for a suspect.
"The Fort Myers Police Department would like to thank the many tipsters who are providing information as we vigorously work to solve this heinous crime. Please keep the tips coming as they are invaluable," the department said in a statement.
Authorities said the shooter is a white or possibly Hispanic man in his late teens or early twenties. He was dressed in a black T-shirt and wore a flat-billed black and red ball cap. He was spotted firing a black semi-automatic handgun.
Police also released a video from someone who was at the festival. In the footage, hundreds of people in costume could be seen milling around, some having their photos taken with a person dressed in a large skull head and holding a scepter. Four loud pops can be heard in the video, and then people started to run.
Jill Stancel watched as a crowd of face painted, fake blood-spattered ZombiCon revelers ran through the streets in terror. She quickly gathered her family and several passing strangers inside her family's barbershop and locked the door.
"I was right here," Stancel said. "A mass of people ran screaming and trying to get in the shop."
Fort Myers Police Lt. Victor Medico said Expavious Tyrell Taylor, a 20-year-old who played football at ASA College, a junior college in Miami, died at the scene. Four others were taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries and one additional victim refused medical attention, authorities said.
Authorities were reviewing surveillance videos from nearby restaurants and shops in search of clues.
Jasmine Gaure, Taylor's girlfriend, told the newspaper they had only been at the festival for about 45 minutes. They were standing in line for a drink and hit the ground with everyone else when they heard the shots. When everyone raised their heads a few minutes later, Taylor was motionless, still wearing his creepy clown mask.
Gaure, 26, said Taylor was interested in forensic science and had worked a funeral home preparing bodies for burial to get experience. He was hoping to become a mortician.
"He was heading in the right direction, he was going to be somebody," Gaure said.
ASA football coach Ernest Jones told the newspaper Taylor "stood out." He was a walk-on player and was one of 6 out of 200 who made the cut in an August tryout.
The annual festival had been expected to draw more than 20,000 fans dressed as zombies.
A statement on the ZombiCon Facebook page said organizers were saddened by the news and the group takes the safety of its patrons very seriously.
ZombiCon has been a popular event for nearly a decade, but some local residents and business owners have not welcomed the crowd of costumed revelers in the street dressed as limping, bloated, degrading corpses. One restaurant posted signs warning visitors that ZombiCon participants were not welcome. "Quarantined. No Zombies allowed," the signs read.
Several members from a religious group also picketed the event this weekend.
Mayor Randall P. Henderson Jr. said the shooting would speed up plans to install security cameras throughout downtown. The ZombiCon shooting is the latest of several shootings, which the mayor said are difficult to prevent because they are often random and late at night. Yet he said the cameras would make it easier to catch criminals quickly.
"Sadly, we're moving in that direction. We need to be way more vigilant to keep citizens safe," he said.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) —
Officials say a 4-foot-long boa constrictor has gotten loose on a Philadelphia bus, leading to an emergency evacuation.
Transit authority officials say a man carrying a boa constrictor boarded the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority bus just before 3 p.m. Sunday.
The snake's owner, 26-year-old Koron Riley, tells The Philadelphia Inquirer that he had the snake draped around his neck and hidden under his jacket.
The bus had to be evacuated after the snake somehow got loose and coiled itself under a seat. A SEPTA mechanic was able to dismantle the seat, allowing a transit police officer to retrieve the snake and return it to Riley.
SEPTA policy allows riders to bring service animals or small, contained pets onto trains or buses.
Police haven't decided if charges will be filed.
FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) —
A shooting at the annual ZombiCon gathering in Florida has left one person dead and five more injured, causing a chaotic scene that sent throngs of zombie-dressed revelers running through the streets, police said Sunday.
The shooting happened around 11:45 p.m. Saturday, just 15 minutes before the event officially ended. Large crowds were still in the streets and authorities quickly cleared out nearby bars and set up crime scene tape, while others patrolled the area with rifles searching for a suspect.
Fort Myers Police Lt. Victor Medico said Expavious Tyrell Taylor, a 20-year-old who played football at a local junior college, died at the scene, but no other details about his death were released. Four others were taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries and one additional victim refused medical attention, authorities said.
Authorities said the suspect or suspects are still at large and did not release any information about a possible motive.
"There were a lot of witnesses down here, there were a lot of people taking pictures, videos with their cellphone," Medico told the News-Press (http://newspr.es/1jMJamf). "Anything that could help with this investigation would be greatly appreciated."
Police did not immediately return email and phone call messages on Sunday seeking more details. Medico told reporters the agency had been inundated with national media requests and would not be making any comments "as we tirelessly investigate this incident and gather as many facts as possible."
The annual festival had been expected to draw more than 20,000 fans dressed as zombies, the newspaper said. Medico said the scene was described as "shoulder to shoulder."
Jill Stancel said she heard the shots and then saw people running from the downtown barbershop owned by her family. She and her family let several frightened witnesses inside the shop, where they quickly locked the door.
"I was right here," she said. "A mass of people ran screaming and trying to get in the shop."
Stancel was raised in the area and said she doesn't think the downtown area is dangerous, but said the shooting will be in the back of her mind at future events.
"There are people dressed up and some walking around with guns. How do you know they aren't real? Any event I come to, this will be in the back of my mind."
Authorities were reviewing surveillance videos from restaurants and shops to help them find the suspect or suspects.
A statement on the ZombiCon Facebook page said organizers were saddened by the news and the group takes the safety of its patrons very seriously.
ZombiCon has been a popular event for nearly a decade, but some local residents and business owners have not welcomed the crowd of costumed revelers in the street dressed as limping, bloated, degrading corpses. One restaurant posted signs warning visitors that ZombiCon participants were not welcome. "Quarantined. No Zombies allowed," the signs read.
Several members from a religious group also picketed the event this weekend.
Mayor Randall P. Henderson Jr. said the shooting would speed up plans to install security cameras throughout downtown. The ZombiCon shooting is the latest of several shootings, which the mayor said are difficult to prevent because they are often random and late at night. Yet he said the cameras would make it easier to catch criminals quickly.
"Sadly, we're moving in that direction. We need to be way more vigilant to keep citizens safe," he said.