Orlando Mass Shooting: Six Injured, Two Dead [VIDEO]

Orlando’s NBC affiliate reports:

Two people are dead and six more are injured after an overnight shooting in downtown Orlando, the city’s police department said.

Police responded to a shooting call near East Central Boulevard and North Orange Avenue just at 1:07 a.m. Friday. Minutes later, police said they received another call about shots fired south of Washington Street on North Orange Avenue.

Orlando Police Chief Eric Smith said eight people were shot. Two of the victims died, six were taken to the hospital. Victims’ ages are between 19 and 39, police said. Smith said the suspect in the case was taken into custody. The suspect is 17 years old and has a previous arrest record, according to police.

CBS News reports:

CBS Orlando affiliate WKMG-TV quotes Smith as saying anywhere from 50,000 to 100,000 people could have been downtown at the time of the shooting, judging by views of the huge Halloween crowds. The suspect was identified as a 17-year-old male. Smith said he was arrested for grand theft last year.

There was no word on his hometown, what he was being charged with or the outcome of the other case. But WKMG reports that Orange-Osceola State Attorney Andrew Bain said during the news conference that it was likely the suspect could be charged as an adult, pending further investigation.

Orlando’s Halloween party is the city’s largest public event.