Video Of Fatal Internet Cafe Shooting Released

Seminole County Deputies Search For 2 Other Men

Published On: Oct 28 2011 04:10:51 PM EDT  Updated On: Apr 20 2011 06:12:55 AM EDT
APOPKA, Fla. -

Video of a violent robbery at an Internet cafe shows dozens of people caught in the crossfire when an armed guard fought back and shot and killed a robber.

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Early Tuesday morning, two men stormed into the Allied Veterans Internet Cafe on East State Road 436 in Apopka and started shooting at the security guard, according to the Seminole County Sheriff's Office.

The video shows the guard ducking for cover and then firing back, hitting a man in the back. The people in the getaway car kept shooting at the store, shattering windows and endangering dozens of customers inside.

Gary L. Bryant, 21, was shot in the scuffle. Bryant and another man, both of whom were wearing dark clothing, baseball hats and bandannas, got into a tan Oldsmobile and drove off, deputies said. One of the men fired several shots into the business before driving off, deputies said.

Deputies later found Bryant in the parking lot of the Value Inn off Orange Blossom Trail, authorities said. He was taken to a hospital and was later pronounced dead.

The getaway car was then spotted in Pine Hills, and the two men ditched the vehicle and ran off, deputies said. A search is ongoing. Deputies described the men as possibly in their mid-20s wearing dark clothing.

Deputies are still searching for the people in the car that drove off, but in the meantime, said more people will be hurt unless Internet cafes like the one targeted Tuesday are shut down.

The cafes are typically located in crowded shopping centers where people spend their days and nights shopping, eating out and grocery shopping. Another Allied Veterans Cafe is located at State Road 436 and Red Bug Lake Road, nestled in between a supermarket, a pet shop and a restaurant.

Deputies said in the past three months, three similar Internet cafes have been violently robbed.

"It's definitely calculated in that regard. They definitely use legitimate businesses to surround themselves to provide legitimacy and protect them," Lt. James Clark of the Seminole County Sheriff's Office said.

Deputies said the operators of the Internet cafes purposely pick their locations in busy shopping centers hoping that innocent people at nearby stores will inadvertently and knowingly protect the cafes from crooks after the thousands of dollars in cash they generate.

Deputies said the cafes are fronts for gambling that bring in millions, as well as violent criminals with no regard for families nearby.

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