5 men shot in Orlando Thanksgiving weekend, 2 dead

23-year-old murdered outside nightclub, 27-year-old shot at apartment complex

ORLANDO, Fla. – On Monday morning at the Maxwell Terrace apartments on John Young Parkway at Colonial Drive, residents were still stunned by what happened to their 27-year-old neighbor in the middle of the afternoon on Saturday.

 

"It's crazy," said Mark Kujawan, who's lived at Maxwell Terrace for the past eight months. "You're minding your own business, someone barges down your door and puts four bullets in your head. How do you explain that to the son's mother, that her son is being buried? How do you explain this? How do police explain this?"

 

Orlando police said Lee Baldwin Jr. was murdered on his doorstep.

 

"I was watching the football game, heard a pop pop, and then within 15 seconds a shadow went by my window, so I knew it was somebody running from the gunfire," Tyrone Robinson said.

 

Police have not said if they've identified suspects.

 

Sunday night, a man was shot in front of the Days Inn on south Orange Blossom Trail in Orlando and taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

 

Sunday evening, just after 8 p.m., two men were shot at 1505 Crooms Ave. near Orlando's Camping World Stadium. They are in critical but stable condition at the hospital.

 

Early Sunday morning, 23-year-old Richard Burgos was murdered outside a downtown Orlando nightclub on Central Boulevard at Orange Avenue, according to police. Burgos died at the hospital. Police said two men who fled were arrested on unrelated charges.

 

And Saturday afternoon, Baldwin was shot to death at the Maxwell Apartments.

 

In all, five men were shot, two fatally, within Orange County and Orlando City limits over Thanksgiving weekend.

 

"It's ridiculous, ain't it? Who knows what's next?" Kujawan said. "This is Orlando, people come here, spend money, go to Disney, enjoy the weather; now no one wants to spend money with all this going on."

 

Kujawan and other neighbors told stories of how they live in fear.

 

"You can't walk down the street without someone trying to gun you down. I never leave here at night," Kujawan said.

 

"It's crazy, terrifying, you don't know what's going to happen," said Lee, a Maxwell Terrace tenant who declined to give his last name. "They could knock on your door and blow you away."

 

"Is it going to be closer to where I live or is it going to be me next time?" wondered Dorothy Campbell, who's lived at Maxwell Terrace for a year. "Am I going to catch a stray bullet or what's gonna happen."

 

Orlando police said they understand the community is concerned about security.

 

"The Orlando Police Department wants to ensure all of our residents and visitors that their safety is our number one priority and we have taken steps to ensure that safety with increased presence throughout the city and at special events," said Wanda Miglio, Orlando Police Department spokesperson.

 

"We continue to work with our nightlife stakeholder businesses in the areas of safety and security.  In addition we do training with several of these businesses throughout the year. It's important to note that our security measures are both visible and not visible. So aside from squad cars or officers in uniform or on bicycles or horses, there will be other resources out there that are less identifiable. And most importantly, we would ask people to remember: 'If you see something, say something, and we will do something.'"

 

Orange County Sheriff's Office spokesman Jeff Williamson sent News 6 this statement:

 

"The Orange County Sheriff's Office remains vigilant as it relates to response, investigation, and in conjunction with SAO - prosecution of both misdemeanor and felony crimes that take place in Orange County," wrote Williamson. "For example on Thursday Night deputies and detectives gave up Thanksgiving dinner with family to respond to an attempted murder (attached) case with heavy narcotic influence (this was sent to your desk on Thursday). Three violent felons were taken off the street. There are many cases like this that media takes no interest in but reveals the unbelievable heroism of our deputies.  On Wednesday night a deputy gave chase to suspects who were in the midst of a burglary to an occupied dwelling.  The deputy chased one of the suspects down and was able to effect an arrest, putting his own person at risk; our men and women do this every day.

In 2015  the Orange County Sheriff's Office responded to 1,155,668 calls for service, (doing the simple math that breaks down to 3,166 calls for service each day).  The men and women of the Orange County Sheriff's Office work tirelessly to keep the 1.1 million citizens, and over 62 million guests that come this area, safe. All while staying committed to valuing diversity, being fiscally sound and embracing technology. I am sure that any fair minded person, citizen or otherwise, would see this as getting GREAT results."   

 

Sheriff Jerry Demings gave an update on the Violent Crime Initiative Task Force, which formed in May. 

 

"The task force has met three times," Williamson said. "They will meet again the first of the year to formulate the last of their proactive plan. They know it would take some time to meet and execute a successful operation." 

 


About the Author:

Erik von Ancken anchors and reports for News 6 and is a two-time Emmy award-winning journalist in the prestigious and coveted "On-Camera Talent" categories for both anchoring and reporting.

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