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Orlando police investigate deadly shooting

Published  January 2, 2019 11:12pm EST
News
FOX 35 Orlando

ORLANDO, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35) - Orlando has its first homicide of the year, and people in Parramore are outraged.

This comes just two weeks after Police Chief Orlando Rolon talked to FOX 35 about his plans to reduce the number of homicides in the city.   Thirty-six hours into 2019 and already, a man has been gunned down in Parramore.

“I'm hurting. He had a whole life ahead of him. I know his mother's in pain. I think the community is hurting and looking for answers,” said Lowanna Gelzer, who owns a daycare center just a block away from the deadly shooting on Jefferson Street. 

It’s a shooting that somehow involved a red car with a  window blown out. After that car was towed, you could see it had crashed into a car already parked at a nearby home. That home now has bullet holes in it. 

“The community just doesn't want to be painted as a bad community, that everybody in here is helpless,” said Gelzer.

Gelzer says Orlando Police Chief Rolon talked to the victim’s family. City Commissioner Regina Hill also visited the neighborhood. 

“Right now, there's just a lot of angst and I think just pain.” 

The victim’s name has still not been released. Orlando Police are interviewing several people, saying they’re no longer looking for anyone else involved in the shooting.

“This is an isolated incident and I want them to know that this is a safe place to be,” said Orlando City Commissioner Regina Hill.

Hill says right now the city is revitalizing Parramore with housing, education, programming and community policing.

“Parramore's a great place to be. I don't think any community should be stereotyped by isolated incident,” said Hill.

But Lownana Gelzer says incidents like this don’t help.

“You keep hearing how somebody's doing wonderful work but then you hear this.”

Orlando Police are still investigating. 

They have a meeting scheduled for this month to discuss restructuring the department. The goal is to create more crime analyst positions to help prevent homicides like the one that happened Wednesday.