A deadly Saturday night shooting at a ZombieCon event in Florida is making major news today..
According to reports, chaos broke out in Fort Myers Florida Saturday night after a shooting left one man dead and four others injured. Crowds of people in zombie attire went screaming through the streets after the deadly incident. This year’s theme: 1980s post-apocalyptic.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-tEs2mp3wY]
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqYzGzCbz1o]
“It cleared out fast and cop cars and ambulances came,” said Savannah Holden, who watched the panic unfold from a hotel balcony.
One man died of a gunshot wound at the scene, police said, and four other people who suffered non-life-threatening injuries were taken to Lee Memorial Hospital for treatment.
The ZombieCon event attracted 20,000 people and has been one of the most popular in the country. The event had its own security but also a police presence.
More from CNN on the sadness expressed by the event organizers after the shooting chaos:
The deadly shooting took place at ZombiCon, a festival that features bands and DJs performing on stage in the downtown area to people dressed in zombie costumes. It draws upward of 20,000 attendees, police said.
Festivalgoers could enter the event through six different points in exchange for a $5 donation to Pushing Daizies, the local artists’ charity that organizes it.
The organizers said they were “deeply saddened by the news of what happened within the footprint of our event.”
“We take the safety of our patrons very seriously and take precautions in hiring security and police officers for our annual event,” they said in a post on the event’s Facebook page. “Our prayers go out to the family members and individuals involved in the incident.”
Some other news accounts with offering similar information at this time, with little factual context being reported on the shooter, the victims, or the reason..
The FACEBOOK page for ZombieCon has lit up with commentary about the shooting.. One Facebook user wrote this,
Last year I was charged $5 dollars to get in and never checked for weapons. I expected this year to be at least checked for weapons, I was prepared to pay… But authorities wait until done shit happen to do something about it. Piss me off when I see innocent people die because sone freak decide to go out and shoot everyone. I blame the security Yeahhhh!!! You need to do something about our community, I’m her for 18 years in this county and I never had to worry about this shit, we were safe. What’s going on? Where’s the sherif department to put some rules in this county? FM Police Department cant deal with this big event and whenever shit happen they have to call sheriffs, what a bull shit. I really fell bad for all the people that was there to have fun and had to go thought all this crap, I’m glad my family wasn’t around, but I was and presence everything. My prayers to the families victims. God bless you