ORLANDO, Fla. — A man was shot to death Monday morning outside an Orlando office of U.S. Customs and Immigration Services. The alleged shooter was arrested after a car chase that ended in Kissimmee.
Orlando police spokesperson Lt. Diego Toruno said the man was walking with a woman toward the building shortly before 10 a.m. when a vehicle pulled up and an unidentified man opened fire.
The woman escaped without injuries but the man she was with died at the scene, Toruno said.
Orlando police chased the suspect in his vehicle and caught up with him in Kissimmee, where he was arrested. The alleged shooter has not been identified and Toruno did not say if the three people knew each other.
Monday morning was a “nervous and exciting day” for Bonnie Brandao, as she was going to take her citizenship test, one of the last steps to becoming a naturalized citizen in the U.S.
But as she waited in the lobby of the USCIS building, she said she suddenly heard a popping sound, then people screaming.
”Everybody was running, trying to find cover,” Brandao said. “We thought somebody was coming inside to shoot the place up. ... I was kind of panicking.”
She ran to the back of the room, trying to get away from the entrance, the Cape Verde native said. She said her husband, who was waiting outside for her, witnessed the shooting and saw the gunman drive away. He then called her to tell her to stay inside, while she told him to get away from any shooter.
”It was scary, I never experienced anything like that,” Brandao said.
Jesper Helt, of Cocoa Beach, said his wife was outside the building waiting for their daughter, who was inside for a final interview before her citizenship ceremony. Helt said his wife saw the shooting when it happened and called him afterward “very distraught and upset.”
Helt said his daughter was also distressed from the screams outside and the panic among others inside the building.
His daughter was released but Helt said he was still waiting for his wife Monday afternoon to finish being interviewed by police. “All of a sudden, it hits too close to home,” he said.
