ORLANDO, Fla. — Residents of Orlando are conflicted after Halloween night's deadly shooting sparked a temporary state of emergency in the downtown entertainment district.

What You Need To Know

  • Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer announced state of emergency for downtown Orlando

  • Alcohol sales will be required to end at midnight, followed by a curfew from 1 a.m. to 5 a.m. over the next week

  • Residents in downtown say they believe the protocols will have a bigger impact on local business rather than detouring crime

  • The state of emergency follows a deadly shooting in downtown Orlando Halloween night into the early morning hours. The shooting left two people dead, and several others were sent to the hospital with injuries

Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer implemented measures that see alcohol sales end at midnight and a curfew from 1 a.m. to 5 a.m. until Friday, Nov. 8.

“A curfew could definitely make things better,” said downtown resident Derrick Gaines. “But most people like to do things that are against the rules. So, it’s like, do I really think it will change it? Not necessarily, people are going to find a way to do what they want to do.”

Gaines has only been living downtown for a few months. He shared that sirens and some form of chaos seems to come with the territory, however, he was surprised to learn of the shooting after canceling his plans to visit downtown Halloween night.

“My girlfriend and I were planning to go out that night, but I had a bad feeling,” he said. “I said, you know what, let’s stay inside I have a bad feeling tonight.”

The shooting resulted in the deaths of two people. Several others were sent to Orlando Regional Medical Center with injuries as well, but thousands were sent running for their lives. 

“I was kind of in disbelief,” Gaines said, after learning about what happened. “You know it’s just very unfortunate.”

Dyer held a press conference Friday afternoon, where he said that degree of callousness is what sparked the curfew enforcement over the next week, as he shared his frustration with yet another violent crime downtown.

“I am frustrated to have to stand in front of you all and again share the news that we have senselessly lost another life due to gun violence, and that’s why we are taking this very serious measure of ending alcohol sales at midnight and implementing a curfew for 1 a.m.,” said Dyer.

While some people like Gaines that live in the area say the shooting has not changed their feelings about being downtown, one patron with ties to local bars and clubs said that he believes these measures will cause a great deal of damage to Orlando’s nightlife.

“I think the curfew is only going to hurt the business owners, it’s not going to detour the violence because whenever they decide to lift it, people are going to do what they want to do,” said Chris Jackson.

Jackson said he has several friends that own clubs downtown and some looking to bring businesses downtown, however with the recent shooting and now the state of emergency protocols he believes local business owners are being punished.

“Things like this are going to happen,” he said. “But we can’t allow it to let us live in fear.”

Jackson said his hope is that the new measures will not be enforced longer than originally announced for the sake of economic impacts. At this time, the curfew is in effect from 1 a.m. until 5 a.m. for the next week.