ORLANDO, Fla. — An arrest was made in the homicide of a veteran who was shot in downtown Orlando over the weekend, the Orlando Police Department said.
Orlando police said they arrested Shaun Engram, 25, who is also a military veteran.
According to police, the shooting occurred near the intersection of Orange Avenue and Central Boulevard Sunday morning.
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Orlando police responded to the area after hearing gunshots around 2:30 a.m.
Police said a short time later they located the body of a male who was pronounced dead at the scene.
Orlando Police Chief Orlando Rolon said the victim, 34-year-old Joseph Torres, didn’t know Engram.
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“No connection between the two except you have one individual who felt empowered to take the life of another individual,” Rolon said.
Police said Torres was walking towards his car after getting a couple of empanadas at a restaurant, when he encountered a group of people who were standing near a building. When Torres tried to walk through the group, police said Engram blocked the path and began to fight Torres.
“Someone in a group was offended by it. In the process others in the group began beating Mr. Torres and as he was trying to get away the original instigator shot him multiple times,” Rolon said.
Video posted to Twitter shows people running for their lives in the downtown area after hearing the gunshots.
“And I I understand, we we want to think that there’s more to this than he just walked through a crowd,” a detective said. “Something must have happened. That’s what we want to believe. Unfortunately, we have video proof that’s not what occurred. This is honestly all Mr. Torres did.”
The homicide detective on the case broke down crying during a news conference when she said the day Torres was shot was the birthday of his four-year-old daughter.
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He bought a dress that he never had the chance to give to her.
As for Engram, he had a concealed weapons permit and police said he had limited criminal history.
Police said Torres served in Afghanistan and he was a father of three. They said Engram served in the Marine Corps.
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Cox Media Group
