Shooting at Wet and Wild

[JT3000]

I can say I regret living here.

Feel free to leave. :wave:

 

[mkt]

Feel free to leave. :wave:

What a well thought out and contructive response to tell someone over the internet who you likely have never met, nor know any of the reasoning behind their statement.

 

[The Mom]

Let's keep things civil, please. Thank you.

 

[TubaGeek]

Oh, The Mom. How you mother us.

 

[kimmychad]

when we stayed on international drive we were going to take the iride bus until we saw who would be riding with us. thanked god we rented a car

 

[ChrisFL]

Have things really deteriorated in that area. I just realized that I have not been on I-Drive and surrounding area for years. I remember certain parts of it were barren land when I was a kid. We used to stay at a marriott that was near wet n wild but it was nice.

This had nothing to do with the area, those were kids from Pompano Beach.

I lived in Orlando last year and there's only a few bad areas, none of them near the tourist sections (unless you consider Downtown one of them)

 

[sknydave]

There are some bad areas just past Universal after MetroWest

 

[jakeman]

Racism is alive and well and living in Florida.

Who said that Florida wasn't part of the South?

Thanks for sterotyping!

 

[crazydaveh]

I drive is just a road full of hotels, restaurants, shops, and tourists. People from all over, including Orlando, beat the heck out of it every day either working or being on vacation. Does it need a refurb? Sure, but so does many other areas of Orlando. In terms of bad places here in town, it's not scary, there are better and worse places to stay, but anything can happen anywhere.

Will this incident keep me from going to Wet N Wild or any other park? No. However, if I was at WnW today and saw the masses of teens, I probably would have gone to Guest Services and asked for a return ticket or just ate the money spent because it sounds like there were problems throughout the day leading up to the gunfire.

It sounds like WnW and OPD had extra staff on hand to deal with the extra people in the gate, from the 11pm reports, when the group was asked to leave, they couldn't get into their buses because their bus drivers were not there. That's apparently (according to channel 2 and 9) when the real problems stared.

Just remember, as I said earlier, anything can happen anywhere at anytime. Unfortunately, this includes theme parks.

 

[MSTCrow]

I'm not out to correct anyone, but I-Drive is in fairly bad shape as far as safety. Police cite the area as a target for gangs, especially the northern stretch near Wet n' Wild and Universal. Crime stats in several news reports say "there were 95 robberies, 133 burglaries, 94 aggravated assaults and more than 1200 thefts along I-Drive" last year. Police are bringing in an outside specialist specifically to target the problems on I-drive (citations below).

There ARE significantly worse areas for crime, but none of those are as economically vital to the city. Worry about the tin and copper once you're sure the gold is safe.

All in all, we're straying a bit from the original post. The fact is the shooting involved "out of towners." I'm not sure a bunch of hot headed kids from out of town are indicative of the city's crime problems or even the problems on I-drive. Could extreme violence happen at Disney? Of course. It could also happen at a white as rice suburban mall (happened in Kansas last December) , an excellent school (Columbine, Paducah, the list goes on), a very secure sporting event (Atlanta Olympics) and anywhere else there is a combination of bad judgment and weapons.

We can either live in fear or...have a Dole whip and enjoy life to the fullest, knowing each day could be our last whether it's because of health, nature, war, tragedy, or some buffoon with a gun.


http://www.myfoxorlando.com/myfox/p...n=1&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=3.2.1
http://www.bizjournals.com/orlando/stories/2008/04/07/daily19.html?ana=from_rss

 

[JustPlainBill]

It is beyond my understanding why anyone feels the need to bring a gun to a water park. Unless, now we have to,to defend ourselves, (shudders at the thought of it.)

 

[unkadug]

Thanks for sterotyping!

I'm a southerner as well, so I know from where I speak.

 

[DMC-12]

It is beyond my understanding why anyone feels the need to bring a gun to a water park. Unless, now we have to,to defend ourselves, (shudders at the thought of it.)

One never knows. However... it should keep the line jumpers and tube snatchers at bay. :lol::lookaroun

Kidding kidding.

 

[Ilovewishes]

OMG! America amazes me everytime I hear about one of these shootings! Were the two rival schools not aware that they were going to be in the same place at the same time?

I'm from Britain and we have rival schools but not to this level! My school was rivals with the school across the road and after a couple of fights (name calling and hair pulling mostly!) the two schools got together and arranged it so that one school started and finished a good 30 minutes before the other and that the lunch breaks were at different times so that the pupils just never met unless they deliberateely hung around waiting for them! Seems my school had more sense than some others!

But I am continually amazed at how school kids get hold of these guns! Surely you would think people would learn! :shrug:

 

[Master Yoda]

Is it a good or bad thing that when I read the title of this thread I immediately thought that a movie was being shot at Wet n' Wild?

 

[jakeman]

I'm a southerner as well, so I know from where I speak.

I am sorry if you have had a bad experience with discrimination, but, having been all over the country, the issue is not just localized to the South.

To insinuate that the problem is localized to one region or even one group of people (which you did not), is insulting to folks like me.

Also, as tragic as it is, I think it is only a matter of time before a weapon is brought in and used in one of the Disney theme parks.

 

[Monty]

Is it a good or bad thing that when I read the title of this thread I immediately thought that a movie was being shot at Wet n' Wild?

Your positive attitude is to be commended. :king:

Perhaps the world could use more of that? :shrug:

 

[The Mom]

OMG! America amazes me everytime I hear about one of these shootings! Were the two rival schools not aware that they were going to be in the same place at the same time?

I'm from Britain and we have rival schools but not to this level! My school was rivals with the school across the road and after a couple of fights (name calling and hair pulling mostly!) the two schools got together and arranged it so that one school started and finished a good 30 minutes before the other and that the lunch breaks were at different times so that the pupils just never met unless they deliberateely hung around waiting for them! Seems my school had more sense than some others!

But I am continually amazed at how school kids get hold of these guns! Surely you would think people would learn! :shrug:

My understanding was that this trip was not school sponsored, but part of a mentoring program for "at risk" teenage boys sponsored by a community group.

So these were basically a bunch of teenagers (who are probably a lot bigger than most of us) who have already had some behavior problems. Most of them came from a neighborhood where illegal guns are pretty common, and where any toleration of "disrespect" by someone else is considered a sign of weakness that will make you a target of violence yourself.

I saw a TV story where an older teenager (around 18 -19) beat up another guest at a party because she moved her handbag away from a chair when she sat down. That was "dissing" the attacker, and she really felt her behavior was perfectly normal and excusable. Other people have been assaulted for putting a divider on a grocery check-out conveyer in a "disrespectful" manner, or looking at someone the wrong way. :shrug: Again, the perpetrators truly thought their behavior was justified.

This is the culture that many kids grow up in or try to emulate, regardless of their race or background.

 

[unkadug]

I am sorry if you have had a bad experience with discrimination, but, having been all over the country, the issue is not just localized to the South.

To insinuate that the problem is localized to one region or even one group of people (which you did not), is insulting to folks like me.

Also, as tragic as it is, I think it is only a matter of time before a weapon is brought in and used in one of the Disney theme parks.

I would send you a PM, but you have them turned off. :shrug:

 

[mkt]

update:

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/crime/orl-bk-wet-n-wild-041508,0,1682194.story

OrlandoSentinel.com
Police sprayed crowd with chemicals during Wet 'n Wild melee, new reports say
Attempt to arrest teen provoked friends, relatives, record says

Amy L. Edwards and Bianca Prieto

Sentinel Staff Writers

1:14 PM EDT, April 15, 2008

Orlando police officers were forced to spray unruly teens with chemicals during a melee at Wet 'n Wild water park this weekend, newly released reports show.

Two officers sprayed the crowd of hundreds several times in an effort to scatter them, the reports said.

Several fights occurred at the International Drive water park Sunday, including the parking-lot melee that included a shooting.

Officer Phillip Peet said two large groups were fighting in the parking lot when he arrived to assist the officers who had already responded. He saw a group of people run to a tour bus and another group of 20 boys chasing after them, screaming threats and trying to fight, he said.

Peet stood in the doorway of the bus and told the group to back away. The group continued to try and force themselves onto the bus and didn't listen to Peet's commands. Fearing for his life, Peet pulled out his gun and told them again to back off, the report said.

The group continued to try to push past him, yelling that they were not afraid of the gun, according to the report. He then pulled out a can of "Deep Freeze Crowd Control Spray" and aimed it at the group, spraying them three times before they backed off.

Another officer was forced to use the spray because the crowd was nearly rioting, the officer wrote in another report.

Another Orlando officer was rushed by 50 to 75 people Sunday afternoon, some of whom reportedly then punched him, when he tried to arrest a disorderly teen who had refused to leave the Wet 'n Wild water park.

Orange County jail records show that Officer David McKinnon asked Midelend Jean of Deerfield Beach to leave the park because she was verbally abusing employees who asked her not to lie on the gift-shop floor. McKinnon wrote in a charging affidavit obtained by the Orlando Sentinel that he repeatedly asked Jean to leave, but the 18-year-old refused and cursed at him.

McKinnon's report says that when he tried to arrest the teen, she pulled her arm out of his reach and started to jog away. The officer caught up with Jean at a curb, where a group of people, including her friends and relatives, ran toward him.

Some of those people got on top of McKinnon, which made it impossible to handcuff the 18-year-old. McKinnon said he was punched several times in the back and neck and called for immediate backup.

Jean was charged with disorderly conduct, resisting an officer without violence and trespassing after warning.

Orlando police earlier said Michael Roosevelt, 18, of Pompano Beach was shot in the leg and his 16-year-old brother was struck in the upper lip, possibly by a rock, in the Wet 'n Wild parking lot.

Officers found a .22-caliber handgun in one of 32 buses that carried an estimated 1,600 high-school students from South Florida to International Drive for an organized outing, but Officer Jim Young did not say Monday whether that weapon was used in the shooting.

A Wet 'n Wild spokeswoman said proper security preparations were in place when the crowd of teenagers created a melee in the parking lot and Roosevelt was shot.

In a written statement, Linda Orgera-Cataldo said the park was fully prepared for the attendance it received, supplementing its own security with a larger-than-usual Orlando police presence.

"The safety of our guests has been and continues to be our priority," she stated. "We believe we had made adequate security preparations for Sunday's event."

Tom Schroder, a spokesman for Universal Orlando Resort, which owns Wet 'n Wild, said the company does not publicly disclose its parks' capacity figures. The company also does not disclose attendance figures or estimates.

Young said the water park hires off-duty officers for peak attendance days, but it was not known how many off-duty officers were working or how many law-enforcement officers ended up responding to the attraction during the mayhem.

Young said his agency's detectives continue to sort out Sunday's events.

"There's so much information and there's so many witnesses, the detectives are just bogged down," he said.

Copyright © 2008, Orlando Sentinel