It’s not often I talked about MY work, but rarely is Orlando at the epicenter of tragic national news.
We have our crazy news, and dramatic court cases, missing children and just odd happenings. However Orlando isn’t typically in the spotlight for tragic mass crime.
We first got word on a shooting along I-4 before Noon. People were going nuts, phones were ringing off the hook and all reporters were being sent to the area. I was mostly out-of-the-mix as I was working on a different high-priority project. But at some point, I couldn’t help myself any longer, I had to get involved.
My first stop, Twitter. I love twitter and I’m not ashamed. And I found some great stuff too! People from inside the lockdown buildings, people sending pictures, people asking us what’s going on. Breaking news truly takes on a new role with social media. EVERY SINGLE person in the news industry should be using twitter. If you are not, you should just get out of the business now.
I was knee-deep into twitter chatter, and we decided to open a breaking news chat room on our news site to keep people informed. Within 30 minutes, we had over 2000 people in the chat room. Pretty crazy stuff.
Shortly after, I was sent to the scene. Normally, I stay inside the building, but every-so-often, I have to head out, and normally I welcome it with great pleasure! But not so much this time. I really think there are two reasons for that:
1) I really wanted to stay and watch twitter and make sure that was being handled well. In a time like this, it would be easy to ignore twitter, but then people will call you out and make lots of noise. I didn’t want that! However, I passed it off and it was handled well!
2) The shooting suspect was still on the loose and no one knew where he was. Most mass shootings ends with the suspect shot or killed. This guy shot up he building and drove off. I was totally freaked that he was roaming the streets of downtown Orlando, or heading to another high-rise. But I went out…and was greeted by this at the intersection of Magnolia and Colonial Drive:
I arrived at the scene in front of the office building where the shooting took place, and quickly I felt much better. It was now the safest place in all of Orlando. Cops everywhere, guns everywhere, there was no chance of something happening. Plus, as I arrived, they announced they located and arrested the suspect. OK, big relief. Then the press conferences started with the Governor, Police Chief, Mayor…and then the people were released from the building.
I think that’s when it hit me. Listening to the stories of people locked in their office, hiding under the desk, relying on the local news to find out what’s going on. It was some pretty intense stuff.
In the end, one person has died. Five others remain in the hospital, and I pray they make it through alive. Such a sad and tragic thing to happen at a workplace.
The above photo is from the Orlando Sentinel. They are interviewing Mark Vella, who was on the 12th floor.
If you look close, you can see me in the background over the man’s left shoulder
