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Orlando police chief discusses violent week after 12 shootings in 10 days

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — In the past 10 days, a dozen people have been shot in Orange County, and half of them have died.

At least nine shooting suspects are on the run in the last 10 days, and five of them are considered murder suspects.

"Certainly, your resources are spread thin when there's multiple occasions. It's hard to determine the motive. If it's a single area where the crime analysis teams can determine where to best send the resources, it's easier to deal with," said Bill Armstrong, a retired commander with the Orange County Sheriff's Office.

Armstrong, a 43-year law enforcement veteran, said public perception often turns dire in a month such as this, but Orlando Police Chief Orlando Rolon said criminals should know that most gun murders are solved, with the help of the community.

"We have to dive into the information that we collect, to better analyze how we can proactively engage some of our community to make them aware of what can lead to a potential incident of violence," said Rolon.

Among the murders in the past 10 days: Travis Glenn was found shot and laying in the middle of a sidewalk early Saturday along South Ohio Avenue near West Central Boulevard, deputies said.

The violence includes two shootings in seven hours, from Thursday night to early Friday morning, when one man was killed and another was hurt.

Investigators said a man was shot at Jerico's Drive Thru on Belco Drive, near Pine Hills Road around 8:40 p.m. Thursday. He was taken to a hospital where he died, deputies said.

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The other shooting was about 20 miles away on Brice Court, near University Boulevard. Deputies said the victim in that shooting survived after going to a fire station.

Deputies said they have suspects in custody in both shootings.

The most recent shooting happened Friday morning. The victim walked into the fire station to get help.

Brice Court near the University of Central Florida became the scene of the sixth shooting in six days in metro Orlando.

The victim was shot just before 4 a.m. and a suspect was found in a wooded area nearby. So far, investigators have not released a motive in the case.

That shooting came just hours after the fifth shooting in as many days.

In that case, a 30-year-old man was killed at a drive-thru convenience store. Officials said the suspect, who is already custody, was still at the scene when deputies arrived.

A woman at the store said Friday that workers are grieving but would not say if the victim was an employee there.

Every day this week there has been a shooting, including three fatalities and a pregnant woman who is still hospitalized.

The shootings this week also include: Thiago Neves, who was shot Sunday while pumping gas with his wife sitting in the car; a pregnant woman shot in the head Monday afternoon in a domestic incident; two men shot later Monday at another 7-Eleven; and a 57-year-old woman gunned down Wednesday on a bike.

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