‘We heard a loud bang’: Guests recall being evacuated after SWAT team surrounds hotel

ORLANDO, Fla. — Guests were forced to evacuate the Holiday Inn as Orlando Police surrounded the hotel for a suspect who shot two OPD officers Friday night.

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The hotel is right across the street from Universal Studios Orlando theme park.

Orlando Police Chief Eric Smith said they identified the suspect as 28-year-old Daton Viel, who has a long criminal history.

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Smith said Viel, who is also a Miami homicide suspect, barricaded himself in a room at the hotel Saturday and refused to come out peacefully.

“The suspect shot at our swat officers multiple times,” he said. “SWAT officers returned fire, striking the suspect multiple times. The suspect is now deceased. The community is safe, and we’ve done what we needed to do.”

Guests told Channel 9 about the evacuation that took place.

“We just heard a loud bang, and then the fire alarm just kicked in,” a hotel guest said. “And we thought it was just a false alarm.”

Another guest said the announcement came across the intercom that there was a fire reported in the building, and they were instructed to go down the stairways.

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Jennifer Berry said there was a large police presence in the lobby. SWAT teams instructed them to head across the street to another hotel and heard gunfire when they did.

“We ran across, you know, just in fear of being hit by maybe a bullet or something,” she said. “So, we actually ran across the street. They advised us to run too, so it was very scary.”

Guests were allowed back in the hotel just before noon, but many were kept in a conference room as crime scene investigators processed the room where Viel was shot and killed.

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Smith said police are still investigating how Viel got to the hotel.

See a map of the location below:

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