Man shot in Universal Orlando parking garage

October 27, 2006 at 10:37 AM · Local broadcast channel CBS 6 has an online article about this: http://www.local6.com/news/10171949/detail.html

Same with ABC 9: http://www.wftv.com/news/10172027/detail.html

NBC 2: http://www.wesh.com/news/10172327/detail.html

Orlando Sentinel (local newspaper): http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/orange/orl-bk-shooting102706,0,7214905.story?track=rss

October 27, 2006 at 4:39 PM · Whats with Universal and being in the middle of these crimes? First the fugitive and now this!! Now I am not saying that Universal has bad security or anything like that or that its their fault, but I am suprised with the amount of crime related incidents that have taken place around the area! Is it just luck or is there a reason it just so happens at this location?

October 27, 2006 at 5:17 PM · Two reasons:

1. More people = more crime. (Just common sense there.)

2. More locals. (I'm guessing that locals are more likely to *commit* crimes than tourists on vacation. And I'd suspect that Universal would have a higher percentage of locals amongs its visitors than Disney due to both its location and pricing.)

1 + 2 = You've got a location that attracts a ton of people, and not all of them tourists not looking for trouble. So it is natural to expect that a few of them are going to do something stupid or criminal, while packing the means do it.

It's just numbers. That's one of the things people forget about theme park crime reports. We're talking about locations the size of small- to medium-sized cities here. Of course there's gonna be some crime now and then.

October 27, 2006 at 6:03 PM · I was just suprised the first time there was a fugitive from the law running through Citywalk and this is even more shocking!

The world is getting more dangerous lately. I think of Universal as a happy place. I do not want to even imagine what has happened at Disney World (probably alot). Bigger and Older, something has had to happen, especially at Pleasure Island.

Terrible, really terrible!

October 27, 2006 at 8:16 PM · Not too long ago there were people arrested for a knife fight at Pleasure Island....no place is sacred, not even disney.
And it has a lot to do with location, Universal is right in the middle of Orlando, where disney is kind of on the outskirts, in the middle of the swamps. Sure there are some unsavory looking places down 192, but they have the HUGE advantage of all that land.

October 27, 2006 at 10:01 PM · That was the reasoning I was looking for, thanks Erik!

But yeah, I know that Disney isn't immune from this problem either!

October 28, 2006 at 5:26 AM · Anthony, the fugitive that ran through USO property had nothing to do with OSO. It started off the property and the dude was on the run. He probably ran through the Hess station and by some other business there too. What's up with that? My point is your comments (and everybody else that makes comments like that) are kind of way out in left field. USO had nothing to do with that and the shooting.

Robert's point was very well stated. You are going to have crime once in a while everyplace. I am sure USO reacted properly to ensure the safety of the rest of the guests.

October 28, 2006 at 6:26 AM · Exactly Mark. And if you seperate yourself, such as disney has, the probability of that being later rather than sooner is great. Perfect example right here: I havent slept in the past 24 hours. A man drove into my front yard and into my palm trees at about 12 o clock last night. Come to find out, this same man started about 10 miles north and proceeded to hit one car, damaging it. Proceeded, hit another car, with the couple now in critical condition. Proceeded, bounced off a cop car. Proceeded, ended up in my yard. Point is, that things will happen. It was no fault of mine that it happened, it just did because of where I live. Now had I lived out west where no one else does, away from the highway.....this would not have happened. Disney had the right idea when they stole all that land from the Indians, farmers and lawyers.

October 28, 2006 at 7:12 AM · Sounds bad!

Oh, and I do not blame Universal at all for either of these events! They have no cotrol over it and it could happen anywhere! I remember a mother murdered her children at the Contemperary a while back. The world is getty scarier. I can't believe somebody would bring a gun with them to a theme park. People these days......

And do I hear some anti-Disney setiment in your post Erik? HMMMM (LOL). They bought the land pretty fair and square (ok, they used fake names, not exactly sure how fair that is!). The land to this day is still giving them problems with tunnels under the parks leaking, but lets save that for another post! :)

October 28, 2006 at 9:33 AM · This is no more an indication of anything specific to Universal than the recent parking toll booth robberies at DL are an indication of anything specific to Disney.

October 28, 2006 at 1:37 PM · I know how they got the land...yes it was pretty much fair, at the time. And of course you hear anti disney sentiment....you always hear it with me! I just love how the disney fans (not on this board) are coming out of the woodwork about Universal needing to be bulldozed.

October 30, 2006 at 6:20 AM · It is very common for people to purchase land via assumed names. Celebrities do it, but so do normal people. Normally, they do it with their attorney's name to keep the land value from increasing. In no way is that stealing, but it is just not letting the land value increase artificially.