When Tim Schmidt sees children walking to school, or particularly when he walks past his late son’s bedroom in the family home in Weston, powerful memories flood his mind.
Tim Schmidt Jr, a 19-year-old UCF student, was one of the two people killed last year in a mass shooting on the streets of downtown Orlando as thousands celebrated Halloween night.
Nearly a year to the day of the shooting, Schmidt and the family of Tyrek Hill, the other man killed that night, filed lawsuits against the city and the operators of the Wall Street Plaza entertainment complex alleging the entities’ negligence contributed to the carnage.
“I think they’ve proven (in) the past they cannot keep that area safe,” he said in an interview on Wednesday. “It’s not a venue I’d encourage people to go to.”
The lawsuits, filed Wednesday morning in Orange County Circuit Court, seek in excess of $50,000 in damages. Under Florida law, negligence claims against the government are capped at $200,000 per person or $300,000 per incident.
The City of Orlando declined to comment on the litigation. Downtown Power LLC, which operates Wall Street Plaza, didn’t return a call requesting comment.
As about 75,000 people partied downtown last year, Jaylen Edgar, who was 17 at the time, fired shots into the crowd just after 1 a.m. at Central Boulevard and Orange Avenue, according to the counts against him. He fired more shots at Washington Street and Orange Avenue minutes later, before he was tackled and handcuffed by police.
In addition to Schmidt Jr.’s and Hill’s deaths, nine people were injured in the shooting and a 10th sustained injuries after falling and being trampled in a fleeing crowd.
Edgar faces two counts of first-degree murder and eight counts of attempted first-degree murder.
While the Orlando Police Department didn’t say what, if any, new security measures would be in place for Halloween this year, the agency said “we always plan and staff large-scale events appropriately to provide proper public safety and assess the needs of the event to make any necessary security modifications.”
“The Orlando Police Department wants to remind our community to always call 911 or flag down an officer working the event if they see anything suspicious. Whether security measures are visible or not, officers are always working on the streets and behind the scenes to ensure the safety of our city,” the agency said in a statement.
Douglas MacCarron, an attorney specializing in civil litigation for gun violence victims, filed the lawsuits on Wednesday. He said he suspects the city and Orlando Police violated their own active shooter policies and procedures, as well as their policies related to special events.
Halloween is traditionally one of the busiest days of the year downtown. This year, Wall Street Plaza’s website is advertising its Halloween Block Party from 7 p.m. Friday to 2 a.m. Saturday, featuring “8 Bars, Live DJs, Thousands of Costumes” and a “$5,000 Best Costume Contest.”
MacCarron said the city needs to make security changes this time around.
“If you can’t keep this area safe, then you can’t invite tens of thousands of people to come to a congested area and not expect someone with a firearm to be there with ill intention,” he said. “Hopefully, if they do it the same way, there is no violence, but I don’t know how you can guarantee it won’t happen again.”
Schmidt Sr. said the lead-up to the one-year mark of his son’s death has been tough.
“As we’ve crept up toward this day, it’s been rough,” he said. “There are bad days, and there are really bad days.”