ORLANDO, Fla. — Business owners are still reliving the night a man walked around a plaza parking lot waving a gun.
Investigators said 25-year-old Orlin Manuel Calderon was shot and killed after several employees from the 7-Eleven on Vineland and Conroy Roads called about him walking around with a gun.
Police said the deadly confrontation happened Thursday just before 6 p.m.
Calderon was captured on surveillance video entering a nearby dry cleaner with what appeared to be a Glock-style handgun in his left hand. The footage, released by police, shows him moving calmly but deliberately—alarming nearby business owners and shoppers.
“He came up to the shop and pulled a gun, and my friend was like. “Get the hell out,” said Joseph Alce, Owner of Royal Touch Dry Cleaners.
Alce said his friend’s yelling prompted Calderon to run to a nearby apartment complex.
During a press conference Thursday night, Orlando Police Chief Eric Smith said Calderon began waving the gun around in the parking lot. Despite repeated commands in both English and Spanish to drop the weapon, Calderon did not comply. Officers opened fire, fatally striking him.
The weapon, investigators later confirmed, was a realistic-looking replica Glock, not an actual firearm.
“It’s a split-second decision when you see someone pointing a gun in your direction,” said Chief Smith.
Although not in the Orlando area, Chief Smith said Calderon had a prior criminal history that included multiple drug-related arrests and a charge of aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer with a deadly weapon.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) is now leading the investigation, as is standard in officer-involved shootings. The five officers who fired their weapons have been placed on administrative leave.
Authorities said the investigation will also examine Calderon’s mental health history and immigration status.
The incident has shaken the local community and reignited conversations about the deadly consequences of replica weapons and police response under pressure.
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