ORLANDO, Fla. – Orlando police Chief Eric Smith said the two officers who were shot on Friday evening are “doing better” and are in “good spirits” during an interview on Fox News.
Smith appeared on the Fox & Friends show on Sunday morning to give an update on the officers condition. They are both expected to make a full recovery.
The officers, who have not been identified, were shot around 11 p.m. on Friday in the area of Washington Street and Garland Avenue by 28-year-old Daton Viel, who Smith described as having an extensive criminal history.
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The two officers were investigating a vehicle that was wanted in connection to a homicide in Miami when they were shot by Viel, who was standing outside of the car, according to Smith.
Earlier this morning, Chief Smith joined Fox and Friends to provide an update on our officers.
— Orlando Police (@OrlandoPolice) August 6, 2023
Our officers remain in the hospital. We want to thank the community for the outpour of support. We will provide updates as they become available.
https://t.co/TiCEcvDnSo
Smith said he had the chance to visit the officers on Saturday evening, but “it’s going to be a long road for their recovery.”
During the interview, Smith said that during the evacuation of the Holiday Inn where they found the suspect hiding on Saturday, Viel called down to the responding officers where they “gave him the opportunity to surrender, he refused.”
Orlando police said Viel was barricaded in a hotel room for hours before shooting at SWAT officers multiple times. He was shot and killed when officers returned fire, according to the police department.
Shelby Songy, who was vacationing from Texas with her family and staying at the hotel during the evacuation, told News 6′s Catherine Silver the situation was “just insane.”
“We heard a big explosion. I don’t know if it was maybe a smoke bomb, them trying to get into a room, but there was some form of explosion,” she said. “And then the second we ran down, there’s the National Guard, helicopters everywhere, the police, FBI.”
Dr. Michael Cheatham, Orlando Health chief surgical officer, updated the condition of the injured officers at a Saturday news conference, sharing they were both expected to make a full recovery after police said earlier Saturday that the officers were “fighting for their lives.”
“We had two officers brought to us about 11 o’clock last night. I can’t go into details, to protect their privacy, other than to tell you that both officers are with us. They’re with their families. We’ve been taking care of them during the night and we expect them to fully recover from their injuries that they sustained in the line of duty,” Cheatham said.