1 dead after shooting at Florida zombie festival

One man was killed and six injured at a zombie festival in Fort Myers, Florida

(Image credit: AP/YouTube)

last updated 19 October 2015

Police in Fort Myers, Florida, say that Expavious Tyrell Taylor, 20, was shot dead at 11:45 p.m. on Saturday night and five others were wounded when an unknown gunmen fired into a street crowded with costumed revelers from a local annual zombie festival, ZombiCon. One of the five people wounded in the attack declined medical care and the other four were taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening in juries. Police Lt. Victor Medico said Sunday that law enforcement would welcome any leads. "There were a lot of witnesses down here, there were a lot of people taking pictures, videos with their cellphone," Medico told the Fort Myers News-Press. "Anything that could help with this investigation would be greatly appreciated."

Taylor, a promising football player at a Miami junior college, was home from school and out with girlfriend Jasmine Gaure, Gaure told the News-Press. He was wearing a creepy clown mask, but they hadn't been in the area for more than 45 minutes and they'd had no confrontation with anyone, she added. Taylor had wanted to be a mortician, Gaure said, and had a job at a funeral home, where he helped prepare bodies for burial. He had already lost his mother, father, grandmother, and a child who died at birth, according to his older sister, Amanda Andrews. You can watch some raw video from the aftermath of the shooting below. Peter Weber

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.

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