Orlando

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday June 16, 2016

Orlando Alligator Disney Death Is The Third Tragedy To Strike Florida City In Less Than A Week

The day after the massacre at the Pulse gay nightclub, Mayor Buddy Dyer, called the tragedy “the worst day in history of Orlando.” But the Pulse shooting is not the only misfortune Orlando has had to endure in the past few days.

On Tuesday night, a 2-year-old boy was dragged away by an alligator at a Walt Disney World resort in the Central Florida city. The toddler, whose body was still being searched for more than 15 hours later, is believed to be dead. The incident is the latest in a spate of tragedies that has hit Orlando in one of the darkest weeks in the city’s history, following the killing of singer Christine Grimmie Friday and the Pulse attack, the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. History.

Grimmie, who finished in third-place on Season 6 of NBC’s “The Voice,” was shot to death Friday night while giving autographs after her concert at the Plaza Live theater. Police have identified 27-year old Kevin James Loibl of St. Petersburg, Florida, as the gunman. Loibl, who was armed with two handguns and a large hunting knife, shot himself after opening fire on Grimmie.

News of Grimmie’s death sparked a national discussion about gun control, a conversation that was only amplified when the news of the Pulse attack hit less than 48 hours later. The attack on the gay nightclub occurred early Sunday morning when a lone gunman, identified as 29-year-old Omar Mateen, started firing at club patrons with an assault rifle and took hostages before SWAT teams stormed the building and gunned him down. (Source: International Business Times)

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