ORLANDO, Fla. December 16, 2022

An unarmed hotel security officer was among several people shot by a man with an AR-15 rifle during a shooting rampage police reported.

The 19-year-old Georgia man upset about how he had been treated by an area resort, armed himself with an AR-15-style weapon and walked into the lobby of a resort in Orlando, Florida late Wednesday and started shooting, before leaving and allegedly opening fire at another resort and into nearby apartments, according to an Orange County Sheriff’s Office arrest affidavit.

“This is all connected, and we are working on sorting it all out and putting something together as soon as we can,” the sheriff’s office said.

The first shooting was reported around 11 p.m. at the Westgate Lakes Resort & Spa on Turkey Lake Road, deputies said. A woman in her 20s was shot and taken to the hospital. Her condition was not immediately known.

Ten minutes later, a shooting was reported at the Marriott Vacation Club Cypress Harbor Villas on Harbour Villa Road, where an unarmed security officer – a woman in her 20s – was shot, the affidavit states. She was taken to the hospital and reportedly underwent surgery. Her condition is serious but stable authorities said.

Minutes after the second shooting, more 911 calls reported someone pointing a rifle at people and reportedly shooting into “multiple apartments” on Integra Cove Boulevard, followed by reports of someone pointing a rifle at firing into two vehicles and at a Mears van near Central Florida Parkway and Westwood Boulevard.

No one was hurt in the shootings into the vehicles or the bus, but young children were inside the van, deputies said in the affidavit.

Deputies said the alleged gunman who has been identified as Jailen Rasheed Houston, was found sitting on a guard rail on Interstate 4 in Orange County near the Osceola County line after crashing his car around 7 a.m Thursday. An AR-15 rifle was found on the passenger seat of the car, according to the affidavit.

Houston, 19, was arrested and booked into jail on one count of attempted first-degree murder, officials said.

“He advised that he was frustrated with the Westgate Lakes Resort after believing he was scammed”

In an interview with detectives, Houston confessed to all the shooting incidents, according to the affidavit. He told deputies that he drove from Georgia to Orlando, Florida two days earlier to “try to enroll in a local university.”

“He advised that he was frustrated with the Westgate Lakes Resort after believing he was scammed earlier in the evening when he tried to check in,” reads the probable cause statement. Houston told detectives that he “drove to a store, purchased magazines and ammunition from the store, and loaded his rifle,” and returned to the resort and started shooting.

Deputies also reportedly asked Houston how he felt about the alleged shootings.

“When asked how he felt about the shootings, he stated he felt good while shooting at people, and it provided him a sense of relief. When asked if he would conduct similar shootings in the future he acknowledged that he would,” the affidavit states.

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