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Five shot during shootout on I-4 in Orlando, highway shutdown for hours

Posted at 11:39 AM, Dec 31, 2017
and last updated 2018-01-01 04:55:08-05

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Police say five people were wounded in shootings that shut down a Florida highway.

In an Orlando Sentinel report , Orlando Police Lt. Jonathan Bigelow said authorities closed Interstate 4 and Kirkman Road due to "the sheer size of the scene" early Sunday.

According to WFTV, police found numerous rifle and shell casings along Kirkman Road and a man who had been shot in the face. Two additional shooting victims showed up at a nearby hospital.

Police said witnesses described people in two cars shooting at each other along both roadways. Kirkman Road cuts through part of Orlando's tourist district.

But the shootout didn’t stop there, WFTV reports about 30 minutes later, witnesses heard a large amount of gunfire on I-4 eastbound near Conroy Road. 

Donnie Portillo said he was driving his family back to New Jersey when their car was hit by gunfire on Interstate 4. Portillo told the newspaper he heard bullets hitting his vehicle's roof and he saw people in two cars shooting at each other.

Officers found two cars damaged by gunfire stopped along the highway.

Police said five people were hospitalized with gunshot wounds. The victims' names were not released.