ORLANDO, Fla. – Newly obtained video shows the Orlando Police Department SWAT team evacuating guests from a theme park area hotel in 2023 before fatally shooting a fugitive who was hiding out in one of the rooms.
Daton Viel, 28, was wanted by authorities on multiple arrest warrants when two Orlando police officers encountered him in a downtown parking lot on the evening of Aug. 4, 2023.
Viel shot and critically wounded officers Kaley Powell and Andy Rodriguez before carjacking a passerby and fleeing the area, investigators said. The two officers have since recovered from their injuries.
[WATCH: Video shows gunman wounding 2 Orlando police officers]
Following an all-night manhunt, police learned Viel was holed up on the fifth floor of a Holiday Inn & Suites located on Kirkman Road and Caravan Court.
Through a public record request, the Orlando Police Department released video to News 6 last week that was recorded by officers’ body-worn cameras as they tried to apprehend Viel.
Around 8 a.m., about nine hours after Viel shot the two police officers, members of the police department’s SWAT team began evacuating hotel guests from rooms on the same floor where Viel was believed to be hiding.
“Hey, you need to leave the room. Come outside,” whispered one of the SWAT officers as he quietly knocked on a hotel room door, presumably trying to avoid alerting Viel.
“Why are you here?” a woman behind the door could be heard on video asking. “What happened?”
“Let’s go. You need to come out now,” the officer whispered. “Immediately.”
“I’m not dressed,” replied the hotel guest.
At the same time, fellow SWAT officers escorted adults and children out of other hotel rooms, including some guests who were still wearing pajamas.
“What’s your room number?” one of the officers asked a group that was being ushered out through an emergency exit. The officer then notified other SWAT members that the room was evacuated.
[WATCH: Why was gunman Daton Viel on the streets?]
Once hotel guests were evacuated from the fifth floor, a member of the SWAT team detonated an explosive device attached to room number 509’s door to breach the entryway.
“He’s putting his gun out the door,” one of the officers could be heard saying moments after the explosion. “He’s shooting!”
According to an investigative summary produced by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the officers exchanged gunfire with Viel.
Video from the officers’ cameras shows the SWAT team firing a volley of rounds down the hall towards Viel’s room.
“We don’t need to shoot anymore,” one of the officers yelled.
“You’re shooting at me!” replied a man’s voice believed to be Viel.
About four minutes later, Viel left his room and ran towards an emergency exit at the end of the hallway where SWAT officers fatally shot him, police records and video show.
[WATCH: Orlando police swarm area after 2 officers shot, critically wounded (from 2023)]
A handgun with an extended magazine found feet away from Viel’s body appeared to be the same one Viel used to shoot the two police officers the previously evening, an FDLE report indicates.
In 2024, a grand jury determined the officers who shot Viel did nothing to warrant any criminal charges for their use of force.
Four days after the attack, amid questions about why Viel was on the street despite his lengthy criminal history, Gov. Ron DeSantis suspended Orange-Osceola State Attorney Monique Worrell. Voters later re-elected her to the office.
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