Horizon West man arrested after firing rifle in downtown Orlando, police say

A Horizon West man was arrested after police said he fired an “AR style” semi-automatic rifle in downtown Orlando following an altercation outside a nightclub. 

According to an arrest report, Orlando police were dispatched to the area of East Pine Street and Orange Avenue at 2:57 a.m. Thursday, Jan. 9, for an armed assault emergency call. 

The report stated that the officer spotted 26-year-old Ryan Sarjoo walking west in the middle of East Pine Street, between South Orange and South Court avenues, with a black AR-style rifle in his hands.

Police said Sarjoo walked to a BMW sedan parked on East Pine Street, where he placed the rifle on the passenger floorboard. He then came out from behind the BMW holding his hands in the air, the report states, before stopping to grab a black Glock handgun out of his waistline area and dropping it on the ground.

Police said Sarjoo put his hands back up in the air and got onto his knees, where he was approached by several officers. Officers then placed him on his stomach and handcuffed him, while another officer secured the gun.

According to the report, Sarjoo said he was outside a nightclub when two to three people surrounded him, with one punching him in the face. Sarjoo said he went back to his car and grabbed his handgun and rifle, giving the handgun to his friend.

Sarjoo said he saw the people who punched him coming toward him on East Pine Street and fired one warning round in their direction from the rifle, aiming slightly above them so as not to hit them. The report states that the people then ran away. No one was hurt.

A witness said he was on East Pine Street when he saw to men arguing and called the police. The witness said Sarjoo, who appeared intoxicated, grabbed the rifle and shot in the air before putting it back into the BMW.

The witness said Sarjoo cocked the handgun and put it in his pants as he started walking toward South Orange Avenue before police showed up.

“Sarjoo did not appear to understand he made the wrong decision in firing his gun because people wanted to fight him,” the report stated. “Sarjoo made no attempt to call the police and said he did not have time (even though he had time to get two guns out of his car).”

Sarjoo was arrested for open carry of weapons/firearms. Orlando police said additional charges of discharging a firearm in public and improper exhibition of dangerous weapons or firearms are being filed with the state attorney’s office. The guns were seized for evidence.

Sarjoo has since bonded out of the Orange County Jail. Since the incident, video of it has surfaced but was not released by police.

“The Orlando Police Department arrested Ryan Sarjoo on 1-9-20 for his unlawful actions in downtown Orlando,” said Orlando Police Chief Orlando Rolón said in a statement on Friday, Jan. 10. “Today, we were made aware of recorded video of this incident. The Orlando Police will work closely with the state attorney’s office to request any and all additional charges be filed, as this type of reckless behavior will not be tolerated in our city.”