Woman killed outside of Central Florida Fair: 'Our hearts were broken'

ORLANDO, Fla. - Witnesses described the moment a woman was shot inside the parking lot at the Central Florida Fairgrounds.

Orlando Police say 35-year-old Veronica Ramirez was shot and killed at the Central Florida Fairgrounds. The shooting happened in the parking lot around 10:30 pm Saturday after the fair was closed for the evening. 

"We heard boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, and everybody started running," said Alfred Gaines who witnessed the shooting.

The Gaines family had gone to the Central Florida Fair and were leaving for the night. They say they parked in front of the woman who was shot and killed and were walking behind her. They had stopped to talk to another family member just before the shots rang out.

"To have my whole family laughing together, we enjoyed ourselves and then to end the night with that. Oh, our hearts were broken," said Sheena Gaines.

"They had already made it to their car. And when I tell you, I just thank God. I'm just so grateful. But at the same time, I was so hurt to hear that scream, to hear the mother screaming like she was literally screaming for help, help, help," she added. 

Their daughter Ayleena grabbed her cousin and took cover behind a car.

"I just thought about grabbing my cousin because I didn't want her to get hurt," said Ayleena Gaines. "We hid behind a car and all I could see was a lady just drop, and she was slumped over from the gunshots."

The president of the Central Florida Fair said his heart goes out to the victim's family. He said it happened around 10:30 p.m. after the fair closed for the night in a parking lot next to Colonial Drive. He said they had already increased security this year. 

"We have a hefty security presence between Orlando P.D., other agencies, our internal security, two internal security companies," said Michael Tipton, the President of the Central Florida Fair. "We hope to see people out and enjoying the fair. And, this is an isolated incident that seems to have been tragic, certainly, but we don't anticipate anything like that to occur again."

Orlando Police released a Crime Bulletin looking for information that will help them find the person who killed Ramirez. People are encouraged to call Crimeline and can remain anonymous. There is a $5,000 reward for information that leads to an arrest.