Three people were taken to a local hospital for medical evaluation after Orlando Fire Department crews responded to a report of a suspicious substance at the Orange County Courthouse on Tuesday. The exposure happened as deputies were executing an arrest warrant inside the building, forcing an emergency evacuation of part of the facility while emergency personnel worked to assess the situation.
According to WFTV, fire crews remained on scene evaluating the situation after the three people were transported. The Orange County Sheriff's Office reported that deputies encountered the unknown substance on a suspect while carrying out the arrest, which prompted the evacuation of the courthouse's first floor, as reported by WKMG ClickOrlando. Fire crews cleared the area out of an abundance of caution, per that outlet's reporting. A version of this incident also aired via ClickOrlando, a Graham Media Group property.
Inside a High-Rise Courthouse Built for Thousands of Daily Visitors
The building at the center of Tuesday's scare is not a small facility. The Orange County Courthouse complex, located at 425 North Orange Avenue in downtown Orlando, features a 24-story, 416-foot postmodern tower completed in 1997 for roughly $100 million, according to Wikipedia. It houses the Ninth Judicial Circuit Court of Florida, which serves a regional population of more than 1.4 million residents across Orange and Osceola counties, per the Ninth Judicial Circuit Court's own account of its reach.
Security at the complex falls to the Orange County Sheriff's Office's Court Security Section, a dedicated unit staffed by more than 160 deputies responsible for perimeter screening, courtroom safety, and emergency evacuations across county court facilities. That team manages security for dozens of active judges and thousands of daily visitors, according to the sheriff's office. It was deputies from that broader security apparatus who were on the scene when the unknown substance surfaced during Tuesday's arrest.
Why the Exposure Made Deputies Ill
Unknown powders and chemical compounds pose a real hazard to first responders, and not just in theory. Guidance from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and the CDC warns that first responders encountering unknown synthetic chemical powders face severe risks of rapid inhalation or contact toxicity, requiring specialized protective equipment and rapid decontamination, according to research published via the National Institutes of Health. That guidance underscores why deputies who came into contact with the substance during Tuesday's arrest reported falling ill soon after.
If the substance is confirmed to be a controlled or unauthorized material, the suspect could face additional charges under Florida law. Florida Statute Section 951.22 makes it a third-degree felony, punishable by up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine, to knowingly introduce or possess unauthorized controlled substances or contraband within a county detention or arrest facility, per Online Sunshine's statutory text. Statutory penalties can increase depending on the classification of the drug involved. Legal analysis from the Sammis Law Firm notes that contraband charges tied to courthouse or jail arrests frequently arise when initial searches fail to catch concealed substances before a suspect is brought into secure judicial areas.
Second Downtown Orlando Evacuation in Two Days
Tuesday's scare came just a day after a separate threat forced an emergency evacuation of Orlando City Hall, located less than a mile away on Orange Avenue, on Monday. Police cleared that building after finding no active threat, as Hoodline reported in Orange Avenue's bomb scare. Back-to-back incidents at two major civic buildings on the same downtown corridor have put a spotlight on safety protocols across the area's public facilities.
It is not the first time the courthouse itself has faced a security scare. In May 2022, the Orange County Courthouse evacuated sections of its lower floors when deputies and hazardous materials crews investigated an abandoned bag left outside the building, according to earlier WFTV coverage; that scene was cleared after emergency sweeps found no threat. The courthouse also drew scrutiny in December for an unrelated health concern, when a Legionnaires' disease scare hit the nearby federal courthouse amid Orange County's mounting case count, as Hoodline previously reported.
As of Tuesday, key details remained unresolved. The exact chemical identity of the substance encountered during the arrest had not been confirmed, and the medical condition of the three people hospitalized had not been publicly disclosed. It also remains unclear whether the suspect involved in the arrest will face additional felony contraband charges under state law as the investigation continues.
