Orlando Police say officers responding to an armed carjacking on September 14 found a man who had been stabbed multiple times before his vehicle was taken from him. Weeks later, detectives tracked down their suspect, Leonardo Da Silva Gomes, and arrested him just before he could board a flight to Brazil.
According to a statement from Orlando Police
, officers who responded to an armed carjacking call found the stabbing victim. When investigators later recovered the stolen vehicle, they found a knife and blood inside it, according to the same statement.
Detectives used that evidence to identify Da Silva Gomes as the suspect and obtained an arrest warrant for him, police said. He now faces charges of attempted second-degree murder with a weapon and carjacking with a deadly weapon, per the department's account.
Arrest Came Just Before Departure
Investigators caught up with Da Silva Gomes before he could leave the country, arresting him as he was attempting to board a flight to Brazil, Orlando Police said in the statement. The department's announcement did not detail where the stabbing occurred, the victim's condition, or the specific timing of the arrest itself.
Under Florida law, carjacking committed with a firearm or other deadly weapon is classified as a first-degree felony, punishable by up to life in prison, according to the Florida Senate's published statutes. Separate state statute generally grades an attempt to commit a first-degree felony as a second-degree felony and an attempt to commit a life felony as a first-degree felony, Florida Senate records show, which helps explain the specific charge Da Silva Gomes now faces for the attempted murder count.
Part of a Broader Pattern in Orlando?
The September 14 date tied to this case echoes an earlier report from WESH 2, which said authorities were searching for a man linked to three carjackings in Orlando's Millenia area over the preceding six months, and that the first of those incidents, also on September 14, involved a handgun. The station reported that all three stolen vehicles in that pattern were later used in other crimes.
Orlando's Overall Crime Numbers Have Fallen
Orlando's broader crime statistics have moved in the opposite direction locally. The city recorded just 10 homicides in 2025, its lowest total since 1971, according to Spectrum News 13. That reporting also found that shootings, burglaries, motor vehicle thefts, and weapon violations each dropped more than 40% between 2023 and 2025, while overall violent crime fell 12% and homicides specifically dropped 68% over that same period.
Those citywide declines offer some context for a case that nonetheless underscores how violent a single carjacking can turn. Orlando Police have not released additional details about the victim's identity or condition, and no court records, booking information, or case status for Da Silva Gomes were available at the time of the department's statement.
