Florida Man Charged in Fatal Shooting of Three Tourists

In the quiet town of Kissimmee, Florida—a community known for its proximity to Walt Disney World and its abundance of vacation rentals—a shocking tragedy unfolded last Saturday that has left both locals and visitors shaken. Three tourists, who had extended their stay due to car trouble, were fatally shot outside their rental property in what authorities are describing as a senseless and unprovoked attack. The alleged perpetrator, 29-year-old Ahmad Jihad Bojeh, lived next door to the rental home and was arrested within an hour of the shooting. This devastating incident highlights the vulnerability that can sometimes accompany travel and has raised serious questions about how a man with a documented history of violent behavior was able to commit such a horrific act.

According to Osceola County Sheriff Christopher Blackmon, deputies responded to multiple 911 calls reporting gunfire in the Indian Hills subdivision around midday on Saturday. Upon arrival, they made the grim discovery of three men lying dead in the yard of a vacation rental property on Indian Point Circle. Two of the victims were brothers—Robert Lewis Kraft, 70, of Holland, Michigan, and Douglas Joseph Kraft, 68, of Columbus, Ohio—while the third was a 68-year-old friend from Ohio whose identity is being withheld pending family notification. These men had originally planned to leave earlier but were forced to extend their stay because of unexpected car troubles. A fourth person who had been staying with the group had departed the day before, narrowly avoiding the tragedy that would unfold. The victims appear to have been enjoying their extended Florida vacation when their lives were cut short in what Sheriff Blackmon described as a “cold-blooded” and “premeditated” attack that occurred without any apparent conflict or interaction between the victims and their alleged killer.

The swift response by law enforcement led to Bojeh’s arrest at his home next door to the crime scene just an hour after the shooting. During a search of his residence, deputies discovered two firearms that are now being examined to determine if they were used in the killings. Bojeh has been charged with three counts of first-degree murder and is currently being held without bond at the Osceola County Jail. What makes this case particularly troubling is that the alleged shooter was already well-known to local authorities. Sheriff Blackmon referred to Bojeh as a “frequent flier to the sheriff’s office” and stated that “he was a threat to that neighborhood all the time,” suggesting that there had been ongoing concerns about the suspect’s behavior and potential danger to the community long before this tragic incident took place.

This wasn’t Bojeh’s first brush with the law for violent behavior. Court records show that in 2021, he was arrested after firing at a person and random vehicles at a Kissimmee gas station parking lot, resulting in one person being injured. However, in a development that now seems tragically prophetic, Bojeh was acquitted of those charges by reason of insanity. This previous incident raises serious questions about whether the mental health and criminal justice systems adequately addressed the threat that Bojeh apparently posed to public safety. The fact that someone with such a history was living freely in a neighborhood filled with family homes and vacation rentals will likely become a point of intense scrutiny as the investigation continues and the community searches for answers about how this tragedy could have been prevented.

The investigation into the triple homicide is still in its early stages, with Sheriff Blackmon acknowledging that they’re “just a little bit over 24 hours into it” and are still working to gather all the facts. At this point, authorities believe the shooting was random, with no apparent motive or connection between Bojeh and the tourists staying next door. This randomness only adds to the senselessness of the crime and the grief felt by the victims’ families, who lost loved ones not to some personal dispute or robbery gone wrong, but seemingly to the unpredictable actions of a troubled individual who happened to live adjacent to their vacation rental. Kissimmee, with its proximity to Disney World and other attractions, is a popular destination for tourists and is filled with rental properties and golf courses. The idea that visitors could be vulnerable to such violence while on vacation is particularly disturbing both for the local tourism industry and for travelers everywhere.

The Kissimmee community and the broader Central Florida region are now left to grapple with the aftermath of this tragedy. For the families of Robert and Douglas Kraft and their friend, the pain of losing loved ones so suddenly and violently while on what should have been an enjoyable vacation is unimaginable. For local residents, particularly those in the Indian Hills subdivision, there’s the realization that a dangerous individual was living in their midst, and questions about whether more could have been done to address the threat he posed before it escalated to murder. And for the countless tourists who visit the Orlando area each year, many staying in similar vacation rentals, there’s a new awareness of vulnerability that comes with traveling to unfamiliar places. As the case against Ahmad Jihad Bojeh moves forward through the justice system, these three men—brothers and friends who came to Florida seeking relaxation and enjoyment—will be remembered not just as victims of a senseless crime, but as individuals whose lives were cut short far too soon in a peaceful community that now finds itself touched by inexplicable violence.