Three people have died in several shootings near Orlando (Florida) and the police have arrested a 19-year-old boy, Keith Melvin Moses, whom they consider responsible for the attacks in which two other people were seriously injured. The man would have killed a woman in the morning and hours later, near the crime scene, he killed a Spectrum News 13 television journalist who had come to cover the event and a nine-year-old girl.
In addition, another member of the television crew and the girl’s mother were injured in the second shooting. They are in critical condition at a local hospital.
“I want to acknowledge how horrible this day has been for our community and our media partners,” Orange County Sheriff John Mina said at a press conference. “I work closely with all of you and I know many of you and I know what a difficult job you do and also what an important job you do for our community and for law enforcement. No one in our community – not a mother, not a child 9-year-old and certainly not media professionals either – should be a victim of gun violence in our community.”
Mina said they don’t know the motive for either shooting. “The suspect is not saying much right now,” Mina said. “It’s not clear if he knew it was the media or not. We’re still trying to figure all that out.” Mina said the News 13 vehicle did not look like a typical news van with TV network branding.
Officers had initially gone to the Pine Hills area northwest of Orlando on Wednesday morning after receiving reports that a woman in her 20s had been shot. Moses “was an acquaintance of the woman this morning, but as far as we know, he had no relationship with the reporters or with the mother and the 9-year-old girl,” Mina said.
According to witnesses, hours after the murder of the first woman, the man approached the journalists’ vehicle and opened fire, hitting the two reporters. The man then went to a nearby house and shot a woman and her daughter. WFTV crews, who were also reporting on the morning’s shooting, attempted to provide medical assistance to the Spectrum 13 journalists.
Mina stated that Moses is already facing a murder charge for the first victim, with charges expected to be filed for the other four victims soon. Moses’ criminal record includes firearms charges, as well as aggravated assault, assault with a deadly weapon, burglary and grand theft offenses, the sheriff said.
“Our hearts go out to the family of the journalist killed today and the injured team member in Orange County, Florida, as well as the entire Spectrum News team,” White House press secretary Karine Jean said on Twitter. -Pierre.
Spectrum News 13 did not identify the team members involved in the shooting, according to a story posted on the television network’s website.
“Please pray tonight for our co-worker who is in critical condition. And by the way, please pray for all the victims of gun violence in this country,” Celeste Springer, a Spectrum 13 journalist, said during her report on straight.
According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, 40 journalists were killed worldwide last year, and another two this year before Wednesday. Only one of them died in the United States.
Jeff German, who covered politics and corruption for the Las Vegas Review-Journal, was found dead on his doorstep in September after being stabbed several times. Former Clark County public administrator Robert Telles, who had been a frequent subject of German’s reporting, has pleaded not guilty to a murder charge.
In 2015, Virginia reporter Alison Parker and cameraman Adam Ward were shot dead while broadcasting live on CBS affiliate WDBJ7. The suspect, a former reporter for the network, committed suicide while security forces were looking for him.
According to the criteria of The Trust Project
