At the scene of a homicide that occurred hours earlier, TV reporter Dylan Lyons, 24, and a nine-year-old child were shot and killed. The same shooter is believed to have also killed the other person and injured another reporter, Jesse Walden, and the girl’s mother. The police said the journalists were covering a murder of a lady when the young suspect returned. If they were intended targets or not is unknown.
Investigators said the man was armed and uncooperative when he was taken into custody. Two more people were killed in separate incidents on Wednesday in Pine Hills, a suburb of Orlando. At a press conference, Orange County Sheriff John Mina stated the journalists were attacked at roughly 16:00 local time while “in or near their car,” which did not resemble an official TV station vehicle (22:00 GMT).
He said that the suspect had returned to the scene of the incident, where a lady in her twenties had been killed by gunfire, and that the Spectrum News 13 reporters had been covering the story.
The sheriff said that after attacking the journalists, 19-year-old suspect Keith Moses entered a nearby residence and shot the girl and her mother.
Source: APNews
He further mentioned that the mother was in a severe state in the hospital.
According to local journalists, other journalists in the area assisted administer first aid to the wounded. After announcing their reporter’s death, Spectrum 13 maintained their live broadcast.
Despite his injuries, the journalist “has been able to talk with investigators and colleagues,” according to television anchor Greg Angel.
Mr. Mina stated that the suspect “has a significant criminal history, to include gun charges, aggravated violence and assault with a dangerous weapon, burglary and grand theft offences.”
As far as we know, he had no link to the reporters and no relationship to the mother and the nine-year-old, but he was a “acquaintance” of the lady who was shot in the morning, according to the police.
Mr. Mina responded, “that’s something we’ll be having a look at” when asked if it was possible that the shooter had intended to kill journalists.
A second possibility, he said, was that the suspect mistaken the reporters for law enforcement.
Wesh 2 in Orlando had a reporter who said she and her cameraman had left the site of the crime only minutes before the shooting took place.
Senait Gebregiorgis remarked, “We received a gut sensation,” therefore they left for their own protection.
In a statement, the TV station’s parent company, Charter Communications, described the incident as “a horrific tragedy for the Orlando community.”
The business expressed their “deep sadness” for the death of their employee and the other lives lost “senselessly” on that day.
“Our thoughts go out to the family of the journalist slain today and the crew member injured in Orange County, Florida, as well as the complete Spectrum News team,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre tweeted.
According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, 40 journalists were slain that year. One of the fatalities occurred in the United States.
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