A TV reporter and a nine-year-old girl were fatally shot near Orlando, Florida, close to the scene of an earlier murder. According to police, the same gunman who is also suspected of the other homicide shot and injured a second reporter and the girl's mother.
The two Spectrum News 13 journalists were covering the murder of a woman in the area that morning when the teenage suspect returned, as per the police. Spectrum News 13 did not identify the crew members who were involved in the shooting, according to a report on the station's website. It's unclear if they were specifically targeted. The investigators mentioned that the suspect was armed during the arrest and he was also not cooperating with the police. None of the three people killed in the two attacks on Wednesday in Pine Hills, a suburb west of Orlando, have been identified. During a news conference the Orange County Sheriff, John Mina mentioned that the journalists were either inside or near the vehicle. The vehicle according to him did not look like the TV station’s official vehicle when the attack took place at around 16:00 local time (22.00 GMT).
He claimed the journalists were covering a shooting earlier in the day at around 11:00 a.m. local time, in which a woman in her twenties was fatally shot inside a car, when the suspect returned to the scene and opened fire.
The alleged gunman, Keith Moses, 19, went into a nearby home and shot the girl and her mother, according to the sheriff. He went on to say that the mother was in critical condition in the hospital.People nearby assisted in providing first aid to the victims, according to sources.
According to witnesses, a man approached the news vehicle Wednesday evening and opened fire, striking two journalists. The man then proceeded to a nearby residence where he shot the mother and daughter.
A news presenter for the station, Greg Angel, mentioned that the injured journalist was able to speak with the investigators and colleagues.
The suspect has a lengthy criminal history, including gun charges, assault with a deadly weapon, aggravated battery, grand theft charges and burglary.
Mr Mina, described the suspect as an aquaintance of the woman he shot. However, sources mentioned that no connection so far has been found between the reporters, the mother and the nine-year-old. The sheriff said it was possible that the suspect mistook the hournalists for police. A source reported that she and her camera operator had left the crime scene just moments before the shooting. while Charter Communications, the company that owns the TV station, released a statement calling the attack a tragic event for the Orlando community. The company mentioned how they were immensely saddened by their colleague's death and the other lives pointlessly taken.
According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, forty journalists were murdered in 2022. Only one of the fatalities occurred in the United States.
