Sheriff’s deputies said that a Florida TV reporter and a nine-year-old boy were killed by gunfire on the same day, near where another person had been killed earlier in the day.
On Wednesday morning, deputies went to the Pine Hills area just northwest of Orlando, Florida, after hearing that a woman in her 20s had been shot. Witnesses say that late Wednesday night, a man walked up to the news car and started shooting. He then walked to a nearby house and shot the mother and daughter inside.
During the second shooting, along with the journalist and the 9-year-old girl, a TV crew member and the girl’s mother were hurt. They were in very bad shape at a nearby hospital.
Orange County Sheriff John Mina told a room full of reporters on Wednesday, “I want to acknowledge what a terrible day this has been for our community and our media partners.” “No one in our community should be a victim of gun violence, not a mother, not a 9-year-old, and definitely not a journalist.”
A story on the website of TV station Spectrum News 13 says that the crew members who were involved in the shooting have not yet been named.
Charter Communications, which owns the TV station, said the event was a “terrible tragedy” for the community.
In a statement, Charter Communications said, “We are deeply saddened by the loss of our colleague and the other lives that were taken for no reason today.” “During this very hard time, our thoughts are with our employee’s family, friends, and coworkers.”
During a live broadcast, Spectrum 13 reporter Celeste Springer asked the public for help.
Springer asked everyone, “Please, please say a prayer tonight for our co-worker, who is in very bad shape.” “While you’re at it, please say a prayer for every American killed by a gun.”
Reporters waited outside Orlando Regional Medical Center as the family and fiancee of one of the injured reporters gathered. Some reporters started crying on camera as they talked about the death of the journalist.
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The sheriff says that the suspect has a “long criminal record.”
Later, Mina confirmed that the police had arrested 19-year-old Keith Melvin Moses, who had been charged with murder from the first incident. The police think Moses will be charged for shooting the other four people.
Mina also said that Moses has a “long criminal history” that includes charges of burglary, grand theft, aggravated battery, and assault with a deadly weapon.
Mina also said that they don’t know what led to any of the shootings right now, but that Moses knew the woman who was killed earlier in the day.
Even though there has never been violence against the media in the area before, Mina said that they are looking into it.
“But it’s true that this has happened all over the country and the world,” Mina said. “So that’s something we’ll look into to see if we can put all the pieces together and figure out why this happened.”
‘Yet another sad reminder’
The Committee to Protect Journalists says that last year, 40 journalists were killed around the world, and that two more were killed this year before Wednesday. Only one of those places was in the U.S.
Jeff German, who worked for the Las Vegas Review-Journal and wrote about politics and corruption, was found dead outside of his home in September. He had been stabbed several times. Robert Telles, who used to be the public administrator for Clark County and was often the subject of German’s stories, has pleaded not guilty to murder.
In 2015, Alison Parker and Adam Ward, a cameraman for the CBS affiliate WDBJ7 in Virginia, were shot and killed while they were on live TV. The suspect, who used to work as a reporter for the TV station, killed himself while police were looking for him.
When word got to Washington about the shooting on Wednesday, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre tweeted her condolences.
Jean-Pierre tweeted, “Our hearts go out to the family of the journalist who was killed today in Orange County, Florida, and to the crew member who was hurt, as well as to the whole Spectrum News team.”
In a statement released Wednesday, the National Press Club said it was “horrified” to hear about the shootings in Florida and asked all reporters to be extra careful.
The organisation said, “This is a sad reminder that journalism is a dangerous job and that criminals and people who are being written about can be violent towards reporters who are doing their jobs.” “We want people who say mean things about journalists online to think carefully about what will happen as a result.”
