On February 22, two TV journalists were shot while covering a murder case in Pine Hills, in suburban Orlando, Florida. One of them succumbed to their wounds. The suspected gunman is assumed to be 19-year-old Keith Melvin Moses.
The Suspect’s Related Cases
Orange Country Sheriff John Mina told the press that Mr. Moses has also been connected with two other similar incidents. The first is when he fatally shot a lady in her 20s. This woman was shot just a few hours before the journalists’ incident, while she was in a vehicle.
Secondly, after killing the reporters, he entered the nearby house of a mother and her 9-year-old daughter and attacked them. In the process of shooting and killing the 9-year-old girl, her mother was also injured.
The sheriff also said that the accused was taken into custody soon after he opened fire. The teenage suspect is currently being charged for these two incidents, as well as shooting the journalists, which happened around the same time.
Mr. Mina added that the accused has a long arrest record. This included aggravated battery, assault, gun violence, and burglary amongst other charges.
Updates On The Journalist Shooting Incident and Other Victims
The sheriff also shed more light on the TV journalism victims of the Orlando shoot. They worked for the central Florida cable TV outlet Spectrum News 13. The company is under Charter Communications.
The incident happened at 4:00 PM local time in the same area where the murder of the woman had just taken place hours ago. The newsmen were not near their company vehicle when it happened. It was while reporting the murder of this woman in her 20s that the journalists were attacked.
The motive for these murders has not been uncovered. However, the Sheriff has pointed out that Mr. Moses is possibly linked to the first victim, the woman in her 20s.
He speculated that the two journalists could have been chosen because of their profession, as they were reporting on a murder committed by the accused. It is also possible that they were misunderstood to be policemen. But it is unclear why the accused even entered the woman and her 9-year-old child’s abode just to shoot them, right after shooting the journalists.
When arrested, he was armed and refused to cooperate. The wounded journalist was able to communicate with the officials to provide details.
The girl’s mother is hospitalised and in a serious condition. It was also reported that other journalists who were around were quick to give first aid to their injured colleagues.
Charter Communications issued a statement citing the incident as “a terrible tragedy for the Orlando community”. They added, “We are deeply saddened by the loss of our colleague and the other lives senselessly taken today”.
