Florida journalist, child shot dead at scene of earlier murder

• Two people, a TV reporter and a nine-year-old girl, were shot and killed near Orlando.
• Also shot and wounded the mother of the girl and a second reporter.
• The gunman had no connection to the victims.

Near Orlando, Florida, and not far from the scene of a murder that happened earlier in the day, two people—a TV reporter and a nine-year-old girl—were shot and killed.

The same shooter, who is also accused of the other homicide, also shot and wounded the mother of the girl and a second reporter.

When the adolescent suspect returned that morning, the two Spectrum News 13 reporters were covering the murder of a woman in the neighborhood, according to authorities.

If they were intended targets is unknown.

Investigators claimed that the guy was resisting arrest and had a weapon when he was taken into custody.

The reporter, 24-year-old Dylan Lyons, was recognized by Spectrum News 13 as well as the photojournalist Jesse Walden, who was hurt.

The identities of the other two victims of Wednesday’s two attacks in Pine Hills, a suburb west of Orlando, are yet unknown.

When they were attacked at around 16:00 local time, according to Orange County Sheriff John Mina, the journalists were “in or near their vehicle,” which he claimed did not resemble a TV station’s official vehicle (22:00 GMT).

He claimed that when the reporters were covering an earlier shooting that had left a woman in her 20s fatally wounded inside a car at around 11:00 local time, the suspect returned to the site and began firing.

The sheriff claimed that after shooting the journalists, the alleged shooter, Keith Moses, 19, entered a nearby house and shot the girl and her mother.

He added that the mother was in the hospital and was in a serious condition.

According to adjacent journalists, first assistance was given to the victims by other journalists.

This is 19-year-old Keith Melvin Moses, the suspect in a series of shootings today that left three dead, in OCSO custody. This is a sad day for our community. Three were murdered today, including a woman in her 20s, a 9-year-old girl and a @MyNews13 employee. pic.twitter.com/DXXkxzRHl5

— Orange County Sheriff’s Office (@OrangeCoSheriff) February 23, 2023

Upon the announcement of the reporter’s passing, Spectrum 13 maintained its live coverage.

Greg Angel, a news presenter for the station, said the injured journalist had “been able to speak with investigators and colleagues”.

The suspect, Mr Mina said, “has a lengthy criminal history, to include gun charges, aggravated battery and assault with a deadly weapon, burglary and grand theft charges”.

He described him as an “acquaintance” of the woman shot in the morning, “but as far as we know, he had no connection to the reporters and no connection to the mother and the nine-year-old”.

Asked about the possibility that the gunman purposefully targeted the reporters, Mr Mina said “it’s something we’ll be taking a look at”.

He continued by saying that it was also possible that the suspect thought the reporters to be police.

A reporter for Orlando TV station WESH 2 stated that the incident occurred just moments after she and her camera operator departed the crime site.

“We got a gut feeling” and decided to leave for their own safety, said Senait Gebregiorgis.

Charter Communications, the company that owns the TV station, released a statement calling the attack “a terrible tragedy for the Orlando community”.

“We are deeply saddened by the loss of our colleague and the other lives senselessly taken today,” the company said.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre tweeted condolences, saying: “Our hearts go out to the family of the journalist killed today and the crew member injured in Orange County, Florida, as well as the whole Spectrum News team.”

According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, 40 journalists were killed in 2022. Only one of those who died was a citizen of the United States.

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