An Orlando television reporter and a child are among the three fatalities left by a series of shootings in Orange County, Florida, local police said. John Mina, the county sheriff, told a news conference that the reporter worked for the Spectrum News 13 station.
Earlier, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office noted on Twitter that one person was in custody.
Keith Melvin Moses, 19, was arrested and charged with murder in connection with a shooting on Wednesday, Mina said. Moses is expected to be charged with other charges in connection with four shootings that occurred later that day, including the shooting of a Spectrum News 13 journalist to his death, Mina added.
According to Mina, Moses has an extensive criminal record that includes charges for possession of weapons, aggravated assault, aggravated assault and assault with a deadly weapon.
The sheriff said deputies responded to the 6100 block of Hialeah Street around 11 a.m. Wednesday, where they located a woman in her 20s who was shot and died from her injuries.
Detectives responded and collected evidence, he said.
“At 4:05, we received 911 calls about another shooting at that location and a nearby shooting,” he said.
Mina said the two journalists, a photographer and a reporter, were on the scene covering the homicide that morning and were shot in or around their vehicle.
“That vehicle was in almost the exact same location as the homicide vehicle this morning. Therefore, it is not clear why exactly they were targeted. And we are certainly going to look into that, and we will definitely inform them,” Mina said.
The sheriff added that “the vehicle did not resemble your typical news vehicle with many markings.”
Shortly after that shooting, police responded to the scene of a third shooting and found a woman on Harrington Street and her 9-year-old daughter, who were also shot inside a home. The 9-year-old girl died.
Mina pointed out that it is not clear why the suspect entered that house.
“We really don’t know what was on this suspect’s mind,” he said. “Hopefully at some point he will talk to us about what his motives were.”
“No one in our community, not a mother, not a 9-year-old girl, and certainly no news professional should become a victim of gun violence in our community,” Ella Mina said.
Mina said Moses was stopped and arrested near the area later Wednesday.
