Orlando shooting – live: Suspect pretended to be asleep during police interview, sheriff says
Shooter returned to scene and killed Spectrum News 13 reporter covering earlier homicide as well as young girl before being taken into custody
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A 19-year-old gunman accused of killing a nine-year-old girl and a local journalist reporting on his earlier homicide in Orlando, Florida, on Wednesday had a “lengthy” criminal record, local authorities have said.
A 20-year-old woman had been shot dead earlier on Wednesday, prompting a crew from a local news channel reaching the spot in the Pine Hills area to cover the incident on the same day, where a journalist and a videographer was shot when the suspect returned to the scene.
Sheriff John Mina said during a press conference on Thursday that the suspect Keith Melvin Moses pretended to be asleep during an interview with police.
He added that he was taken to hospital after saying that he was unable to breathe. There, he fought with medical staff and had to be restrained. He then also become physical with detectives and had to be restrained again, the sheriff said.
Sheriff Mina said it was a “random act of violence” and that the Sheriff’s office is still working to establish why the shooting take place.
“This was not gang-related,” he added.
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Journalism professor remembers his student
Dylan Lyons’s journalism professor Rick Brunson rushed to the hospital where Mr Lyons was initially taken, before taking to Facebook to remember him as a leader who “lit up the classroom with his smile, his energy, his enthusiasm [and] passion.”
“He cared, deeply, about doing journalism the right way. We are shattered to lose him when so much life was ahead of him. He was a proud Knight,” Mr Brunson wrote in a post. “A great friend. I am deeply crushed for his family and his fiancée, as well of the families of the other two precious lives lost in this heinous crime.”
State Attorney asked why suspect wasn’t in custody from previous offenses
State Attorney Monique H. Worrell said at a news conference Thursday that her office had received multiple calls asking why Moses was not in custody from previous offenses.
“This individual’s only adult offense was a possession of marijuana, 4.6 grams of marijuana, that my office did not charge because when you have a quantity that low, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement does not test the substance, and that means the state’s attorneys office cannot prove the case,” she said.
Worrell said she was prohibited by Florida law from discussing any juvenile charges the man might have faced. Earlier in the news conference Orange County Sheriff John Mina said that Moses had faced at least two gun-related charges as a juvenile including possession of a firearm by a minor and robbery with a deadly weapon.
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Sheriff says recovered gun was ‘got to the touch, meaning it had just been fired'
The sheriff said when deputies arrested Moses they seized a Glock semiautomatic weapon that “was still hot to the touch, meaning it had just been fired, and there were no more rounds.”
Moses complained he was hurt and was taken to a hospital where he attacked medical staff, Mina said. He has since refused to speak with detectives.
It was not immediately known whether Moses has a lawyer who can speak on his behalf.
A man who called 911 after Augustin was shot told investigators that he was driving around smoking cannabis with her when he spotted Moses walking along a road. He said Moses “seemed down” so he offered him a ride, according to an arrest affidavit. Moses climbed into the backseat, behind Augustin, and about 30 seconds later the driver said he “heard a loud bang” and saw blood on Augustin’s face.
Suspect shot woman riding in cousin’s car
A man who called 911 after Augustin was shot told investigators that he was driving around smoking cannabis with her when he spotted Moses walking along a road. He said Moses “seemed down” so he offered him a ride, according to an arrest affidavit. Moses climbed into the backseat, behind Augustin, and about 30 seconds later the driver said he “heard a loud bang” and saw blood on Augustin’s face.
He said he stopped and Moses fled. The driver called 911.
He told investigators that Moses and Augustin didn’t know each other and that he didn’t hear the two exchange any words before the shot was fired.
Mina said Thursday that the driver and Moses are cousins.
Memorial built for slain journalist at UCF Nicholson School of Communication and Media
Former classmates at the University of Central Florida (UFC) also described Mr Lyons as “one hell of a journalist.” Outside the UCF Nicholson School of Communication and Media, a memorial has already been built.
Spectrum News issued a statement that read: “We are deeply saddened by the loss of our colleague and the other lives senselessly taken today. Our thoughts are with our employee’s family, friends and co-workers during this very difficult time. We remain hopeful that our other colleague who was injured makes a full recovery. This is a terrible tragedy for the Orlando community.”
In a moving tribute to Lyons, his Spectrum News colleagues explained that he had been born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, but had moved to the Sunshine State to study at the University of Central Florida, beginning his media career in Gainesville after graduating.
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Celeste Springer, a Spectrum News colleague of Lyons, bravely spoke on air just hours after the tragedy and said: “This is extremely devastating for all of us. But I am proud to have such an amazing team backing all of us.
“Please, please say a prayer tonight for our co-worker who is in critical condition. And while you’re at it, please say a prayer for every victim of gun violence.”
Another local journalist, the Emmy award-winning Luana Munoz of WESH News, was likewise emotional when she reported in the tragedy late on Wednesday, saying in a shaky voice: “This is really difficult to cover. It is very emotional here at ORMC [Orlando Regional Medical Center].”
Spectrum News itself issued a statement that read: “We are deeply saddened by the loss of our colleague and the other lives senselessly taken today.
“Our thoughts are with our employee’s family, friends and co-workers during this very difficult time. We remain hopeful that our other colleague who was injured makes a full recovery.
“This is a terrible tragedy for the Orlando community.”
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre tweeted her condolences to the families of the victims, 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 13 team.”
Gun safety campaigner Fred Guttenberg, whose daughter Jaime was killed in the Parkland school massacre in the same state in 2018, also took to Twitter to say: “I am speechless. Reporters in Orlando, FL are shot while covering a shooting. One has died. Also happening in Florida today, the ongoing effort to pass permitless carry and ensuring that this will happen again.”
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Here is everything we have learned about the accused killer so far
Police named the alleged perpetrator as Keith Melvin Moses at a press conference on Wednesday evening.
Orange County sheriff John Mina said that Mr Moses has already been charged with first-degree murder for the initial victim and that charges are expected soon for the other four victims.
He also revealed that Mr Moses had a “lengthy” criminal history, listing gun charges, aggravated battery, assault with a deadly weapon, burglary and grand theft charges as being on his record.
“The suspect is not saying much right now,” Sheriff Mina said of the attack on the Spectrum team. “It is unclear if he knew they were news media or not. We’re still trying to work all of that out. That vehicle was almost exactly in the same spot as the vehicle from the homicide this morning. So it’s unclear why exactly they were targeted.”
He added: “I want to acknowledge what a horrible day this has been for our community and our media partners. I work closely with all of you... no one in our community – not a mother, not a nine-year-old, certainly not news professionals – should become the victim of gun violence.”
Mr Moses “was an acquaintance of the woman this morning, but as far as we know, had no connection to the reporters and no connection to the mother and the nine-year-old”, Sheriff Mina said.
“We don’t know why he entered their home,” he added.