Not satisfied with killing a woman this Wednesday in Orlando (Florida), after a few hours he returned to the scene of the crime and opened fire again, this time with the fateful balance of a nine-year-old girl and a crime reporter.
Kevin Melvin Rose, 19, was arrested as the alleged perpetrator of the three crimes, Orange County Sheriff John Mina said. Upon returning to the initial scene, the suspect opened fire on the reporter and the cameraman who had gone to cover the information of the previous shooting in Pine Hills and in which a woman had died.
Reporters from the Spectrum News 13 television channel were next to or inside their vehicle when they were hit by bullets. The journalist later died, while the cameraman was injured, Mina explained.
After this, Moses went to a nearby house, entered inside and again pulled the trigger, according to the police version. This time he ended the life of a girl, who passed away. Her mother survived.
The alleged perpetrator will be charged with a total of five crimes, three resulting in death and two for attempted. "The detainee is not speaking at this time," the sheriff explained. "It is not clear whether or not he knew that he shot two media representatives," he added. His vehicle bore no apparent markings.
According to WFTV-Channel 9, which had also deployed journalists to cover the initial shooting, the gunman turned to his colleagues at Spectrum News 13 and fired. "The man came walking towards our team, which members crouched down," WFTV's Nick Papanntonis tweeted. "Then he went to the others and opened fire," he continued.
While the first woman killed, in her early twenties, was an acquaintance of the suspect, Mina told a well-attended news conference that there was no apparent connection to the girl and mother she shot a while later. "We don't know why she went into that house," the sheriff stressed. Nor does it appear that she had any connection or personal relationship with the reporters.
The alleged assailant was armed with a pistol. The mother and the cameraman were hospitalized, both in critical condition.
The first fatal case occurred inside a vehicle and detectives suspected that the perpetrator could be Moses. And the second shooting occurred. They arrested him in the surroundings of the scene of the multiple crime.
“Once they arrested him, the homicide detectives said that Moses was familiar to them from other cases,” Mina said. At 19, he already had a lengthy criminal record, including charges for possession of weapons, aggravated assault and assault with a deadly weapon, burglary and grand larceny.
The television network did not reveal the names of its two journalists. The matter reached the White House. Government spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre tweeted condolences for the reporter and the others killed in this matter.
Sheriff Mina felt sorry. "I just want to highlight how horrible this day has been for our community and our colleagues in the media," he lamented.
“We are deeply saddened by the loss of our partner and the lives senselessly taken,” Spectrum News 13 said in a statement. "Pray for our colleague who is in critical condition and pray for all the victims of gun violence in this country," said Celeste Springer, a journalist for this channel during a live broadcast.
Praying consoles, but once again it is shown that this epidemic is not cured in this way.
