3 killed, including child and journalist, in Florida shootings; suspect in custody

A string of shootings in central Florida on Wednesday left three people dead, including a 9-year-old girl and a journalist, according to police, who say they have arrested a suspect.

The shootings in Orange County, Fla., happened over the course of a number of hours on Wednesday. The first shooting, which occurred around 11 a.m., killed a woman in her 20s after she was allegedly shot by the suspect when they were in the same car together, according to Orange County Sheriff John Mina.

Around 4 p.m., with news crews around reporting on the homicide from the morning, the same suspect allegedly returned to the scene and shot two male journalists — a reporter and a photographer — one of whom later died, according to Mina. The suspect then allegedly entered a nearby house and shot a woman and her 9-year-old daughter, who died. Mina said it was unclear why the suspect returned to the scene or entered the house.

The suspect, Keith Melvin Moses, 19, was arrested and charged with the murder from the morning and Mina said he expected charges to be filed from the other shootings as well.

Mina said Moses has a “lengthy” criminal history, including gun charges, aggravated battery and assault with a deadly weapon, burglary and grand theft charges.

“I want to acknowledge what a horrible day this has been for our community and our media partners,” Mina said. “I work closely with all of you … no one in our community — not a mother, not a 9 year old, certainly not news professionals — should become the victim of gun violence.”

The mother of the child was in critical condition, Mina said, and the other reporter was being treated at the hospital.

Mina said it was unclear whether the suspected shooter knew the two men shot at the scene later were media members and said their vehicle was in almost the exact same spot as the vehicle in which the first shooting occurred. He said he thought the vehicle did not look like the typical news vehicle.

Spectrum News 13 has identified the journalist who was killed as Dylan Lyons, 24, and identified the photojournalist who was injured and in critical condition as Jesse Walden.

“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,” Spectrum News said in a statement on Wednesday.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre tweeted a statement of support in response to the shootings on Wednesday.

“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,” she said in a tweet.

“Our hearts are also with the other shooting victims today, their families, and the entire community. Too many lives are being ripped apart by gun violence.”

Orlando Police also issued a statement sending their condolences to Spectrum News 13.

“We send our condolences to @MyNews13 and all families impacted by this tragedy. We value the relationships we have with our media partners as we all serve our communities together providing critical information,” the tweet stated.

Updated at 7:58 a.m.

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