Shootings Wednesday in Orlando resulted in the deaths of an Orlando journalist, a 9-year-old child and a local woman in her 30s, and critical injuries suffered by the child’s mother and a local photojournalist.
A 19-year-old man — a suspect in the fatal shooting of a woman (later identified as Nathacha Augustin) Wednesday morning — returned to the scene of the crime and opened fire on two Spectrum journalists in their car on Hialeah Street in Pine Hills at around 4 p.m. The two had been reporting on the earlier shooting. After shooting the two reporters, the suspect then walked to a nearby home and shot a woman and her child.
The shootings left Augustin, the 9-year-old (later identified as T’yonna Major), and Spectrum News 13 reporter Dylan Lyons dead. Spectrum News 13 photojournalist Jesse Walden and the child’s mother were critically injured. The suspect, later identified as Keith Melvin Moses, was taken into custody by local police.
In a public statement Wednesday, Orange County Sheriff John Mina had nothing in the way of motives or explanations for the violence. “It is unclear if [the suspect] knew if they were news media or not,” Mina said. “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.”
Also per Mina, the suspect had no known connections to the journalists or to the mother and daughter.
Lyons’ colleague at Spectrum Josh Miller remembered him as someone who “loved the community, telling the stories of people, reporting on the news, and he was just passionate about what he did,” in a memorial published Thursday online by Spectrum. Lyons was a graduate of UCF’s journalism program.
The story has since been picked up by news outlets all around the world, from CNN to Fox News to The Guardian. And the Committee to Protect Journalists published a statement Thursday morning condemning the the shootings, and their broader implications.
“This horrific tragedy underscores the dangers journalists face every minute of every day,” said SPJ National President Claire Regan. “Journalists covering war zones are embedded with troops to keep them safe. But journalists covering their own communities don’t have those protections. It is always a shock when journalists become victims while covering their own communities. I hope Dylan’s loss and Jesse’s injuries strengthen appreciation for what we do to keep the public informed. We emphasize the importance of news organizations doing everything they can to keep their journalists in the field safe.”
“I’m horrified and angry to learn of the tragedy in Pine Hills today. It doesn’t have to be this way. We have commonsense solutions that we can enact to address gun violence and save lives. Instead, our leaders in Florida are pushing for reckless ‘Anyone with a Gun’ permitless carry legislation that will only further endanger our communities,” said Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, a Senior Advisor to Giffords Florida, in a press statement. “I pray that they listen to reason and stop this dangerous legislation from moving forward. My heart is with those impacted and the Pine Hills community. We stand with you and are committed to enact meaningful change in Florida.”
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre tweeted a statement of support on Wednesday evening: “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.”
Wednesday’s shootings were just another heart-rending example of the nightmare world we are living in — children, journalists, mothers, all victims of gun violence in our country’s endless cycle of mass shootings.
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This article appears in Feb 22-28, 2023.