An 11-year-old boy was taken into custody on Monday evening in Apopka, Florida, for the attempted murder of two 13-year-old boys during a Pop Warner football practice. The boys were injured, and the suspect was charged with attempted murder.
The incident allegedly took place about 8:30 p.m. in the parking lot of the leisure facility in the city of Apopka, according to the police. The metropolitan area that includes Orlando includes the city of Apopka.
The cops arrived to find two young males who had been shot and were in critical condition. During a news conference held on Tuesday, Apopka Police Chief Mike McKinley said that a shooting had taken place and that two persons had been injured as a result of the incident.
According to McKinley, the child who was struck in the arm was discharged from the hospital on Monday night, while the other little kid underwent surgery and remained in the hospital on Tuesday in a stable condition.
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McKinley has confirmed that the suspect, who is just 11 years old, was taken into custody on one count of attempted murder in the second degree.
McKinley stated that the suspect “had access to a firearm in his mother’s car,” and that the incident began as a fight during practice that spilled over into the parking lot. He also stated that the suspect “had access to ammunition in his mother’s car.”
According to McKinley, the suspect removed a pistol from the abandoned vehicle, aimed it at both victims, and fired a single shot that struck both of them.
McKinley added that the police “would be pursuing” charges against the suspect’s parents and that the gun was found in an unlocked compartment in the automobile. He also mentioned that the pistol was found in the vehicle.
The arrest record has been provided to CBS News, and it claims that witnesses stated the victims had bullied the suspect before to the event. In the CCTV footage of the parking lot that was obtained by the detectives, it appeared as though one of the victims pursued the suspect as he made his way to his vehicle.
The offender is shown getting into an SUV, pulling out a handgun, and opening fire on the victim who is chasing him in the tape. Immediately after the shot was fired, a number of individuals who had been standing nearby fled the area.
“It is a crime to allow your children to have access to a firearm that is stored in an unsecured box,” McKinley said. “This is a federal offense.” “The firearm was kept in this location in a box that did not have a lock on it.”
After the incident, the suspect concealed the pistol in the automobile that belonged to his mother, and the police eventually found it there.
According to the arrest report, the suspect’s mother informed the authorities that her son had a handgun that was loaded and stored in a gun box that was located underneath the front passenger seat. She told the authorities that her son was aware that the gun was in the vehicle, but that she had previously explained to him that it was just there for her protection and that he was not allowed to touch it.
MicKinley continued, “As a society, we need to reflect on this,” It is an all-too-common occurrence for young kids to have access to guns, which is quite concerning. The fact that they are so convinced that a firearm is the answer to all of their problems is the scariest part.
In recent years, there has been a rise in the number of crimes perpetrated by young people in the United States that involve the use of weapons. According to calculations performed by the Pew Research Center using information provided by the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the death rate attributable to firearms among children under the age of 18 rose by 46 percent between 2019 and 2021, going from 2.4 deaths per 100,000 minors to 3.5 deaths per 100,000.
