An Orlando TV journalist and a child were shot and killed Wednesday evening near a crime scene where a woman was found shot to death earlier in the day, in a brutal spate of violence in Pine Hills that prompted widespread shock and grief.
Orange County Sheriff John Mina said at a news conference that the journalist for Spectrum News 13 and the 9-year-old girl were among four people who were shot. The others were another member of the News 13 crew and the mother of the girl.
Mina said a suspect, Keith Melvin Moses, 19, was in custody — and he was also suspected in the earlier shooting of the woman.
The other Spectrum News 13 journalist shot was listed in critical condition according to Mina. The journalists were working on a story about the previous shooting in the Pine Hills neighborhood.
“We are deeply saddened by the loss of our colleague and the other lives senselessly taken today,” Charter Communications, the parent company of Spectrum News 13, said in statement shared on Twitter.
“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.”
According to WFTV-Channel 9, which also had journalists at the scene who were not injured, the shooter walked up to the News 13 vehicle and opened fire.
“The man walked by our crew who was working in their car. Our crew ducked,” WFTV’s Nick Papantonis tweeted. “The man then walked up to the other crew working in their car and opened fire.”
The Channel 9 reporters rendered aid as first responders were called. Multiple ambulances reportedly left the scene and took the victims to Orlando Regional Medical Center.
Mina said the suspect walked up to the News 13 vehicle around 4:05 p.m. and fired into it, hitting the photographer and reporter. Both were taken to the hospital where one was pronounced dead.
Moses then went to a house on Harrington Street nearby and shot a woman and her 9-year-old daughter, according to Mina. Deputies arrested Moses nearby not long after, Mina said. He had a handgun that detectives believe was used in the shooting.
Mina said the vehicle did not look like a typical news van with the markings of the TV station on it, so it was unclear if the Spectrum journalists were targeted due to their profession. It’s also not clear why Moses allegedly targeted the woman and her daughter.
“I want to acknowledge what a horrible day this has been for the community and our media partners,” Mina said.
News 13 said it would not be releasing the names of the employees who were shot. The station’s staff continued live reporting despite their co-workers being killed and wounded.
“This is extremely devastating for all of us,” reporter Celeste Springer said on air. “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.”
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre also tweeted out her condolences.
“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 tweeted.
Earlier in the day, deputies found a woman in her 20s shot in a vehicle around 11:17 a.m. in the 6100 block of Hialeah Street. She was pronounced dead on scene.
Moses and the woman were acquaintances, Mina said.
A heavy police presence could still be seen at the scene of the incident by Wednesday evening, including several crime scene vehicles. Hialeah Street and surrounding streets were blocked off.
Mina said Moses is currently facing a murder charge in the shooting of the woman and is expected to face additional charges.
In a Twitter post, U.S. Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., said: “This is absolutely horrible. My team and I are closely monitoring the situation and keeping these Floridians and their families in our prayers.”
A Florida Department of Law Enforcement criminal history report listed more than a dozen arrests for Moses dating back to January 2018, when he was arrested on motor vehicle theft and domestic violence battery charges as a juvenile. He pleaded no contest and was sentenced to a year of supervision.
Later arrests included charges of obstructing law enforcement, resisting arrest, burglary, failure to appear in court, grand theft and repeated probation violations, records show. Many of the arrests came when Moses was a minor and arrest reports were not available Wednesday night.
Court records show his most recent Orange County arrest occurred in Nov. 21, 2021, when he and two other young men were seen smoking suspected marijuana in a car near Balboa and Hernandez drives in Pine Hills. As deputies approached the vehicle, someone tossed a firearm from the passenger side, an arrest report said.
Moses, who was on felony probation from a juvenile case at the time, was arrested on charges of possessing cannabis and drug paraphernalia. The case was dropped the following month, with an assistant state attorney writing it was “not suitable for prosecution.”
Anyone with information on the shootings is asked to call Crimeline at (407) 423-8477.
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