(APOPKA, Fla.) — An 11-year-old boy has been arrested for allegedly shooting two 13-year-olds during an altercation at their football practice, authorities in Florida said.
The incident took place around 8:20 p.m. Monday in the parking lot of a recreation center football field in Apopka, which is about 20 miles outside of Orlando, police said.
The 11-year-old allegedly took a handgun from his mom’s car and then fired one shot that hit both teens, according to Apopka police.
One 13-year-old was shot in the torso and underwent surgery, and was listed in stable condition, Apopka Police Chief Mike McKinley said at a news conference Tuesday.
The second 13-year-old was struck in the arm and released from the hospital, McKinley said.
The suspects and the victims were “engaged in a physical altercation prior to the shooting,” and it appears the victims “were the aggressors,” the arrest report said.
One witness told police the fight started over a bag of chips, and another witness said he saw one victim slap the suspect in the face, according to the arrest report.
Video showed “Victim 1” chasing the 11-year-old boy as he ran toward his mom’s car, the arrest report said.
By the time the suspect grabbed the gun from the car, Victim 1 was already walking away, according to the arrest report.
The 11-year-old allegedly ran toward Victim 1 and fired one shot toward Victim 1’s back, hitting both teens with the single bullet, the report said.
The suspect was about 6 to 8 feet from Victim 1 when he fired the shot, the report said.
The 11-year-old has been arrested and charged with attempted second-degree murder, the police chief said, adding that “additional charges are probably pending against some adults.”
The suspect’s mom told police she kept the small 9 mm purple handgun with live ammunition in a gun box under her car’s front passenger seat, according to the arrest report. The mom told police her son knew the gun was in the car, “but she had told him prior not to handle the gun and that the gun was for her protection,” the report said.
“We shouldn’t have 11-year-olds that have access to guns and think they can resolve a dispute with a firearm,” McKinley said.
Robert Mandell, an attorney for the 11-year-old’s family, called the incident a “true tragedy for everybody.”
“There has to be a better way to address situations like this than keeping an 11-year-old in jail,” Mandell said Wednesday, noting that, until now, the boy hadn’t “spent a night away from his mother in his whole life.”
“All he’s saying is, ‘I want to go home,'” Mandell said.
He stressed that the shooting stemmed from bullying.
“Bullying needs to be addressed,” he said. “It needs to start at home, and things like this can be prevented.”
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