A 19-year-old suspect has been charged with first-degree murder in Orlando, Florida, after an outbreak of gun violence on Wednesday that left three people dead and two more in a critical condition in hospital.
Police were called to Hialeah Drive in the Pine Hills neighbourhood of the city at around 11am on Wednesday morning after a woman in her 30s was found shot dead in her vehicle.
That afternoon, a news crew from local station Spectrum News 13 arrived to record a report on the incident. The gunman returned to the scene at around 4.05pm and fired into the team’s unmarked van, killing a reporter and severely injuring a photographer.
The shooter then fled, entering a nearby house on Harrington Street and opened fire on the occupants, injuring a mother and killing her daughter, aged just nine.
The original victim has since been identified as Nathacha Augustin, 38, and the mother and daughter as Brandi and T’yonna Major.
The deceased reporter was named by his employer on Thursday as Dylan Lyons, 24. He was a Philadelphia native who had attended the University of Central Florida and begun his career in Gainesville.
The injured photographer was Jesse Walden, 29, originally from New Mexico.
A suspect was quickly arrested and a hand gun recovered from the scene.
Here is everything we have learned about the accused killer so far.
Police named the alleged perpetrator as Keith Melvin Moses at a press conference on Wednesday evening.
Orange County sheriff John Mina said that Mr Moses has already been charged with first-degree murder for the initial victim and that charges are expected soon for the other four victims.
He also revealed that Mr Moses had a “lengthy” criminal history, listing gun charges, aggravated battery, assault with a deadly weapon, burglary and grand theft charges as being on his record.
“The suspect is not saying much right now,” Sheriff Mina said of the attack on the Spectrum team. “It is unclear if he knew they were news media or not. 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.”
He added: “I want to acknowledge what a horrible day this has been for our community and our media partners. I work closely with all of you... no one in our community – not a mother, not a nine-year-old, certainly not news professionals – should become the victim of gun violence.”
Mr Moses "was an acquaintance of the woman this morning, but as far as we know, had no connection to the reporters and no connection to the mother and the nine-year-old”, Sheriff Mina said.
“We don’t know why he entered their home,” he added.
