An 11-year-old boy allegedly shot two 13-year-olds after they had scuffled at a youth football practice in central Florida on Monday night, authorities said.
The alleged shooter was arrested and booked on a single charge of second-degree attempted murder following the incident at the Northwest Recreation Complex in Apopka, outside of Orlando, police said.
“That’s not good,” Apopka Police Chief Mike McKinley told reporters. “We shouldn’t have 11-year-olds that have access to guns and think they can resolve a dispute with a firearm.”
The call for help came at about 8:18 p.m. ET and officers arrived on the scene at 8:24 p.m., police said.
The young suspect and victims had fought at their Pop Warner football practice earlier in the evening and the dispute allegedly spilled into the parking lot.
The 11-year-old retrieved a gun from his mother’s car and fired one shot, with that single round hitting one boy in the arm and other in the torso, McKinley said.
It was a crowded scene and the gunfire could have led to more dire results, McKinley said. One of the boys remained in the hospital in stable condition and the other was released.
“We all thank god nobody was hurt more seriously than what they were,” the chief said. “This could have been a very tragic incident.”
The gun was in a box in the shooter’s mom’s car, but was not locked as it should have been, McKinley said, adding that the suspect’s parent is also likely to face charges for not securing the gun.
A surveillance camera allegedly captured the incident and showed the victims running away from the shooter when he pulled the trigger.
“As a society we need to reflect on this. We see this way too often in our society now of juveniles, — young juveniles, and they’re getting younger every day — that have access to guns,” McKinley said.
“But the more disturbing part is they believe that gun, that firearm, is a resolution to their problems — and it’s not a resolution to anybody’s problems.”
A representative for the Pop Warner organization could not be immediately reached for comment on Tuesday.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
