An 11-year-old Florida boy was arrested Monday after allegedly shooting two Pop Warner football teammates during football practice.
According to police, the incident happened Monday evening at Apopka’s Field of Fame ports complex, and appears to have stemmed from a dispute over a bag of chips, after the food was slapped from the suspect’s hands, Fox 7 reports.
Apopka officers arrived at the scene and found two children with gunshot wounds, while the suspect stood near a vehicle, “shielded” by his mother and a man, Apopka Police Chief Michael McKinley said.
Police said after a teammate slapped the bag of chips from the boy’s hands, the suspect accessed an unlocked gun box inside his mother’s SUV, grabbed a small handgun and shot the teammate in the back. The same bullet then hit another teammate in the arm.
The 11-year-old’s mother was reportedly at the sports complex with her son, sitting in the driver’s seat of her car before and during the alleged shooting. She told responding officers that her son knew she kept a gun in an unlocked box underneath her seat.
Security footage captured the suspect running to his mother’s car at around 8:18 p.m. while one of the victims chased him. The 11-year-old then retrieved the gun and aimed at the child who was chasing him.
Both victims were hospitalized but expected to fully recover, officials said, according to WESH.
“As a society we need to reflect on this,” McKinley said Tuesday. “We see this too often in our society now.”
“Juveniles, young juveniles…that have access to guns, but the more disturbing part is that they believe that gun, that firearm, is a resolution to their problem. And it’s not a resolution to anybody’s problems. It just creates more problems for everybody involved.”
Due to his age, the suspect’s name will not be revealed. Police said they found him “highly emotional” and crying following the shooting. He has no criminal history, McKinley said, and additional charges will likely “not be tacked on.”
“We’re talking about an 11-year-old child here. I don’t think there is a need to stack on charges on an 11-year-old child that has no criminal history.”
He faces one count of attempted second-degree murder, McKinley said, adding that it was an isolated incident following an argument between teammates.
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[Feature Photo: Pixabay]
