A 12-year-old-boy and a 14-year-old-girl are facing murder charges in Florida after breaking into a home and firing shots at police.
After fleeing a children’s group home, the 12-year-old-boy and 14-year-old-girl broke into a house in Florida, where they came across multiple firearms, including an AK-47 assault rifle, and 200 rounds of ammunition.
Police attempted to negotiate with the children, throwing them a mobile phone. Unfortunately, their efforts were in vain as the 14-year-old began firing shots, allegedly around 8:30 pm.
The 12-year-old-boy followed suit. According to police, the children fired at them on four separate occasions.
What unfolded was an intense 35-minute shootout, with police firing over 60 rounds, resulting in the 14-year-old sustaining three gunshots.
The boy fired shots, however, he eventually dropped his weapon, an AK-47. He approached police with his hands raised, and was taken to hospital without any major injuries.
After the boy was arrested, police found the girl, collapsed behind a vehicle and calling out for her mother. She was in critical condition, with shots to the “chest and abdomen“.
Officers provided her with first aid. The boy later confessed that before the shootings, the girl mentioned she would “roll this down like GTA“.
GTA is otherwise known as the popular, violence packed, video game Grand Theft Auto.
According to Sheriff Mike Chitwood, the girl was taken to a nearby hospital. Initially “fighting for her life“, she is now in a stable condition.
The 14-year-old-girl was known to authorities before this most recent run-in with police.
In 2018, she was arrested for stealing a dog, her reasoning; “because she loves animals“.
The young girl’s neighbours also knew her for continually requesting for “dogs, electronics, and food“.
In April this year, she set her halfway house on fire, after which she was sent to Orlando Sentinel.
Chitwood expressed his frustration, blaming a ‘broken system‘ for failing to handle and reform these children. He labelled the children as “killers” for whom he felt “no sympathy“.
In the wake of recent gun-related events, including the San Jose shooting in which nine people were murdered, conversations around gun reform have been sparked.
In response to the San Jose shootings last week, Joe Biden put pressure upon Congress to enforce stricter gun control laws. Following this is the frightening knowledge that gun violence has been at its peak for over a year now.
We are still awaiting many of the details of this latest mass shooting in San Jose, but there are some things we know for sure. There are at least eight families who will never be whole again. Every life taken by a bullet pierces the soul of our nation.
We must do more.
— President Biden (@POTUS) May 26, 2021
Biden’s bid to “do more” has people questioning the necessity of firearms in America:
2 people were killed and 20 wounded in a shooting in Florida where 100 rounds were fired by 3 people in less than 6 seconds. Nobody attacked them, there was no tyrannical government and nobody was invading their home. So, why exactly does anybody need these types of weapons?
— Henry M. Rosenberg (@DoctorHenryCT) June 1, 2021
You can’t figure out why the children would go on a shooting spree after finding their parents’ guns?
Well, @VolusiaSheriff Sheriff Mike Chitwood, I would guess it has something to do with the state of Florida’s lax gun laws and Republican politicians ass-kissing the NRA.
— Cestrum Nocturnum (@CestrumNocturn1) June 2, 2021
Conversations surrounding gun reform in America have been a hot topic for decades, particularly with the persistence and consistency of gun-related violence.
How many more lives will be lost before the US Government place the importance of protecting their people over facilitating the country’s monetary value?
