An 11-year-old boy burst into sobs in court in Florida on Wednesday when the judge ruled that he must remain in custody for at least three more weeks. The boy’s lawyer had asked for house arrest, but the judge was not going to budge.
The boy is accused of taking a gun from his mother’s car and shooting two 13-year-old boys after an argument during a soccer practice in Apopka. One boy was hit in the arm, the other in the torso. The perpetrator is charged with attempted murder in the second degree.
According to the police report, the argument started Monday evening during football practice. The boy was chased and attacked by the shooting victims. A witness told investigators that one of them punched him in the face. This is confirmed by surveillance images.
Tragedy
Defense attorney Robert Mandell called the shooting “a tragedy for everyone involved.” “It all started with the bullying of an 11-year-old boy by a group of 13-year-olds. They didn’t let him eat, they attacked him, they threw him to the ground. He acted on impulse. He absolutely does not realize the consequences of what he has done. After the shooting, he sat in the backseat of the car because he wanted to go home,” he told television station WESH-TV in Orlando.
The mother told investigators she did not see her son reach for the gun, which she said was stored in a gun box under the passenger seat. “She told her son that he should never handle the weapon and that it was for her own protection,” the police report said. She could nevertheless be charged with a second-degree felony for leaving a gun unsecured, Police Chief Mike McKinley said during a news conference Tuesday.
The victims were taken to Orlando Children’s Hospital for treatment. The boy who was shot in the arm was allowed to go home after treatment, the other is recovering from surgery.
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