An 11-year-old boy is accused of shooting two 13-year-olds after they had scuffled at a youth football practice in central Florida on Monday night, authorities said.
The boy was arrested and booked on a single charge of second-degree attempted murder after the incident at the Northwest Recreation Complex in Apopka, outside 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 8:18 p.m., and officers arrived at 8:24 p.m., police said.
The young suspect and the victims had fought earlier in the evening during practice at the complex's Field of Fame before the dispute spilled into the parking lot, officials said.
The 11-year-old retrieved a gun from his mother's car and fired one shot, hitting a boy in the arm and another 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 stable in the hospital, and the other was released.
"We all thank God nobody was hurt more seriously than what they were," he said. "This could have been a very tragic incident."
The gun was in a box in the shooter's mom's car, but it was not locked as it should have been, said McKinley, who added that the suspect's parent is also likely to face charges for not securing the gun.
A security camera allegedly captured the incident and showed the victims running 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," he said.
Pop Warner officials are trying to "better understand the circumstances surrounding the shooting, and work to ensure appropriate measures are in place to support the program and its members," the Mid-Florida league of the youth football organization said in a statement Tuesday.
"We were saddened by the frightening incident," Mid-Florida Pop Warner said. "The scourge of gun violence is even more disturbing when young children are involved."
