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Florida youth football player shoots 2 teammates during fight at practice

Oct. 3, 2023
Florida youth football player shoots 2 teammates during fight at practice

A youth football player shot and wounded two fellow athletes when an altercation during a Florida Pop Warner practice escalated to gunfire Monday night, police said.

During the fight, a youngster fetched a gun from a car and fired off one shot that hit two players around 8:20 p.m. at a sports complex 20 miles from Orlando, Apopka Police Chief Mike McKinley said during a press conference.

The alleged shooter was detained as authorities investigated. The gun was also recovered by police.

One player was hit in the arm and the other youngster was shot in the upper torso by the same bullet, McKinley said, stressing the information he had was only preliminary. Both were in stable condition.

The ages of the victims and alleged shooter were not known.

“The altercation started on the football field, carried into the parking lot to a car and that’s where the shooting occurred,” McKinley said during the press conference streamed by Fox 35.

Adults on hand for the practice quickly broke up the violence and police arrived minutes later.

McKinley said he was shocked a minor had easy access to the gun.

“It’s unbelievable that young kids out here to play football and have a good time would get into an altercation,” he said.

“Plenty of adults around and in my day we would’ve run and talk to our parents about it and let our parents handle it but in today’s society unfortunately our juveniles run, retrieve a gun and fire the gun. Unacceptable. We can do better than that as a society.”

No charges have been filed yet as investigators speak to witnesses and review other evidence, police said. 


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