On the afternoon of 23 February, a reporter and a photographer from the Orlando-based Spectrum News 13were sent to cover the shooting in which a 20-year-old woman had been killed earlier during the day in Pine Hills. The authorities say that the shooter came back to the crime scene and opened fire on people present, killing journalist Dylan Lyons and seriously injured photographer Jesse Walden. They were shot “in or near” their vehicles, according to local authorities.
The motive behind the shooting has yet to be determined but the 19-year-old shooter has been arrested and taken into custody.
Spectrum News reacted to the shooting and said : “We are deeply saddened by the loss of our colleague and the other lives senselessly taken today. Our thoughts are with our employee’s family, friends and co-workers during this very difficult time.”
Dylan Lyons’s colleagues at Spectrum News 13 paid tribute to their late colleague, saying that “he loved the community, telling the stories of people reporting on the news, and he was just passionate about what he did.”
The IFJ strongly condemns the attack on the two journalists, killed and injured while only doing their job, and expresses its full support to all colleagues of Spectrum News 13.
National Writers Union President Larry Goldbetter said: “The increasing levels of random and political violence in the US puts everyone in harm's way, including those who cover and report on this violence. This is the 80th mass shooting in the US in the first two months of 2023, a unique "made in America" phenomenon. From Ukraine to Nablus to Mexico City to Central Florida, reporting the news is a dangerous job. It is telling that the first to come to the aid of these reporters were other journalists covering the same story.”
IFJ Secretary General Anthony Bellanger said : “We are deeply shocked and saddened to hear about the murder of our colleague Dylan Lyon in the attack in which Jesse Walden was also injured. This was an act of wanton violence on unsuspecting members of the public and journalists. We call for the gunman to face the full force of the law.”