A 15-year-old Florida boy was shot while walking to school on Dec. 18, authorities said.
The teenager, who has not been identified, was walking in Orlando around 6:30 a.m. when he was shot.
Orange County Sheriff John Mina told reporters that first responders rushed to the scene but the boy was soon pronounced dead.
Mina said the police have no witnesses so far and urged anyone with information to come forward.
“It’s very early in the investigation and we don’t have a lot of information so we’re relying on the community to come forward with any information,” the sheriff said.
People who live in the area heard the gunshots.
Frank Skinner, who lives near the crime scene, said that when he heard the noises, he initially thought they were fireworks.
“I was sitting on the porch at 630 in the morning getting ready for work and I heard some burning out from a vehicle up at the corner. And after that I thought it was a mortar, a firework,” he told WFTV. “It wasn’t a firework, because five more went off after that.”
Boone High families, we have some very sad news to share with you. We were made aware by law enforcement that early this…
Boone High School was briefly placed under lockdown.
Principal Dusty Johns informed the school community in a message posted on Facebook about the death.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the family as they go through this extremely difficult time. Your child may speak with you and share this sad news. Students will have varied reactions to the death of a peer. Any reaction is normal in the grief process and I encourage you to openly discuss with your child their feelings and reactions,” he wrote.
“We will have a crisis team on campus to provide counseling assistance for students and staff. In addition, out of an abundance of caution, we will have additional law enforcement presence on campus. The safety and well-being of our students is my top priority. Please do not hesitate to call me if you have any questions or concerns.”
Another Student Killed
It’s the second death of a Boone student in the past several weeks after Kody Larue, 14, was found dead inside a house in Azalea Park on Nov. 26.
His body and that of his mother, Leslie McKinley, 47, were decomposing.
Investigators said they believe McKinley killed her son before taking her own life.
When firefighters forced their way inside the home after receiving a tip from a neighbor, they found a note warning of “toxic chemicals” inside the bedroom, where the bodies were, reported the Sentinel.
Deputies believe the chemicals were inhaled by the victims and the toxins may have dissipated before the bodies were found.
The medical examiner was scheduled to issue an official cause of death.
Crime Decreased Nationwide in 2017
The FBI said that both violent crime and property crime decreased in 2017 compared to 2016. Overall violent crime decreased 0.2 percent from 2016 to last year, while property crime decreased 3 percent during that time, the agency said in September, releasing data from the previous year.
“There were more than 1.2 million violent crimes reported to UCR nationwide in 2017. There was a 0.7 percent decrease in murders and a 4 percent decrease in robberies from 2016 to 2017. Aggravated assaults increased 1 percent in 2017. The FBI began collecting data solely on an updated rape definition last year, and 135,755 rapes were reported to law enforcement in 2017,” the FBI stated.
“The report also showed there were more than 7.7 million property crimes last year. Burglaries decreased 7.6 percent and larceny-thefts decreased 2.2 percent. Motor vehicle thefts increased 0.8 percent from 2016 to 2017.”
These figures were compiled from more than 13,000 law enforcement agencies around the United States that submitted their crime data to the FBI.
