(RIVERVIEW, Fla.) — Authorities in Florida have arrested a 14-year-old boy in connection with a shooting that left one victim dead and another in critical condition.
Reports for the shooting at the 11000 block of Lynmoor Drive in Riverview, Florida, came in on Saturday afternoon at the same time that emergency dispatchers received calls detailing a young male suspect running through the neighborhood with a handgun, according to the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office.
When deputies arrived at the scene, they contacted the suspect, who repeatedly pointed the gun to his head and threatened to shoot himself, authorities said.
The deputies then began de-escalation tactics and negotiated with the suspect for 16 minutes, ultimately convincing him to lower his weapon, Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister told reporters during a news conference.
When the teen attempted to retrieve the weapon again, deputies shot him in the hand with a rubber bullet, Chronister said.
“They used their remarkable intuition and expertise to determine this suspect was not looking to harm them, but was contemplating suicide,” Chronister said of the deputies’ actions.
During the de-escalation process, emergency units responded to the reports of the man who was shot several times and fled to a neighbor’s home for help, authorities said. The victim was transported to a local hospital in critical condition.
As the teen was being taken into custody, deputies then found another victim, who was unresponsive in a nearby driveway, according to the sheriff’s office. The woman, who is related to the suspect, was pronounced dead at the scene, officials said.
Chronister described the scene as “one that nightmares are made of.”
“This family’s lives have been forever changed,” he said. “They lost a mother. This mother’s life is over.”
ABC Tampa affiliate WFTS reported that the teen shot and killed his mother, shot her boyfriend five times and attempted to shoot his older brother.
The investigation is ongoing, the sheriff’s office said.
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