An 11-year-old Florida Pop Warner football player who shot and wounded two teammates after a fight broke out at practice on Monday was arrested and charged on Tuesday according to police.
The alleged shooter, who hasn’t been named, was hit with an attempted second-degree murder charge, and his mother could also be charged for failing to secure the alleged firearm used.
According to ABC News, additional charges against certain adults are pending and the mother told law enforcement that she “told him prior, not to handle the gun and that the gun was for her protection….”
Gun Violence Breaks Out Over A Food Fight
During a practice on Monday a fight broke out after food was allegedly slapped out of the 11-year-olds hands at a sports complex in Apopka, Florida. The youngster then headed to his mother’s car and grabbed the unsecured gun and opened fire on his teammates after the alleged food slapping.
“It’s a shame. No one wants to arrest an 11-year-old by any means,” Apopka Police Chief Mike McKinley said. He also said kids are “ruining their lives” with gun violence.
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It certainly is a shame. Why did it have to escalate to that level? Why did this young kid know there was a gun he could get access to?
A fight over food getting slapped out of one kid’s hand, led to two other kids being shot. Now an 11-year-old is going to have a criminal record. Over food? That is absurd.
“It’s unbelievable that young kids out here to play football and have a good time would get into an altercation,” McKinley 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.”
This Is America
We should be able to do better as a civilized society. But are we civilized?
This country was founded on violence and the means by which state actors maintain “order” is through violence. It is baked into the DNA of this country. It is who we are. The collective we.
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