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A competitive football practice quickly escalated to a shootout once an 11-year-old boy shot two of his Pop Warner youth football teammates. Multiple witnesses allege the argument began over a bag of chips.
The violent attack happened on Monday evening at Pop Warner practice, at a recreation center in Appoka, Florida. Two older boys started chasing and attacking the 11-year-old. Then, the younger child retrieved a gun from his mother’s vehicle.
The youngest boy allegedly shot the 13-year-old from behind, as he was walking away. A bullet hit one boy’s back, while the other one hit the other pre-teen’s elbow over a bag of chips.
At around 8:30 p.m., many individuals began crowding around one of the teens who was lying on the ground. A police official stated that the 11-year-old started crying and was very emotional near his mother’s vehicle.
Both pre-teens were taken to the hospital and one of them had a surgical procedure. According to a police spokesperson, one child was released from medical care, while the other remains hospitalized.
How did this happen?
The boy’s mother was waiting inside her vehicle for her children to finish practice, when he ran over to the car and seemed upset.
The mother told officials that she did not notice her son take the handgun when he opened the car.
The affidavit states that the mother presumed her son was only getting in the vehicle.
11-year-old charged with attempted second-degree murder over a bag of chips
Officials plan on charging the mother for having the weapon accessible in the vehicle.
No names have been released by police as of yet.
Michael McKinley, Apopka Police Chief, was befuddled about the incident, asserting, “What makes an 11-year-old feel a necessity to grab a firearm and end this altercation is beyond me.”
McKinley went on to advise parents about the importance of keeping firearms safe in your home, instead of unsecured in a vehicle. “For all you parents out there, you have a firearm in your car, a firearm in your house, you have a responsibility to make sure that the firearm is secure and not accessible to our youth juveniles, your children.”
“The young child resulting in violence over a bag of chips showcases how, they believe that gun, that firearm, is a resolution to their problems- and its not a resolution to anyone’s problems.”