EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) – On Wednesday a reporter was shot and killed, and his photographer was shot while they were at the scene of a homicide in Pine Hills, Florida.
The string of shootings left a 20-year-old woman, a 9-year-old girl, and the journalist dead according to the Orange County Sheriffs Office.
Spectrum News 13 in Orlando confirmed that the reporter killed is Dylan Lyons of Spectrum News 13 and the photographer is Jesse Walden.
Walden is a New Mexico State University Graduate.
Walden speaking with NBC News from his hospital bed about the shooting.
“He kept shooting at me so I ducket behind my car… He walked forward and shot into my car and ended up striking my reporter dylan lyons and killing him,” said Walden.
Walden referring to Lyons as his best friend.
Jesse Walden
“He really did a good job he loved trying hard and that’s what we like to do we like to push the boundries, we like to get our hands dirty, and this unprovoked senseless act random violence that no one could have saw coming,” said Walden.
Walden posted publicly to Facebook that he is ok.
“I lost one of my best friends, Dylan yesterday. I was shot and now I’ve had surgery and I am OK thank you all so much for your well wishes. I haven’t had my phone till now, so I’m sorry I haven’t been able to respond to most of you. I’m very lucky to be alive,” said Walden
The suspect in all of the shootings has been arrested is Keith Melvin Moses a 19-year-old according to the Orange County Sheriff’s Office.
Walden was worked as an editor at News 22 the student run broadcast at NMSU when he was a student.
The Director of News 22 and the College Associate Professor of Journalism at NMSU, Nick Miller speaking with KTSM after hearing the news the Walden was shot.
“It’s just really unfortunate that this is the way things are now, it’s hard to be optimistic and upbeat sometimes but you still got to forge ahead and tell the public what they need to know,” said Miller.
Adding that getting shot on the job is not the type of conversation you think of having when teaching journalism.
“You want to teach writing, you want to teach ethics you want to teach all of the different things that are important for a journalist to do but then you have to start talking about well, security,” said Miller.
The College Assistant Professor and Assistant Director of News 22, Hugo Perez also commenting about the news of the shooting that left Walden injured and his reporter dead.
“The community, the journalism community will not stand for being intimidated like this,” said Perez.
