A Florida reporter who was fatally shot on the job after the suspect in an earlier shooting returned to the crime scene, authorities say, has been recognized as Dylan Lyons of Spectrum Information 13 in Orlando.
Lyons, a 24-year-old Philadelphia native, and one other Spectrum Information 13 worker, photojournalist Jesse Walden, have been shot round 4 p.m. Wednesday while protecting the murder of a girl in Pine Hills, simply exterior Orlando.
Walden was critically injured however survived, Orange County Sheriff John Mina stated.
“You already know Dylan was a reporter I work with daily,” Walden stated later in an interview from his hospital mattress. “We have been finest pals.”
Greater than something, Walden stated, Lyons cherished being a reporter. “He actually did a superb job,” he stated.
The dying of Lyons, who joined Spectrum Information 13 as a multimedia journalist in July 2022, sparked an outpouring of grief from family members and newsroom colleagues.
“We’re deeply saddened by the lack of our colleague and the opposite lives senselessly taken as we speak,” Spectrum Information 13 stated in an announcement. “Our ideas are with our worker’s household, pals and colleagues throughout this very troublesome time.”
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Shooting suspect Keith Melvin Moses is being held in reference to the killings of Lyons in addition to two different individuals, 9-year-old T’yonna Major and 38-year-old Nathacha Augustin.
“We’re not in search of anybody else,” Mina stated Thursday. “He’s the man. He’s our suspect.”
Lyons and Walden have been in Pine Hills protecting the deadly shooting of Augustin.
Mina stated it is not clear whether or not Moses knew that Lyons and Walden have been reporters when he approached their automobile and opened fireplace. “It is unclear why precisely they have been focused,” the sheriff stated.
However after shooting the reporters, Moses walked to a close-by dwelling and shot the younger woman and her mom, Mina stated.
Moses knew Augustin, nevertheless it’s unclear whether or not he knew the opposite shooting victims, stated Mina, who didn’t establish the wounded mom. She stays in essential situation.
Moses, “so far as we all know, had no connection to the reporters and no connection to the mom and the 9-year-old,” Mina stated. “We don’t know why he entered that dwelling.”
Lyons’ family members in mourning
In a gut-wrenching Twitter post, Casey Lynn, a girl figuring out herself as Lyons’ fiancée, wrote: “The love of my life was murdered.”
“I’ll by no means be the identical particular person ever once more,” she stated, sharing a GoFundMe web page arrange by Lyons’ household to assist cowl the prices of his funeral.
On his personal Twitter account, Lyons had beforehand linked to Casey Lynn’s account with a collection of coronary heart emojis.
Within the GoFundMe arrange by Lyons’ family members, the organizer, who recognized herself as his older sister, Rachel Lyons, says the journalist was an “performing father to his niece and nephew who he cherished a lot.”
“He cherished his fiancée and was a faithful son to his mom and father,” Rachel Lyons wrote.
“Dylan would have been 25 years previous in March,” she stated. “He was a contented soul and fantastic particular person in life. My brother was our child. He was taken too early from us.”
“Born and raised in Philadelphia, Dylan’s journey to journalism was fueled by his need to inform tales that impression native communities,” Lyons’ Spectrum Information 13 bio says.
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Lyons was a “proud College of Central Florida graduate with a level in Journalism and Political Science,” it says, including that in his time at UCF the slain reporter anchored the UCF Knightly Information, a student-run information station.
Earlier than becoming a member of the Spectrum Information 13 staff, Lyons additionally labored as a reporter and anchor for ABC affiliate WCJB of Gainesville, the bio stated. He was awarded one of the best “Politics/Elections Collection” by the Florida Affiliation of Broadcast Journalists and was a finalist for Investigative Reporting in 2021.
Lyons is the most recent reporter killed while on the job
The Committee to Defend Journalists condemned the deadly shooting.
“We stand in solidarity with the newsroom,” stated Katherine Jacobsen, the group’s U.S. and Canada program coordinator. “It’s deeply disturbing {that a} journalist was killed while protecting the gun violence that has change into a sickening actuality of residing in the US. Reporters should be capable to cowl the information with out having to worry for his or her lives.”
The Committee to Defend Journalists famous that Lyons dying got here almost six months after one other reporter, Las Vegas Overview Journal investigative reporter Jeff German, was stabbed to dying exterior his dwelling on Sept. 2.
Not counting Lyons, 13 journalists and one media employee have been confirmed killed while working in the US because the group started protecting information in 1992.
The Reporters Committee on Freedom of the Press additionally condemned the shootings of the reporters.
“Every single day, journalists throughout the nation exit into the sector to do the important work of bringing necessary info to their communities,” government director Bruce D. Brown stated. “We’re sadly seeing journalism change into an more and more harmful occupation in the US, and it shouldn’t be this fashion.”
Tributes for Lyons poured in following phrase of his dying.
“Dylan Lyons was a dedicated journalist, and a major expertise as an on-air presence. Furthermore, he was a part of the TV20 household,” WCJB information director Jon Levy stated in an announcement. “He had the vary to thrive as our morning present reporter, then nightside reporter, and eventually because the anchor to launch our 4 p.m. and 10 p.m. newscasts. He had an enormous character and was by no means afraid to ask the robust questions.”
“Dylan was additionally deeply concerned in TV20′s charitable and group outreach efforts throughout his time in North Central Florida. Our ideas are with his household, pals, and the Spectrum Information 13 staff,” Levy stated.
“Should you knew Dylan, you knew he embodied journalism. Integrity. Ardour. Ethics. Velocity. He meant a lot to so many individuals,” Megan Turner wrote in a tweet, sharing the GoFundMe web page arrange by Lyons’ household.
“I was his editor at UCF. He impressed me & all the time rooted for these round him — pray for his family members & colleagues,” Turner wrote.
Many additionally shared messages of condolences with Lyons’ fiancée, with Turner writing: “We’re right here for you” in a Twitter put up.
“I’m so heartbroken for you and Dylan’s household,” Alexandra Leslie, one other journalist, wrote. “Reporters in Rhode Island are pondering of Dylan tonight,” she stated.
Photojournalist critically injured
Walden has been capable of converse with investigators, police and his colleagues within the newsroom confirmed.
“He’s shaken up, however in good spirits for his bodily restoration,” Celeste Springer, a fellow journalist at Spectrum Information 13, stated in a Twitter post.
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However up to now Moses has not been speaking, Mina stated.
“As a result of Moses just isn’t talking to us, we’re unable to find out a motive right now,” the sheriff stated after Moses was taken into custody.
Spectrum Information 13 staffers continued reporting the story Wednesday night at the same time as they mourned their fallen colleague, in keeping with the Orlando Sentinel.
