"It is deeply disturbing that a journalist was killed while covering the gun violence that has become a sickening reality of living in the United States."
This statement was originally published on cpj.org on 22 February 2023.
In response to Wednesday’s news reports about the fatal shooting of a Spectrum News 13 journalist in Orange County, Florida, while he was covering a separate fatal shooting earlier in the day, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued the following statement:
“We are appalled by the killing of a Spectrum 13 journalist in Orange County, Florida, and we stand in solidarity with the newsroom,” said CPJ U.S. and Canada Program Coordinator Katherine Jacobsen. “It is deeply disturbing that a journalist was killed while covering the gun violence that has become a sickening reality of living in the United States. Reporters must be able to cover the news without having to fear for their lives.”
Another member of the news crew was critically injured in the shooting, which also killed a 9-year-old girl and injured her mother, according to a Spectrum News report. Spectrum News said it was not currently releasing the names of the crew members involved in the shooting. Police have arrested a 19-year-old man they believe is responsible for both of the day’s shooting incidents.
In the past six months, the Committee to Protect Journalists has documented the killing of one other U.S. journalist in relation to his work. Las Vegas Review Journal investigative reporter Jeff German was stabbed to death outside his home on September 2, 2022.
[Editor’s note: Spectrum 13 on Thursday identified the slain journalist as 24-year-old Dylan Lyons. The injured crew member was named as photographer Jesse Walden.]
