ORLANDO, Fla. — UPDATE: A school board member is organizing a town hall meeting because of the recent violence.
Vicki Felder said she spent the day on the phone talking to parents and neighbors who are concerned, and she’s working on setting up a town hall.
Carver Middle School has had several fights break out after school several times over the past two weeks before the shooting.
Orlando police were back in force outside Carver Middle School after shots were fired Thursday just as school was getting out.
See the latest update in the video below:
UPDATE: A 13-year-old boy is now charged with attempted first-degree murder after shots were fired near a local middle school.
Initially police believed a fight involving dozens of students broke out and someone opened fire, but it seems what witnesses thought might have been a brawl at first in front of the school was actually a large crowd of students running for their lives after a boy brought a gun and fired some shots.
Police initially believed the so-called fight involved 50 to 100 children and, during the melee, shots were fired.
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But since then, police have learned the large crowd of students gathered expecting a fight.
But instead of a street brawl, they said a 13-year-old boy from a nearby private school, El Bethel Christian Academy, opened fire, and everyone started running.
The alleged shooter and a 14-year-old boy, also a student at El Bethel, were arrested. The second student was also carrying a firearm.
The intended target is believed to be a student at Carver Middle School and was detained and released and not facing any charges. It was not immediately known what the beef was about.
Parents voiced their concerns following the incident.
“It’s just been crazy, and I had to pick them up every day right after school,” said Shay Ellington, parent of two middle school students.
Read our previous coverage below:
UPDATE: A 13-year-old and 14-year-old were charged in connection to a shooting that happened near an Orlando middle school, according to police.
Police said school resource officers were working the area near Carver Middle School during the school release time.
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The resource officers said they saw a large group of kids congregating at the 4400 block of Columbia Street.
Police said it is believed that the kids who were gathering had heard a fight was going to happen.
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Soon after that, an officer heard two gunshots and the large group of kids were running.
Investigators said that no actual fight was observed or believed to have taken place, but rather a commotion resulting from the shots fired.
Officers said they detained three individuals.
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A 13-year-old boy was arrested and charged with attempted first-degree murder, aggravated assault with a firearm within 1,000 feet of a school and carrying a concealed firearm, according to Orlando police.
Police also charged a 14-year-old with carrying a concealed firearm.
A third juvenile detained was released without charges, police said.
“We want to remind our community to always say something if they see something. Thanks to the OCPS personnel and security presence on campus, to that of our police officers in the area, and to the assistance of our residents who collaborated with our officers as they attempted to control the situation near the school while gathering information, this incident was resolved without further issues or injuries,” the Orange County Sheriff’s Office said.
Original story:
Orlando police are preparing to send extra officers to Carver Middle School after someone fired a gun during a fight outside the school on Thursday.
Police said 50 to 100 kids were involved.
Police said fights are happening all too often at the school and they need help.
They’re looking for community leaders, parents and pastors to help with the problem and come up with a solution.
So far, Orlando police have been sending extra officers to the area after school and it isn’t working.
READ: Police: ‘Large brawl’ among students leads to gunfire near Orlando middle school
Police said they’ve never seen anything like the massive brawl on Thursday.
“They were all students,” Lt. William Becton said. “The intended victim was a student at Carver Middle School. And the main person that we were just having an interview with went to Oak Ridge High School.”
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Channel 9 learned extra officers have been in the area because of off-campus fighting that keeps getting worse.
“Root causes of the fights are petty, social media posts,” said Lt. Jean Gabriele.
Police said they need help.
“We doing all we can to prevent fights,” Gabriele said. “Community leaders to step up after school and help us walk these kids safely home.”
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Three students were arrested on Thursday.
Police said the main instigator and likely shooter was an Oak Ridge High School student.
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