‘He loves journalism’: UCF professor shares legacy of reporter killed in Pine Hills mass shooting

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — A University of Central Florida journalism professor wants the community to know who the News 13 TV reporter killed in Wednesday’s mass shooting was, and what he meant to the community.

>>> STREAM CHANNEL 9 EYEWITNESS NEWS LIVE <<<

>>> DOWNLOAD THE WFTV NEWS APP FOR UPDATES <<<

5:32 a.m. update:

Spectrum News 13 identified Dylan Lyons as the TV journalist who died Wednesday after he was shot while covering another deadly shooting in Pine Hills.

Spectrum News 13 also identified Jesse Walden as the news photographer who was shot. Walden was critically injured and is still in a hospital.

Original report:

The shooting Wednesday afternoon left a reporter and a 9-year-old girl dead and a news photographer and a woman critically injured in Pine Hills, just hours after a woman was killed at the same scene.

The reporter and the photographer were doing their jobs when they were shot.

Channel 9 is not yet sharing the name or photo of the victim out of respect to his family and News 13 colleagues. But we can share he was a UCF student who lived for his job.

LIVE UPDATES: Reporter, girl die & photographer, woman critically injured in Pine Hills shooting

While in college, he was UCF’s president of the Radio TV and Digital News Association. He interned at multiple stations in Central Florida before eventually landing a job at News 13.

Rick Brunson, his college professor, came to the hospital to comfort his family and friends. Brunson described the journalist as energetic, enthusiastic and someone who truly loved the industry.

“He loves journalism, and he loves it because of the difference that he always feels like he can make in whatever community he’s in by being on the street with a microphone and a photographer, and telling the stories of the community he’s in,” Brunson said. “That’s what he’s about, and that’s why I’m here.”

READ: TV journalist, 9-year-old killed in mass shooting: Nation reacts

Deputies have not identified the 9-year-old girl who has died, or her mother who is in critical condition.

Deputies said they’re not sure if Wednesday’s shootings were targeted.

READ: Woman arrested in suspected murder-attempted suicide in St. Cloud, police say

IN-DEPTH: Shooting leaves reporter, girl dead & photographer, woman critically injured in Pine Hills Orange County Sheriff John Mina said Wednesday evening that a shooting in the Pine Hills neighborhood left two people killed and two others critically injured. (WFTV)

Click here to download the free WFTV news and weather apps, click here to download the WFTV Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.

©2023 Cox Media Group