1 child dead, 1 injured after shooting at Fort Myers shopping center

One child is dead and another was sent to the hospital following a Sunday evening shooting in Fort Myers.

This happened at the Columbus Square Shopping Center off of Fowler Street, between Simpson Street and Carrell Road. Now, there are no visible signs of what took place here Sunday night. The police tape and evidence markers are all gone, but an investigation is still in progress. The release sent by Fort Myers police said that two kids were shot and one was killed.

Police also want to remind gun owners to keep guns out of the hands of kids.

You can hear first responders’ calls about the shooting. “Fowler Street. A 9-year-old girl was shot.”

“It’s rare. Once a year you might see something happen but you usually don’t hear about it,” said Shane Newson, who works at a Little Caesars in the plaza.

He says the shopping center is usually pretty quiet, but Sunday night, that all changed.

“They’re advising the shot came from inside the vehicle. The kids have the gun,” calls to 911 said.

“It’s a sad thing to hear when somebody has to die,” Newson said.

Questions police are not answering include who the shooter was and if anyone has been arrested.

The press release sent out by Fort Myers PD does go into a great deal of detail about the responsibility that gun owners have to secure their firearms.

Does that possibly suggest that those children got their hands on a gun and now one of the kids is dead?

Marie Stloth is a grandmother and a gun owner. She says that if you own a gun, you have to be responsible.

“You have your gun. Leave your gun home because you don’t have care with anybody. Why do you have a gun in the car with the kids? It’s not good,” Stloth said.

“When you own these kind of things, you’re supposed to be responsible for them, not necessarily like, oh, Willy nilly just going around with it,” she said.

WINK News continues to push FMPD for more information about exactly what happened Sunday night.

Police do say that the second child will recover.