Photographer shot in Orange County speaks out, details on incident released

A news photographer shot while on assignment is speaking out for the first time since a gunman in Orlando ambushed him and four others on Wednesday night.

Jesse Walden wrote on Facebook and it reads in part: “I lost one of my best friends Dylan yesterday. I was shot and now I’ve had surgery and I am OK. Thank you all so much for your well wishes. I’m very lucky to be alive.”

Walden and Dylan Lyons were reporting from a homicide scene in the Pine Hills neighborhood of Orlando when the accused killer returned, shot them and then shot two others, 38-year-old Natacha Augustin and 9-year-old T’Yonna Major, who died.

Keith Moses is accused of the crimes.

According to authorities, Moses was quickly apprehended after the shooting. He fought back during his arrest.

“We recovered a Glock 4, a semi-automatic handgun, from inside his pants and the gun was hot. It had just been fired. And there were no more rounds in the weapon,” said Orange County Sheriff John Mina.

Mina said there’s no doubt Moses did it. He said they have several witnesses and video. A witness in the neighborhood told WINK News there is doorbell video that helped with an arrest.

“Moses was taken to the hospital claiming that he was injured and couldn’t breathe. Once at the hospital he did fight with hospital staff and our deputies had to restrain him once again,” Mina said.

He pretended to sleep and fight back, instead of answering questions. The investigation, however, is moving forward.

WINK News learned Moses and the first victim did not know each other after all. She was already in a car when the driver recognized Moses and stopped to pick him up.

That witness said 30 seconds later, she was shot dead.

“We’re unable to determine a motive. At this time. It is unclear why he shot the first victim. It’s unclear why he targeted those folks in the news media … it’s unclear why he shot a nine-year-old and her mother on that same area,” Mina said.

Neighbors are still trying to understand what happened in Orange County’s Pine Hills community.

One home was riddled with bullet holes. Behind the wall is the bed of an 8-year-old who sleeps there nightly.

The bullet traveled through his headboard, into the dresser and out the back.

The trauma is so severe, that the child did not sleep there last night. His bed is still littered with wood fragments caused by the gunfire.

Moses is accused of killing Augustin, and then five hours later, returning to open fire on Lyons and Walden, who were getting ready to go on-air to report about the homicide.

Neighbors say Lyons appeared to die right away, but Walden, the photographer, may have been protected by his gear. By the time he got up, the shooter was a block away, in a home, shooting a mother and her daughter.

Neighbors said they believe the shooter thought the news crew was law enforcement.