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Crime

12th Apr 2022

Teen dead after boys take turns shooting each other while wearing body armour for Snapchat video

Steve Hopkins

The teens were said to have taken turns at shooting each other while wearing the protective vest

A teenager is dead after at least two young men took turns shooting at each other while wearing body armour during an incident being filmed for Snapchat.

Belleview Police Department (BPD) posted about the incident on their Facebook page on Friday, announcing that Joshua Vining, 18, had been arrested for aggravated manslaughter of a child with a firearm, while Colton Whitler, 17, had been arrested for providing false information.

Florida police were called to a shooting at a residence on 3 April, and upon arrival found 16-year-old Christopher Leroy Broad Jr, had been shot. The teenager was transported to a local hospital but later died, BPD said.

The medical examiner’s office said the cause of Broad’s death was a single gunshot wound to the chest and the manner of death was listed as homicide, CNN reported, citing a probable cause affidavit

During the investigation into the shooting, BPD “discovered evidence to prove” that Vining had “shot and killed Broad.”

BPD said in a statement: “Through the investigation, it was determined that Vining and Broad were taking turns shooting at each other while wearing a vest which contained a form of body armor.

“Vining shot at Broad while he was wearing the vest and he was struck.”

Police said when they arrived at the scene, Vining was performing CPR on Broad.

In the affidavit, police say a third teenager told them he “video recorded both shootings using Snapchat on his iPhone,” saving the video of Vining being shot, but deleting the video of Broad being stuck.

CNN further reported that a technician was able to recover the shooting of Broad.

Vining posted a $30,000 bond on April 8, according to the Marion County Sheriff’s Office inmate search website while the second charged teen was released on a $1,000 surety bond on April 8.

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