The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office announced that a 16-year-old identified as Webb has been charged with manslaughter with a weapon in the July 10 death of 15-year-old Jaden Law. Law was found inside a fitting room at Dick’s House of Sport at the Brandon Exchange, dead from a single gunshot wound. The State Attorney’s Office approved the charge on Sept. 14.
According to investigators, Webb, Law and a third juvenile entered the store together before employees heard a gunshot. Surveillance video showed Webb leaving the fitting-room area shortly after. A firearm recovered from a retention pond south of the mall was later linked to the shooting through laboratory and ballistic testing. The sheriff’s office says the investigation remains ongoing.
For Suncoast families, this story raises difficult questions about how teenagers get access to firearms and what safety looks like inside the places we shop every day. The Brandon Exchange is a familiar stop for many of us, which makes what happened there hit even closer to home. What do you think needs to change so something like this doesn’t happen again?
