[imagesource: Volusia County Sheriff’s Office]

Two children, a 14-year-old girl and a 12-year-old boy, are facing serious criminal charges following a shootout with law enforcement on Tuesday night.

The pair first ran away from a group home, and then broke into a house in Enterprise, Florida, before the shootout ensued.

The girl was shot and wounded after the duo opened fire on sheriff’s deputies, using a shotgun and an AK-47, with a handgun also found on the scene.

The sheriff’s office says the pair found the guns in the home.

Passersby had reported hearing breaking glass coming from inside the house, which led to police being called.

They surrounded the house, at which point gunfire began to ring out. Over the course of 35 minutes, there were four exchanges of gunfire.

Here’s Reuters:

Body cam footage released on Wednesday showed deputies hiding behind trees as shots rang out around them. The footage of when the girl was shot was blurred. The audio of the video painted a frantic scene as deputies rushed to provide medical aid to the girl, who was screaming in pain.

She underwent surgery and was in stable condition, authorities said. No sheriff’s deputies were hurt in the Tuesday night shooting.

Bodycam footage released earlier in the week, as well as aerial footage, shows some of what happened:

A full investigation of what happened is underway, reports USA Today:

The deputies initially did not return fire and a supervisor can be heard on body camera video telling deputies to stay back and not approach the house as they tried to de-escalate the situation. The deputies later shot the girl after she pointed a shotgun at them.

Deputies fired a total of 60 shots, and eight deputies have been placed on administrative leave with pay pending the results of an investigation by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

If the State Attorney’s Office decides to try the children as adults, they could face life in prison, although they would be entitled to have their sentences reviewed after 25 years.

It’s also brought to light the awful state of affairs at the Florida United Methodist Children’s Home, from where the children escaped:

The sheriff’s office has received approximately 103 calls for missing persons and 34 for cases of assault and battery from the children’s home since January 2019, according to call logs from the sheriff’s office.

This is the second time this year that a serious incident linked to the children’s home has made the news. A 14-year-old boy at the group home pleaded no contest last month to a charge of manslaughter in the death of a security officer.

The 12-year-old boy will be held in secure detention for 21 days, and his next hearing is June 23.

The footage below offers an extensive look at how the standoff played out:

[sources:reuters&usatoday]