Mother kills her 20-year-old son, turns gun on herself at gun range. Both suffered gunshot wounds to the head

Rene Stutzman | Sentinel Staff Writer

11:31 PM EDT, April 5, 2009

CASSELBERRY - Without warning, an Altamonte Springs woman at a gun range turned her weapon on her 20-year-old son Sunday, killing him, then fatally shot herself in the head, police reported.

Marie Moore, 44, and her son, Mitchell, were at the Shoot Straight range on U.S. Highway 17-92 doing target practice, according to Casselberry police Lt. Dennis Stewart.

There was no sign of a problem, no argument, he said. Marie Moore simply pointed the weapon at her son and shot him once in the head, witnesses told police.

She then shot herself once, Stewart said.

Mitchell Moore, who also lived in Altamonte Springs but at a different address than his mother, was pronounced dead at the scene. Paramedics transported his mother to Florida Hospital-Altamonte, where she died, Stewart said.

Marie Moore had a history of mental illness, Stewart said, but he had no details.

The shooting happened about 4:20 p.m., said Casselberry Fire Chief Don Harkins.

Officials were still at the scene at 10 p.m. So was a crew from the company that operates the range's video surveillance system. Police called them, asking for video of what happened.

A crew of Florida Department of Law Enforcement crime-scene technicians also was there late Sunday, carrying out bags of evidence.

Other customers at the range, once they saw what was happening, "went running like crazy," Stewart said.