Middle School Student Pulls Out Gun and Shoots Friend, 11, Dead After Argument Over Vape Pen, Say Police

A Florida middle school student is facing criminal charges after allegedly shooting his friend dead, according to police.

Detectives with the St Petersberg Police Department arrested Gavin Lorenzo Santos-Brown, 14, on Monday night and charged him with manslaughter following the death of 11-year-oldVeondre Hargrove.

Santos-Brown turned himself in without incident, according to police.

Four days earlier, Santos-Brown and Hargrove attended a party at the home of a mutual friend, according to an arrest affidavit obtained by Inside Edition Digital.

"As the victim was preparing to leave to return home, he sat on a sofa in the living room. The suspect satadjacent to the victim on the sofa and pulled out a handgun," reads the affidavit.

The two boys then began discussing a vape pen "that was stolen from thesuspect by the victim, unknowingly," according to the affidavit.

A witness told police that he asked Santos-Brown "to put the gun away," but when he turned his back he heard a single gunshot, according to the affidavit.

Police say that Santos-Brown then fled the scene on foot, leaving the gun behind.

Officers arrived on the scene to find Hargrove dead. They then questioned the one eyewitness, who identified Santos-Brown as the gunman.

Santos-Brown remains in custody and detectives say they are still investigating the events leading up to the shooting as well as how Santos-Brown acquired the gun he allegedly used in the crime

The defendant has yet to appear in court and enter a plea and no lawyer is assigned to his case at this time.

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