Three Riviera Beach teens are facing first-degree murder charges after police and the U.S. Marshals Service arrested them on Sept. 21 in the fatal shooting of a 17-year-old girl.
The shooting took place just after 8 p.m. on Aug. 21 on the 1400 block of West 36th Street, in the city's north end near Silver Beach Road. The State Attorney's Office will formally decide whether to charge the teens as adults.
Police Chief Michael A. Coleman said Sept. 22 two of the juveniles are in custody, while one made their way 275 miles north to Jacksonville. The chief said he has some theories about how the teen got there.
"There's a strong possibility that they left the area to flee," he said. "It's a strong possibility for a 16-year-old kid to leave and go to Jacksonville
in the middle of the school year to go up there for what? There's a strong possibility that they were trying to remove themselves from the city knowing what they had done."
Coleman said he could share little information as to what led to the shooting, but it does seem that the gunfire was no accident.
"I think she was involved with a transaction, and whatever happened led to those individuals discharging a weapon into her body," as he put it, the three teens looked to be out to do harm.
Flock cameras and license-plate readers played a large role in finding the teens, police said, but the technology has not come without its share of controversy, with many claiming they can be an invasion of privacy.
Due to backlash, law-enforcement departments and cities across the state have announced they will be suspending the use of cameras including the Florida Highway Patrol, which said it would remove them from roads such as Florida's Turnpike. Pembroke Pines police and the Miami-Dade County Sheriff's Office are among others who've also stopped using the cameras.
Coleman acknowledged how many feel about the cameras but admitted that they can be an essential tool in fighting crime.
"As the chief of police, I think it's a tool, and of course, all tools have to be respected."
"I'm 100% supportive of license-plate readers and Flock cameras because you see what it can do if used properly."
It is unclear what will happen to the teen who fled to Jacksonville, and Coleman had no updates as of Tuesday to share about the victim.
Arianna Otero covers breaking news for The Palm Beach Post. Contact her via email at AOtero@pbpost.com and follow her on X: @ari_v_otero.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Flock cameras help Riviera police arrest 3 teens in girl's homicide
