2 teens charged in shooting that killed 16-year-old outside Gwinnett supermarket

GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — Florida deputies arrested two teenagers in connection with a deadly shooting in Gwinnett County.

Police responded to the shooting Wednesday around 7:30 p.m. to the La Mexicana Supermarket off Beaver Ruin Road.

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Officers found 16-year-old Ryan Rodriguez Romero dead from a gunshot wound inside his car less than a mile from the scene. Police said 17-year-old Elizabeth Bravo was also injured in the shooting.

Gwinnett County police said they identified two suspects through surveillance video and witness statements.

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The Walton County Sheriff’s Office of Florida took the two suspects, a 16-year-old girl and a 16-year-old boy, into custody on Thursday, according to police.

Both teens have been charged with malice murder, felony murder and aggravated assault. Police have not released the names of the suspects.

The pair will be held in Florida until deputies can transfer them back to Gwinnett County.

On Friday, Channel 2′s Matt Johnson talked to Bravo off-camera, who said she could have been paralyzed in the shooting. Police confirmed that an inch or more to the right and the bullet would have gone through Bravo’s spine.

A mother who was nearby when it happened said it makes her upset that so many young people are getting caught up in gun violence.

Catherine Martinez heard the gunshots from a block away the night Romero and Bravo were shot. She said her daughter goes to Berkmar High School with Bravo.

“It’s very traumatic. I have teenage children,” Martinez said. “My daughter had an anxiety attack sitting out here in the parking lot.”

Detectives are going to Florida to talk to the two teens who were arrested.

A police report suggested that drugs may have been involved when Romero met with someone to pick up money. At some point, witnesses said they saw gunshots come from a van and into the car the victims were in.

“It needs to stop soon before someone else looses their life,” Martinez said.

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