An argument over Trump and Puerto Rico ends in gunfire, cops say

Politics and violence collided in Florida over the weekend. And it led to the shooting of a teenage girl.

The teen was shot in the knee in Deltona on Saturday night, . The unnamed victim was an innocent bystander to an argument between her stepfather and his brother in law, Volusia County sheriff’s investigators said.

The shooting suspect, Jose Amaro, was arrested and charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, possession of ammunition by a convicted felon and two counts of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, the Daytona Beach News-Journal reports. The 41-year-old man was being held Sunday without bail at the Volusia County Branch Jail.

The violence erupted during a birthday party outside Amaro’s home where alcohol was on the menu.

According to an incident report, Amaro and his brother-in-law, also a 41-year-old Deltona man, got into a heated discussion “about politics, Trump and the situation in Puerto Rico.”

Sheriff’s spokesman Andrew Gant said as the argument escalated, Amaro spiraled into a rage, shoved his brother-in-law, then went inside to get a handgun.

Guests tried in vain to stop Amaro, who fired one shot into the yard before he was tackled by a partygoer, investigators said. The bullet hit his stepdaughter in the right knee. She was taken to a nearby hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

A criminal history check revealed Amaro had two felony convictions out of New Jersey, Gant added.

This story was originally published October 2, 2017 at 11:43 AM with the headline "An argument over Trump and Puerto Rico ends in gunfire, cops say."