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Mother of accused Daytona shooter speaks
The mother of the 29-year-old woman accused of shooting four people outside a popular Daytona Beach nightclub has come forward and is defending her daughter's actions.
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - The mother of the 29-year-old woman accused of shooting four people outside a popular Daytona Beach nightclub has come forward and is defending her daughter's actions.
"The gun was involved when the four guys jumped on my daughter, and my daughter pulled [it] out to defend herself," Josette Stanley told FOX 35 via phone from Illinois.
Her daughter, Karla Bermudez, is facing four counts of attempted murder as well as a weapons charge for what transpired Saturday night in the parking lot outside Razzle's Nightclub on Seabreeze Boulevard.
Video shared with FOX 35 shows portions of the fight that led up to the shooting.
Bermudez was getting beat up by several men and another woman, Stanley says, and it all started after a woman tried to hit Bermudez with her car.
The fight lasted between 10-15 minutes, and Stanley says Bermudez fired her gun in self-defense. This is also what Bermudez told Daytona Beach Police officers when they arrested her Monday afternoon.
Although police say only two rounds were fired, four people were shot. All of them are expected to be OK.
"She didn't intend to hurt nobody. They were hurting her. She defended herself," Stanley said. "How is it that this is not called self-defense when you can see clearly there’s four men hitting my daughter?"
Stanley is calling on Daytona Beach Police to take her daughter's self-defense claim seriously. But at a press conference Tuesday, Chief Jakari Young raised doubts.
"Based on what we observed on the surveillance video, I don't think her self-defense claim will hold up," he said.
Bermudez remains in the Volusia County jail with no bond.
FOX 35 reached out to Daytona Beach Police to find out whether they're investigating the self-defense claim, and whether anyone else involved will face charges, but has not yet received a response.