In a heart-wrenching yet unexpectedly courageous incident that stunned Nassau County, Florida, a brave 5-year-old girl managed to survive a terrible shooting on July 24 that sadly killed three women inside their home.
The man who committed this dreadful act was later identified as 34-year-old Christopher Bobby Rowell. Before the tragic event unfolded, one of the victims, acting on instinct, pulled the little girl into a bathroom to protect her. The poor child was found later, covered in blood and a state of shock, but she had somehow made it out of the house alive.
The shooter, after this horrific event, took his own life.
5-Year-Old Girl Escapes Shooting Covering in Blood Splatter After Man Allegedly Kills 3 Women in Florida Home: Police https://t.co/e3uTLgBmxN
— People (@people) July 28, 2025
The Nassau County Sheriff’s Office got a call around 8 o’clock at night, when a neighbor heard a young girl frantically knocking on their door. She was saying that someone had been killed in her house.
The cops rushed over to the place on West 12th Avenue in Hilliard, Florida.
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When they got there, the front door was wide open. Inside, they found a scary sight: three women, one lying on the floor between the living room and the dining room, another in the bathroom that’s just off the hallway, and the third in a bedroom. The guy, Rowell, was in the living room, just barely alive, right beside a scary-looking SKS-style assault rifle.
As it turned out, he ended up being pronounced clinically dead.
According to Sheriff Bill Leeper, what that 5-year-old went through is like something you’d see in action movies. She heard the bang of a gunshot, and thankfully had the guts to peek out into the hallway. What she saw was terrible; one of the women was already on the floor. A brave woman saw her and quickly dragged her into the bathroom, trying to keep her safe, but sadly, she didn’t make it.
That poor little thing ended up with blood all over her, but she didn’t freak out. Not enough to keep her stagnant. She got out of there, ran to the neighbors, and got the cavalry coming: the cops, the ambulance, everything that was needed to ease the dire situation.
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“She’s a very strong little girl. Very brave. Beautiful girl,” Florida’s Sheriff Leeper said in a press conference. “She’s with other relatives at this time. So she’s safe, but she was traumatized,” he added to reassure the anxious gathering.
While the sheriff said everyone in the scuffle was family, they’re keeping the specifics of who’s who pretty hush-hush. It looks like the whole mess came from a big family feud. And the gun they used was a serious piece of hardware, a 7.62 caliber assault rifle. That’s not your average kitchen knife, to say the least. The gunman knew what he was doing and basically wanted his victims dead.
“It’s heartbreaking and totally, totally was unnecessary,” said Leeper.
The investigation is still going on, with Florida cops working hard to figure out when and why the whole terrible thing happened. They haven’t told us the names of the three women who have lost their lives yet.
