A Bermudian mother has been hailed a hero after tending to a teenage shooting victim in a Florida hotel.

Rebecca Madeiros was staying in the Holiday Inn Express & Suites St Petersburg North with her sons Jacob, nine, and Toby, seven, when gunfire broke out shortly after midnight on Sunday.

Multiple families from the island were staying in the hotel that night, as youngsters from the Bermuda Gymnastics Association competed at the Gasparilla Classic event over the weekend.

Mrs Madeiros, who works as a nurse, rushed into the hotel corridor to find victims Octavius Brown, 19, and Demetrius Crawford, 17, who had been shot in the upper body and hand respectively.

A Royal Gazette source, who asked to remain anonymous, commended Mrs Maderios’s calm thinking and quick actions amid the chaos — as she used her training to tend to one of the injured teens.

“Rebecca heard the gunshots and then she heard screams for help. She jumped straight into action and pretty much saved this guy’s life,” the source said.

“She administered first aid, stopped the bleeding and stayed there until paramedics came. It was pretty traumatic.”

It is understood that the shooting took place after an argument broke out at a birthday party. Police arrived at approximately 12.30am and are continuing their search for the suspect.

Mr Brown was taken to the city’s Bayfront Medical Centre, where police yesterday described his condition as critical but stable, while Mr Crawford was being treated for his hand injury at Northside Hospital.

It is believed that one family from the island was staying in the room next door to where the violence broke out. Joann Lee, whose six-year-old son competes on the Bermuda Gymnastics Association, told local television network Bay News 9 that she initially believed the incident was children playing a prank.

“There was lots of noise. You could hear kids running across the hallway and up and down the stairwell,” she said.

“It’s a little scary, a little shocking coming from a foreign country and not getting used to this type of gun violence in the US.”

Competing at the Gasparilla Classic over the weekend, Bermuda’s young gymnasts puts on an impressive show.

The team of approximately 16 contestants, all aged 11 and under, recorded a number of first places in their individual division events, including Tristan Robinson (parallel bars), Toby Madeiros (vault), Christian Hanwell (vault) and Arman Newton (rings).

Multiple medallists included Jordan Trimaichi and Jacon Madeiros.