Dozens of Assemblies of God church members tied to the biggest cluster in Auckland’s Covid outbreak were vaccinated today after getting out of isolation.Many shared, while getting their jabs today, how hard it had been watching…
Category Archives: headline
Covid 19 coronavirus Delta outbreak: Auckland now the elimination frontline
ANALYSIS The number of new cases in New Zealand’s Delta outbreak is now on a downward trend and we have a good chance of eliminating it, even as lockdown restrictions ease for most of the country from tomorrow.After a peak in…
Breaking the barrier: Samoan Covid survivor leads Covid communication
By Jessie Chiang of RNZ “It all starts with the way you say ‘talofa’.”Seumanu Simon Matāfai is a Covid survivor – he was so sick with the virus last year he was hospitalised.He is also a choirmaster, radio presenter and…
'The Wire' and 'Boardwalk Empire' star Michael K. Williams found dead
Michael K. Williams, an actor best known for his role as Omar Little on HBO's The Wire, has died. He was 54.
Williams was found dead in his New York City apartment on Monday afternoon (local time), a law enforcement official told CNN.
Investigators found drug paraphernalia near his body, the official said. The investigation is ongoing, according to another law enforcement source who spoke to CNN.
LIVE UPDATES: PM given exemption for Father's Day travel
"It is with deep sorrow that the family announces the passing of Emmy nominated actor Michael Kenneth Williams. They ask for your privacy while grieving this unsurmountable loss," his long-time rep Marianna Shafran of Shafran PR told The Hollywood Reporter.
CNN has contacted representatives of Williams for comment.
In a 2017 interview with the New York Times, Williams spoke openly about his struggles with substance abuse.
"Addiction doesn't go away," he said at the time.
"It's an everyday struggle for me, but I'm fighting."
Williams, a Brooklyn native, most recently appeared in HBO's Lovecraft Country and the series F Is for Family.
He became an almost iconic figure for many thanks to his role in The Wire as Omar Little, a shotgun-wielding character who made his living robbing drug dealers.
He followed that up as a mobster in the HBO Prohibition-era mob drama Boardwalk Empire and most recently earned an Emmy nomination for another series on the pay network, the macabre Lovecraft Country.
Williams was next slated to co-star in Sony's George Foreman biopic from George Tillman Jr., who was set to direct.
Williams amassed a number of accolades during his storied career, including five Emmy nominations.
His first was in 2015 for his role in Bessie and another followed two years later for his part in The Night Of.
He was also the winner of a SAG Award for best ensemble with the cast of Boardwalk Empire.
On social media, Williams' many colleagues and friends recalled the depth, complexity and humanity he brought to his characters on screen and, above all, the man he was off-screen.
"Michael K Williams was a beautiful, passionate, expansive soul. I felt so lucky to have known him, and we were all so fortunate to have enjoyed his incredible talent," Aisha Tyler wrote on Twitter.
"He burned so very bright."
Director James Gunn added: "Michael K Williams, in addition to being one of the most talented actors around, was also one of the kindest, sweetest, most gentle souls I've ever met. This is heartbreaking. My thoughts are with all those who loved him."
Musician Saul Williams wrote: "For years Wikipedia listed Michael K. Williams as my brother. Neither one of us chose to correct it, instead we took it at its word. 'We're brothers, yo.' He shared poems with me. We broke bread & kicked it whenever we could. A deep & sincere connection. A beautiful spirit."
Australian woman who lost parents in MH17 angry at Russian role
An Australian woman whose parents were killed in the the 2014 downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 has given powerful testimony in a Dutch court.
Vanessa Rizk was just 22 when she lost her parents Albert and Maree Rizk, from Sunbury, Victoria, on July 17, 2014, as a Buk missile blew the Boeing 777 heading from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur out of the sky above eastern Ukraine.
Ms Rizk pointed to Russian President Vladimir Putin and his government as part of the "political nightmare" that caused the crash during her statement to the Dutch court via video link.
READ MORE: Lawyer says families of MH17 victims want compensation
"Seven years on, I am determined that you will never, ever break my spirit and capacity to live and love, just as my parents would have wanted me to," Ms Rizk said.
There were 38 Australian residents and citizens among those killed.
Under Dutch law, the relatives are allowed to make a victim impact statement to the court, without being asked questions. About 90 people plan to do so over the next three weeks, some speaking via live video links from other countries.
READ MORE: Russia taken to top human rights court over MH17 downing
"How would they feel if their life was caught up in a political nightmare that their country wasn't even involved in," Ms Rizk asked.
"How would Putin and his corrupt Russian government answer that."
"I still cannot fathom that our family is caught up in a frustrating and deadly political crisis," Ms Rizk said.
"To the perpetrators, seven years ago, you broke up my family in the worse way imaginable."
Australians were among other relatives who gave testimony on Monday (Netherlands time).
Since her father and stepmother died in Ria van der Steen has been dealing with feelings of hate, revenge, anger and fear.
She is not alone. Seven years later, Sander Essers still feels guilty about the death of his brother. And for Peter van der Meer, Father's Day has become the one of the most horrible days of the year, following the loss of his three daughters aged 12, 10 and 7 in the crash.
"I'm a father without children, a childless father," he said in an emotional speech. "It has been so for seven years, and for all the years to come."
"I think probably next to the verdict, it is one of the most important days for the family members, because they can speak to the court, but through speaking to the court, they speak to the suspects and also to the responsible people wherever they are hiding," said Peter Langstraat, a lawyer representing victims' relatives. "So this is a form of communication with the people who are responsible for this disaster."
Ms Van der Steen was the first to speak Monday, telling the court about the psychological consequences of the tragedy on her life.
All dressed in black in the courtroom at Schiphol Airport near Amsterdam, van der Steen spoke at length about the nightmares that woke her up screaming and of the impossible goodbye to her loved ones.
"I had to say my goodbye to them so often," she said. "The question is: How many times can you say goodbye? And when is goodbye forever?"
Ms Van der Steen said she began to have nightmares soon after learning about the death of her relatives, who had been on their way to holidays to Borneo. In her dreams, she walked across fields in Ukraine looking for her father to let him know he had died.
"I saw the wreckage, bodies, personal effects," she recalled, "I could not stop crying until I woke up screaming."
READ MORE: MH17 defendant 'lurking in fog': court
After first being told it would not be possible to identify the bodies of her loved ones, van der Steen finally learned that her father had been identified thanks to a tiny piece of bone of his hand.
"Happily, we received news soon after that a small piece of bone of (my stepmother) Neeltje was found and that she, too, was identified," said van der Steen, recalling how shocked she was when presented with the two small bags of bones.
"I knew it was them, but emotionally I did not want to accept it," she told the court.
Mr Essers said his brother Peter called him about 20 minutes before boarding the plane.
"In a gloomy voice he said to me, literally: 'Sander I'm afraid that I'm not going to come back alive.' Later he said: 'We're flying over a war zone.' He was dead scared and asked me urgently whether or not he should board the plane."
READ MORE: Australian police helped prove missile downed MH17 jet
Mr Essers said he felt he should reassure his brother.
"I often suddenly feel that I am partly to blame for his death," he said.
The trial opened in March 2020 and progressed through a long series of preliminary hearings before lawyers began discussing the merits of the case in June. The complex case is expected to continue into next year.
After a years-long painstaking international investigation, prosecutors charged four suspects — Russians Igor Girkin, Sergey Dubinskiy and Oleg Pulatov as well as Ukrainian Leonid Kharchenko — with multiple counts of murder for their alleged involvement in shooting down the flight.
Prosecutors say the plane was shattered in mid-air when it was hit by a Buk missile system trucked into Ukraine from a Russian military base. Russia denies any involvement in the downing.
None of the suspects has appeared in court and only one — Pulatov — has lawyers representing him at the trial. They have said he denies the charges.
"They are lying, we know they are lying and they know that we know that they are lying," said van der Steen, saying that she was quoting the late Soviet dissident novelist Alexander Solzhenitsyn.
Last week, investigators appealed to Russians to come forward with information about the deployment of the missile that investigators say downed the plane.
Nevis: Schools Remain Closed Amid COVID-19 Surge
Schools in St.Kitts and Nevis, scheduled to reopen September 6, after a long summer break, will remain closed after a new surge in coronavirus cases..
The announcement was made by Premier of Nevis Mark Brantley said the NIA has also closed the Department of Education and other key government departments. Senior public servants have been forced into quarantine and or isolation due to either contracting the coronavirus or being exposed to the virus through contact with infected persons.
“I regret to report that we have been forced to close the Department of Education until further notice. We have also been forced to delay the reopening of all schools on Nevis initially for one week as we monitor the situation. This is as a result of key Education personnel contracting this dreaded virus. The consequences of this for our children’s education and for the ease of parents, many of whom depend on their children being in school whilst they work, are far-reaching. Any contagion in our schools and among our vulnerable children must be avoided at all cost.”
Premier Brantley in his address to the people of Nevis said this is not fair to the children of Nevis as their education is being jeopardized. To this end, he made the call for teachers and other education officials to get vaccinated.
“My government has committed to safe schools and ensuring that all of your children placed in our care are safe. We cannot achieve this if some of our teachers and other education officials and personnel remain unprotected…I am to advise that the position of my Government is again to urge the immediate vaccination of all teachers, auxiliary school staff, daycare and nursery providers, caregivers to the elderly, nurses and other medical staff, prison officers, police and other security personnel. If you will not do it for you then I beg of you to do it for those in your care and those who are depending on you.”
In St. Kitts and Nevis as outlined in the Statutory Rules and Regulations, “A period of curfew is imposed every day from 1:01 a.m until 5:00 a.m…” for the next two weeks.
As it stands businesses remain open and persons continue to go about daily activities while adhering to the COVID-19 non-pharmaceutical protocols of social distancing, hand sanitizing and mask-wearing. Ferries between the two islands also continue to operate.
Activities for the virtual hosting of Culturama 47 continue as well, with the most recent hostings being the Soca Monarch Semi-Finals on Saturday and the Calypso Semi-Finals on Sunday.
In an effort to curb the spread of the virus by limiting movement, the Premier announced restrictions that are expected to be followed.
“My government’s position is that all bars, restaurants and places of recreation involving music and the sale of alcohol should be severely restricted in their hours of operation until such time as we are past this surge.
“We shall engage with the proprietors of such establishments to achieve this, barring which we shall suspend business and liquor licenses for those refusing to comply. During this time, there shall be no permission granted for any mass gatherings, parties or fetes. I have asked the Police and Security Forces on Nevis to be vigilant and to rigorously enforce the protocols enshrined in law.”
To assist in the fight against covid-19, the Nevis Island Administration will be distributing critical supplies such as hand sanitisers, masks and other protective gear to all schools, daycare centres, hospitals and health centres, homes for the elderly and churches across the island. As supplies permit, distributions will also be made to individuals in communities across Nevis.
This will mark the second time the government has done this since the start of the pandemic.
There have been 196 cases confirmed in Nevis with six hospitalizations and no deaths on the island.
Both islands have experienced a marked increase in cases. The most recent situation report shows an overall total of 546 active cases in the federation. To date, there have been 5 deaths. 33 cases were confirmed in the last 24 hours. The total number of confirmed cases to date stands at 1,230 with 196 for Nevis and 1,034 for St.Kitts.
On September 1st the federation began its rollout of the Pfizer vaccine which allows for children 12 and older to receive the jab. The target is to have four thousand eight hundred children vaccinated.
Schools on sister island St. Kitts will reopen as scheduled beginning on Monday, September 6, 2021.
Updates are expected to be given by the Ministry of Education on Nevis as it relates to the transition to virtual learning and the way forward for its staff and students.
The post Nevis: Schools Remain Closed Amid COVID-19 Surge appeared first on The St Kitts Nevis Observer.
Grenada Declares No Movement Days as COVID Cases Surge
CNW- The Grenada government on Friday night declared no movement days as well as a daily curfew for the next 14 days as the island seeks to deal with an upsurge in COVID-19 cases that has killed four people in the last week.
Prime Minister Dr. Keith Mitchell said effective Saturday (Sept. 4), the curfew shall be in force daily from 7.00 pm to 5.00 am (local time) and that from Friday, September 10 to Monday, September 13 as well as September 17 to September 20.
“During these no-movement days, the Ministry of Health will facilitate greater access to testing and vaccination within communities. No movement will be permitted, except for purposes of testing and vaccination.”
Mitchell also announced that there would be no inter-island travel between Grenada, Carriacou and Petite Martinique during the curfew period.
“Anyone permitted through exemption to travel between the islands must take a Rapid Antigen test before departure,” Mitchell said, adding that the Maurice Bishop International Airport and the commercial ports of entry will remain open.
He said the government is continuing to examine the entry protocols relative to the quarantine period “but it must be appreciated that any decision taken will require advanced notice to travel stakeholders and holiday seekers.
“This we will give in due course,” he said.
Mitchell described the situation as “dire” and that ‘clearly it cannot be business as usual”.
He said while there will be continuity of operation in some sectors, including the public service and state-owned enterprises, manufacturing, construction, wholesale and retail grocery stores, banking and transportation “it has become necessary to implement closures in non-essential sectors to help limit the movement of people and to curb the spread of the virus”.
He said that the closures will include daycare centres, saloons, barbershops, gyms and other indoor entertainment facilities.
Schools will offer virtual classes only and Mitchell said that the St. George’s University “will only continue operations with strict adherence to the protocols that all other entities that continue to exist would have to live with”
He said medical practitioners, dentists, veterinarians accountants, lawyers and insurance companies will be allowed to operate only by appointments and that pharmacies and hardware stores will remain open “only for pickup and delivery services during the period.
“All social activities, sporting events and weddings have been suspended also. Funerals are permitted but are restricted to one hour between the 9.00 am to noon. Beach access is limited to five to 10 am daily,” Mitchell said, adding that the government’s debushing programme that brought relief to many people have been suspended as a result of the new measures.
Mitchell told the nation that the COVID-19 situation in Grenada has deteriorated rapidly and daily statistics from the Ministry of Health show that “we have moved from the occasional identification of positive cases to daily additions of new cases, sometimes in excess of 100 per day.
“The medical experts have confirmed that we are now at the stage of community spread. The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 is now nearing 1,000, with more than 600 active cases. There’s no telling where the next case will be recorded. It could be you, it could be me, it could be a beloved family member or friend; we are all at risk.”
He said he was pleased with the announcement by the religious community to resort to virtual services for the next two weeks.
“We welcome this initiative and ongoing collaboration with critical stakeholders. I express gratitude too, to members of the business community and the trade union movement who have been engaged this week in consultation with the Government, examining strategic moves to deal with this crisis.
“I urge that you continue to appropriately guide your membership going forward. Effectively dealing with this pandemic requires us to have all hands on deck and government welcomes all strategic partnerships.”
But he noted that although the island’s borders will remain open, the current rate of infections could negatively impact travellers wishing to visit Grenada, which is now on the United Kingdom’s green watch list, “meaning that we are at risk of being moved to the amber list which stipulates quarantine measures for their returning nationals”.
He said this would be a deterrent to leisure travel that will affect visitor arrivals and further impact the hospitality sector.
“Additionally, Grenada could lose its coveted Level 1rating by the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States.”
But he maintained that the population has the power to stop COVID-19.
“We can control it through responsible actions, restricting our own movement, wearing a mask or appropriate face covering in public spaces, maintaining our physical distance and washing or sanitising our hands frequently. Easy steps, which, if followed consistently by everyone, can immediately stem the current trend.
“I call on all leaders within the community – church, business, trade union, political, sports, culture, social and other media influencers – just about everyone who has a sphere of influence over any sector of the society, let us please put aside personal and organisational differences and join hands
in working towards promoting and achieving the behavioural change that will ultimately protect our people. We have a moral responsibility to do this,” Mitchell told the nation.
CMC
The post Grenada Declares No Movement Days as COVID Cases Surge appeared first on The St Kitts Nevis Observer.
Haiti Ending Earthquake Search & Rescue Operation
CNW- Haiti says it will end the search and rescue operations more than two weeks after a powerful earthquake struck the southern part of the country, killing more than 2,200 people and 300 others missing and now feared dead.
The country was rocked by an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.2 on August 14.
The Technical Directorate of the National Emergency Operations Center (COUN) said that the search and rescue mission for survivors will end this Friday.
The mission had been concentrated mainly in the three departments of the Great South (South, Nippes and Grand’Anse).
The COUN said that since the quake struck, several rescue teams have been in the field rescuing people from the rubble as well as those trapped in the mountains of the Massif de la Hotte following landslides.
The estimated 154 rescuers including 27 women, were joined by international rescue groups from the United States, Colombia; France, Brazil; United Kingdom, Chile, the Dominican Republic and Mexico.
“We will publish the final report of this work based on the data collected, processed and analyzed with the support of OCHA,” said COUN technical director, Jerry Chandler.
Earlier this week, Prime Minister Ariel Henry, speaking at the launch of the National Workshop on Post-Earthquake Damage Assessment (PDNA), reiterated his call for the local authorities to act quickly in providing assistance to those affected by the quake.
“We have an obligation of results and the government does not intend to let this reconstruction opportunity pass. I place the recovery and reconstruction under the sign of planning, therefore, of the vision of the future. I take this opportunity to review the 2010 development strategy,” he said.
He said this is an opportunity for the government to rebuild the affected departments, according to the principles of planning and sustainable development.
“Reconstruction is multidimensional and complex. Hence the need for an integrated approach, anchored in the overall vision of development. This reconstruction cannot be done without a real recovery and reconstruction plan. It must be based on an assessment of the real needs of the affected regions. I reaffirm my determination to endow the Government with a public policy plan for the benefit of the affected populations,” he added.
The representatives of the United Nations, the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, the European Union and the American development agency who took participated in the launch also gave assurances that their institutions were ready to support the government in the post-earthquake assessment work and the implementation of the reconstruction plan.
Meanwhile, it has been announced that the re-opening of schools in Haiti will take place on September 21.
Schools were originally scheduled to begin on Monday, but the decision to postpone classes was taken during the meeting of the Council of Ministers on Thursday.
The authorities said that the new school year will begin on September 21, 2021 for the seven departments not directly affected by the earthquake and on October 4 for the Grand South (South, Nippes and Grand’Anse)
“All the students in the South must be able to go to school. For schools to open, we have a lot of work. We must remove the rubble and put structures to accommodate the children,” Prime Minister Henry said.
“The back-to-school period is still very difficult in the country,” he said, noting the socio-political and economic environment.
“We want to make arrangements to pay allowances to parents of pupils and teachers. All this takes time and that is why we have postponed the school in the southern peninsula and in the rest of the country,” he said.
CMC
The post Haiti Ending Earthquake Search & Rescue Operation appeared first on The St Kitts Nevis Observer.
International Day of Charity: Peoples Labour Party contributes to St. Christopher Children’s Home
BASSETERRE, ST. KITTS, September 6, 2021 (MMS-SKN) — Residents of the West Basseterre-based St. Christopher Children’s Home were on International Day of Charity (IDC) the beneficiaries of back-to-school supplies courtesy of the Peoples Labour Party (PLP). International Day of Charity was observed on Sunday September 5.
The back-to-school programme was a joint venture of the Peoples Labour Party (PLP) National Political Leader, Prime Minister Dr the Hon Timothy Harris, PLP Deputy National Political Leader, who is also the Area Parliamentary Representative for West Basseterre and Minister of Health et al, the Hon Akilah Byron-Nisbett, and the Peoples Labour Party (PLP) Youth.
Making the presentation, which included school bags, exercise books, pens, pencils, geometry sets, and snacks, was the Peoples Labour Party’s Communications Officer Mr Craig Tuckett. He was accompanied by a representative of the Peoples Labour Party Youth, Mr Jeremy Burke.
“This is an initiative of charity, and as you know the Honourable Prime Minister under his Team Unity Administration continues to look for those who are most vulnerable in our society especially during these times of the global Covid-19 pandemic,” said Mr Tuckett. He added: “This is also in keeping with our party’s motto of ‘putting people first’.”
Receiving the back-to-school supplies was House Parent, Ms Shamika Caines, while giving the vote of thanks on behalf of the home residents was Master Jolonni Huggins who thanked the Prime Minister and all the other persons involved in making the timely donation to the residents of St. Christopher Children’s Home.
“We are a party for the working class people, and coming from that linage we will continue to look for our people in whatever capacity they are – their needs are needs to be addressed,” observed Mr Tuckett. “This is what we as a party will endeavour to continue to do, as we say, ‘one, one fill basket’ and so we hope that everybody will follow this idea on this day, which is held every 5th of September where we have the recognition of International Day of Charity.”
International Day of Charity (IDC) was declared by the United Nations General Assembly in 2012.
“We know that things are tough for families but anything that we thought we could have done for you, we decided to do today,” said Mr Tuckett as he directly addressed the residents of the home. “So that is why we have brought book bags, exercise books, pencils, geometry sets and also snacks – snacks that you can share throughout the month.”
The PLP official added: “Of course this will not be the end – we plan to come back later in the year with other generosities that will be given from the Prime Minister’s Office, and also from the Parliamentary Representative, and other community-minded persons in the area and also in the PLP, who decide that they need to make sure that you all are okay and that we can give in whatever way we can.”
According to Mr Tuckett, Basseterre-based Laws Bookstore also contributed to the back-to-school endeavour, and noted that, “we will continue to ask other corporate citizens who are likeminded to continue to assist in these times especially as we are endeavouring to ensure our youth, who are the future, are prepared for school work.”
The post International Day of Charity: Peoples Labour Party contributes to St. Christopher Children’s Home appeared first on The St Kitts Nevis Observer.
Infant, 3 Others Murdered in Random Florida Home Invasion by ‘Madman’
(CNN) Four people — a man, an infant and the child’s mother and grandmother — all lost their lives early Sunday morning in what a Florida sheriff called an “active shooter rampage” carried about by a former Marine.
The suspect was treated for injuries sustained during his apprehension and released. He is currently in the custody of the Polk County Sheriff’s Office according to Judd.
This apparently was a random shooting since none of the victims were reportedly known to the suspect.
The shooting took place at a property outside Lakeland, Florida, and escalated when the suspect, outfitted in body armor, engaged in a firefight with law enforcement before surrendering to authorities.
He later attempted to take a gun from an officer at a hospital, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said.
“This man killed four people this morning, tried to kill our deputies and then gave up,” Judd said Sunday.
Here is what we know about the shooting:
The victims
Four people were killed in the shooting, and a child was injured, authorities said.
Inside a home on the property, a 40-year-old man, a 3-month-old baby and the baby’s 33-year-old mother were found dead. The baby’s 62-year-old grandmother was found in a second house on the property, Judd said.
An 11-year-old girl had been shot multiple times and was airlifted to Tampa General Hospital for surgery. She is expected to recover.
Another child who had earlier been missing was located alive and well, Judd said.
The family’s dog, Diogi, was also fatally shot, he added.
The suspect
The suspect, identified as Brian Riley, 33, lives in Brandon, Florida, about 20 miles from where the shooting took place. At a news conference Sunday afternoon, Judd said there did not appear to be any connection between the suspect and the victims, and he struggled to explain why the suspect chose that particular family and property.
“We just know we had a madman with a lot of guns that shot and killed innocent people,” he said.
The suspect was treated for injuries sustained during his apprehension and released. He is currently in the custody of the Polk County Sheriff’s Office according to Judd.
The suspect served four years in the Marines and was honorably discharged, and then he did another three years in the reserve, Judd said. He was deployed to Iraq in 2008 and Afghanistan in 2009-2010 as a designated sharpshooter, the sheriff said.
Former Marine wearing body armor fatally shoots 4 people, including baby in mother’s arms, Florida sheriff says.
The suspect was employed by ESS Global Corp as a bodyguard and to provide security, Judd said. He has a concealed weapon’s license and virtually no criminal history.
“We’re not dealing with a traditional criminal here. What we’re dealing with is someone who obviously had mental health issues at least this last week, had PTSD,” Judd said.
In an interview with deputies, the suspect described himself as “a survivalist” — a term that generally refers to a person who proactively prepares for a post-apocalyptic world — and confessed to being on methamphetamine, Judd said.
The suspect’s girlfriend told authorities that he had been diagnosed with PTSD and had been acting erratically in the past week, saying that he was receiving visions from God, according to the sheriff.
“She said he had PTSD. I’ve seen him depressed. I’ve never seen him violent, she said,” Judd said. “But a week ago today, meaning last Sunday, he did security at a church in Orlando. And he came home and he said, you know, God spoke to him and now he can talk directly to God. And she said I’ve never seen that kind of behavior,” Judd said Sunday.
The shooting
The quadruple homicide began Saturday evening when a woman called authorities about a suspicious vehicle and said that a man who was parked outside her house told her, “God sent me here to speak with one of your daughters,” Judd told reporters Sunday.
A deputy responded within six minutes and did not find the suspect or the car at the residence, he said.
About nine hours later, at about 4:30 a.m., a deputy two miles away heard two volleys of automatic gunfire. Deputies responded and calls reporting an active shooting began coming in as well, the sheriff said.
On arrival, deputies discovered a truck on fire and heard popping noises from the vehicle. A series of glow sticks were laid out on the yard forming a path, Judd said. There, they saw a man wearing camo who quickly fled inside the home. Then they heard disturbing sounds.
“At that moment in time, we heard another volley and a woman scream and a baby whimper,” Judd said.
Confrontation with police
A lieutenant tried to make entry into the front of the house, but it was barricaded. The lieutenant then went to the back of the house and entered and came upon the same suspect, now outfitted in a bulletproof vest, camo, knee protection and head protection, according to the sheriff.
The suspect shot at the lieutenant, who returned fire and retreated out of the house, Judd said. The suspect then started shooting at other deputies, who also returned fire, he said.
There was a period of silence, and then the suspect came out with his hands up, Judd said. The suspect, who had been shot once, was taken into custody.
The post Infant, 3 Others Murdered in Random Florida Home Invasion by ‘Madman’ appeared first on The St Kitts Nevis Observer.