Florida
Central Florida beaches prepare for spring break crowds
Central Florida beaches prepare for spring break
Spring Break 2024 is right around the corner; beaches in Central Florida are preparing for the influx of young tourists.
ORLANDO, Fla. – Spring Break 2024 is right around the corner; beaches in Central Florida are preparing for the influx of young tourists.
FOX 35’s Kelsie Cairns spoke to New Smyrna Beach, Cocoa Beach, and Daytona Beach officials.
Each city has its own approach to rule crackdowns.
Starting with New Smyrna Beach, you may remember the infamous Spring Break of 2022, with videos circulating online of high-school-aged kids taking over the streets and dancing on top of cars on Flagler Avenue.
New Smyrna is ensuring all bases are covered to curb the chaos this year.
“If this is the Spring Break where you were hoping to fill up a cooler with beer and head to NSB, then this probably isn’t the location you wanna pick,” says New Smyrna Beach Police Department Chief Eric Feldman.
“We welcome kids, we welcome everybody to enjoy our beach, but we want them to treat it as if it is their own backyard,” says Lisa Martin, City Commissioner.’
“When they come in, they’re going be greeted by an army of police officers smiling on foot – who will absolutely write you a ticket for not having your seatbelt on,” Chief Feldman said.
The city will be enforcing its 11 p.m. curfew for anyone under 17. The city has this rule year-round but will use extra resources to ensure it’s followed.
City leaders anticipate the biggest “kid crowds” in the third week of March.
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“Based on experiences we’ve learned over the last couple of years, we will have significant extra staffing this year,” Feldman said.
Martin said, “This is not the same crowd that spends in our shops and restaurants – it’s a different crowd, and they’re kids who wanna have fun.”
Bike Week in Daytona Beach begins Friday
Daytona Beach is preparing for an influx of bikers, and Bike Week kicks off on Friday and runs through the following Sunday. Over 400,000 bikers are expected, and local law enforcement will step up patrols to keep people safe.
Moving on to Cocoa Beach, Wes Mullins, the Chief of the Cocoa Beach Police Department, said, “We’re not Miami, but we’re also a town that has 2.5 million visitors a year.”
City Manager Wayne Carragino said, “We just want to get the word out, like we do every year, that anybody that has the intention of coming to Cocoa Beach and making a mess, drinking excessively, driving after they drink, and causing rowdiness, We’re just not going to put up with it.”
Mullins and Carragino want to ensure beach safety. Mullins said, “We’re staffed appropriately. We’re out on the beaches. We are out on the waterways and the roadways to ensure that everybody in the city of Cocoa Beach is going to be safe.”
Cocoa Beach and New Smyrna Beach have contacted state agencies for extra help on standby. FOX 35 contacted Daytona Beach officials, who said there would be no curfews for Spring Break.
Florida
Florida triple murder of 3 tourists was ‘senseless,’ ‘random,’ sheriff says
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A Florida man is accused of shooting and killing three tourists stranded at a rental home on Saturday in what a sheriff described as a “horrific and senseless” act of violence.
Ahmad Jihad Bojeh, 29, was arrested in connection with the murders of three men who were staying at a property next door to his home in Kissimmee, Osceola County Sheriff Christopher Blackmon told reporters Sunday.
“It was cold-blooded, it was premeditated, there was absolutely no issues,” Blackmon said. “There was no conflict between these people. This was just random. And this happened to be the person who lived next door.”
Deputies responded around 12:13 p.m. Saturday to a shooting at a subdivision near Kissimmee and discovered the bodies of three adult males in front of the rental home. All three men suffered apparent gunshot wounds.
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Ahmad Jihad Bojeh, 29, was booked into the Osceola County Jail on three counts of premeditated murder. (Osceola County Jail)
Blackmon said the three victims were stuck at the rental home after having vehicle trouble and had extended their stay for one day to wait for service.
Two of the victims have been identified as Robert Luis Kraft, 69, of Holland, Michigan, and his brother Douglas Joseph Kraft, 68, of Columbus, Ohio, the sheriff said. The third victim was identified as James Puchan, 68, a friend from Ohio, FOX35 Orlando reported.
Blackmon said the shooting was “cold-blooded” and random. (FOX35 Orlando WOFL )
Deputies found Bojeh inside his home next door about an hour later, the sheriff said. Bojeh was arrested on three counts of premeditated murder and one count of resisting arrest without violence, according to online jail records.
Bojeh lived at a home next door to the rental where the victims were murdered, authorities said. (FOX35 Orlando WOFL )
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Blackmon described Bojeh as a “frequent flier to the sheriff’s office.”
“I can tell you he was a threat to that neighborhood all the time,” Blackmon said.
Bojeh was arrested in connection with a previous shooting incident in 2021, but was later “acquitted by reason of insanity,” according to court records obtained by WKMG-TV. (Osceola County Sheriff’s Office)
Bojeh was arrested in 2021 after being accused of shooting at a person and random cars in a Kissimmee gas station parking lot, though court records show he was later “acquitted by reason of insanity,” according to court records obtained by WKMG-TV.
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Bojeh was booked into the Osceola County Jail for the alleged triple murder and was held without bond.
The sheriff said the murder investigation is ongoing.
Florida
4 injured in Florida shooting possibly tied to online marketplace deal, deputies say
Four people were hospitalized after a shooting Monday afternoon that investigators believe stemmed from an attempted online marketplace transaction, according to the St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office.
Deputies responded around 1:15 p.m. to the 3600 block of Avenue R in Fort Pierce, where they found multiple people wounded, the sheriff’s office said. Patrol deputies secured the area, provided aid and coordinated with St. Lucie County Fire Rescue to get the victims to a local hospital.
Preliminary information and witness accounts suggest one person arrived at the location intending to complete an online marketplace transaction with another individual. When the potential buyer got out of the vehicle, three suspects allegedly ambushed the individual and opened fire, investigators said.
Four people have been identified as victims of gunshot wounds. Detectives believe a fifth person may have been involved and are working to identify and locate that individual.
The sheriff’s office said the information released so far is preliminary and may change as investigators confirm details and develop new leads.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office at 772‑462‑7300 or email CrimeTips@stluciesheriff.gov.
Copyright 2026 by WKMG ClickOrlando – All rights reserved.
Florida
Could it snow again in Florida? Here’s what to know
ORLANDO, Fla. – Snow…really? It may sound hard to believe, but it’s looking more likely that parts of the Florida Panhandle could see snow early Sunday morning.
A strong Arctic cold front pushing through the state, combined with an area of low pressure, is creating the right setup for wintry weather near the Florida–Georgia line.
Temperatures will be cold enough for snow, and places like Milton and Pensacola could see around 1–2 inches, with a few spots possibly picking up a little more.
This is happening right around the same time as last year’s historic snowstorm. On Jan. 21–22, 2025, a powerful winter system moved through the South and brought record-breaking snow to the western Panhandle. Pensacola measured 7.6 inches, while Milton saw an incredible 9–10 inches, the heaviest snowfall ever recorded in Florida.
While snow in Florida is rare, it has happened before. A light dusting fell across parts of North Florida in Jan. 2018, a notable storm reached areas like Ocala and The Villages in 1989, and an extreme cold wave in 1977 even brought snow to Tallahassee and parts of South Florida.
Copyright 2026 by WKMG ClickOrlando – All rights reserved.
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