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Former Fresno State student killed after shooting deputies in Florida, officials say

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Former Fresno State student killed after shooting deputies in Florida, officials say


POLK COUNTY, Calif. (KFSN) — A former Fresno state student is dead after shooting two deputies in Florida.

The Polk County Sheriff’s says a deputy asked the driver of a vehicle at a closed park to leave the area early Saturday morning.

Authorities say 26-year-old Kyran Caples, who went by Kmac El Bey, claimed to be a sovereign citizen and refused to cooperate.

Additional deputies arrived and tried to get him out of the car.

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Investigators say Caples then opened fire, hitting two deputies.

Caples was shot and killed.

Authorities say his mother shared more on his past, including his ties to Central California.

‘He went to Fresno State and after three years of college studying business he left. he was apparently radicalize while at Fresno State,” said Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd.

Authorities found three firearms in the suspect’s vehicle, though only one was used during the shooting.

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The injured deputies are recovering in the hospital.

Copyright © 2024 KFSN-TV. All Rights Reserved.



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12-foot ‘Airman Ally Gator’ rescued after turning up at Florida air base — twice

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12-foot ‘Airman Ally Gator’ rescued after turning up at Florida air base — twice


A massive alligator has been safely relocated to a Florida sanctuary after turning up at a military base — twice.

The hulking 12-foot, 4-inch gator first wandered onto MacDill Air Force base’s grounds in late April, taking refuge beneath the wheels of an airplane.

Two Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officers were seen placing ropes around an alligator’s body, tail and mouth before releasing him into Hillsborough River, located just a few miles north of the air base.

“Airman Ally Gator” first wandered onto MacDill Air Force base’s grounds in late April. EllenGray Schroeder

The wetlands didn’t appear to be to the reptile’s liking, however, and he returned to MacDill just three weeks later.

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This time, “Airman Ally Gator” dried out on the sidewalk near the camp’s Med Group.

“Airman Gator will be in charge of MacDill’s complaint department and is ready to book your appointment below. Please list a date and time below that you would like to register your complaint,” the military branch joked on social media.

The gator was recaptured, but this time FWC officials opted to bring the scaley beast to Gatorama and Crocodile Adventures in Palmdale, an alligator farm located about 155 miles away.

According to the Air Force, the alligator has “already made some friends in his new home.”

“Airman Ally Gator” was released into Hillsborough River. MacDill Air Force Base

“They renamed him “MacDill” to pay homage to his origins,” the military said on social media.

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Gatorama placed “Major MacDill” in its breeding and exhibit ponds, though its not clear whether the massive beast will be part of the facility’s alligator shows.

The gator was recaptured and brought to Gatorama and Crocodile Adventures in Palmdale. MacDill Air Force Base

Alligator courtship begins in early April, and they begin mating in May or June.

“Isn’t he beautiful? 12’4”. We hate to see these big old bull alligators killed. The stories they tell must be amazing about how he survived to this length,” the alligator farm said.



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Florida Gators coach Billy Napier’s first remarks on Elijhah Badger transfer

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Florida Gators coach Billy Napier’s first remarks on Elijhah Badger transfer


TAMPA — Florida Gators coach Billy Napier upgraded his receiver room late last week with the commitment of Arizona State transfer Elijhah Badger.

With the paperwork official, Napier could finally comment on Badger’s addition Monday night during a stop on his Gators Caravan tour at The Westshore Grand.

Napier’s scouting report: “He’s got good catch radius. He’s tough, got some special teams value, returner value, and then I think a good run-after-catch player.

The 6-foot-1, 190-pound Badger showed that with the Sun Devils. Over his final two seasons there, he caught 135 passes for 1,579 yards and 10 touchdowns. Napier, a former Arizona State assistant, could use some of his familiarity with that program to vet (and ultimately get) one of the top receivers in the spring transfer portal window.

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Badger was a top-200 high school recruit in California and a four-star transfer prospect. His recent addition helped lift Florida to the nation’s No. 5 transfer portal class.

Badger also provides a veteran presence to a room that is still relatively young.

“It gives us time to grow up some of the young players in the room and will certainly give (quarterback Graham) Mertz an additional weapon for his final year,” Napier said.

The Gators open Napier’s third season Aug. 31 against Miami.

We’ll have more on from Napier’s stop in Tampa later.

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Analysis | Arizona and Florida could send a big message on abortion rights

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Analysis | Arizona and Florida could send a big message on abortion rights


The abortion rights position has won on the ballot in 7 out of 7 states since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in mid-2022 — even in red-leaning ones such as Kansas, Kentucky, Montana and Ohio.

And new polling suggests that in 2024, abortion rights measures could do even better than they did in those first seven states, as voters in states with severe GOP led-abortion bans weigh in.

The polling, from CBS News and YouGov, shows striking margins in Arizona and Florida for enshrining abortion rights into those states’ constitutions. That position leads 65 percent to 21 percent in Arizona and 60 percent to 20 percent in Florida. Previous polling in Florida also showed voters favoring the abortion rights amendment by wide margins — by 21 points in one poll and by 30 points in another.

Florida’s measure will be on the ballot; Arizona’s is still a work in progress, but organizers say they have more than enough signatures to get it there. Other states will feature such measures, but Arizona and Florida are the big ones.

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The newest polling shows not only that voters overwhelmingly favor the amendments, but even Republicans lean in favor of them — 43-38 in Arizona and 43-34 in Florida.

That 60 percent overall number in Florida is notable because that’s the threshold for passage in the state — a higher bar than the one for most states.

It’s also notable because it suggests the potential for an even more resounding affirmation of abortion rights.

While abortion rights positions have won plenty of votes from Republican-leaning voters, they have done so to varying degrees. A good way to look at this is how they have performed relative to the 2020 presidential vote.

The best relative performance for an abortion rights amendment thus far? The most recent one. In Ohio last year, it over-performed Biden’s 2020 vote share by 11.6 points. Biden got 45 percent in 2020, but the abortion rights amendment got 57 percent.

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The average overperformance across the four states: eight points.

The new Arizona and Florida polls already show support for the amendments outpacing Biden’s 2020 share in those states by 16 points and 12 points, respectively — even with a fair number of undecided voters.

There have been states where the abortion rights position over-performed Biden by more than it did in the four states above: Kansas, Kentucky and Montana. But importantly, those states weren’t voting directly on enshrining abortion rights.

Montana’s measure was narrowly about infants born after failed abortions. Kansas’s and Kentucky’s measures asked voters to affirmatively state that the state constitution didn’t protect abortion rights. In those last two states, the measures over-performed Biden by 17 and 16 points, respectively — the biggest overperformances to date.

And that could be instructive.

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These were situations in which voters were effectively being asked not to add a right, but to foreclose one.

Indeed, what could set Arizona and Florida apart from the four states that have previously voted to enshrine abortion rights is how much those rights have been curtailed in those states.

The Florida Supreme Court last month greenlit the state’s six-week abortion ban, which even former president Donald Trump has sought to distance himself from. Then the Arizona Supreme Court last month revived a harsh 1864 law that banned nearly all abortions — even in the cases of rape and incest — and made providing one punishable by two to five years in prison. (This set off a panic in GOP circles which eventually led to the law’s repeal. A 15-week ban remains in place.)

This has set up a situation in which voters could effectively view the abortion rights amendments as referendums on the harsh GOP-backed laws and an opportunity to register their discontent. The same YouGov poll, for instance, shows 72 percent of Arizona voters approve of overturning the 1864 law.

Or, at the very least, the stakes of allowing their representatives to restrict abortion rights could be more real to them than to voters in California, Michigan, Vermont and Ohio, where similar laws weren’t in play.

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It’s that dynamic that makes these potentially resounding votes in Florida and Arizona particularly important for the future of abortion rights in America.



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