Connect with us

Southeast

Attorneys for family of FSU shooting victim call for transparency

Published

on

Attorneys for family of FSU shooting victim call for transparency

Attorneys for the family of Tiru Chabba, one of two men killed during a mass shooting at Florida State University last month, have called for a transparent investigation as many questions surrounding the violence remain answered.

Bakari Sellers, a national civil rights attorney with Strom Law, and his colleagues, Jim Bannister and J Robert Bell III, held a news conference on the university campus on Wednesday asking for answers about Chabba’s death.

“The reason we’re here today is because the Chabba family just wants individuals to know their heartfelt sense of gratitude, but also we’re asking for a thorough and transparent investigation,” Sellers said. “We believe that that’s necessary for healing.”

Chabba was on the FSU campus working as an employee for a campus vendor at the time of the mass shooting at the Tallahassee school just before noon on April 17. He was a 45-year-old father from Greenville, South Carolina. He is survived by his wife and two children.

BELOVED FAMILY MEN IDENTIFIED AS VICTIMS KILLED IN FSU MASS SHOOTING: ‘LIVING A NIGHTMARE’

Advertisement

Tiru Chabba, a father of two, was killed Thursday in a shooting at Florida State University. (Strom Law Firm)

“Losing a father, having children, and you can’t explain why,” Sellers said. “When your dad goes on a work trip, they’re supposed to come home.”

Sellers thanked law enforcement, Gov. Ron DeSantis, the university and its president, Richard McCullough, who Sellers said attended Chabba’s funeral last week.

A memorial for the victims of the Florida State University shooting was held on Apr. 17. (Pilar Arias for Fox News Digital)

Sellers said the Chabba family wants accountability in the criminal process, and answers as to the shooter’s motive and how he obtained the firearm.

Advertisement

“We’re looking for accountability from the university to see what, if anything, they could have done to prevent it or prevent these things from happening in the future,” he said.

McCullough told Fox News Digital in a statement that he appreciated the words of the attorneys.

“I and everyone else at Florida State share the family’s grief,” McCullough said. “We share their anger. We share their desire for answers. I can assure you Florida State University is fully cooperating with law enforcement, and we too look forward to the day when all the facts are known.”

FSU SHOOTER IDENTIFIED, USED SHERIFF DEPUTY MOM’S WEAPON IN KILLING: POLICE

The other victim killed in the shooting was identified as Robert Morales, another father and food service employee. Morales is survived by a wife and daughter.

Advertisement

Robert Morales was one of two fathers killed Thursday in a mass shooting at Florida State University. (Family handout)

Hospital officials confirmed the six other victims are expected to make a full recovery. 

Phoenix Ikner, 20, an FSU student whose stepmother is a Leon County Sheriff’s Office deputy, has been identified by authorities as the suspect. Investigators believe he armed himself with a handgun that was the former service weapon of his stepmother.

Tallahassee police officers shot and wounded Ikner after he refused to comply with commands. Charges aren’t expected to be filed against Phoenix Ikner until he’s released from the hospital.

Advertisement

Fox News Digital’s Alexandra Koch and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Read the full article from Here

Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Southeast

Florida teens in custody after 14-year-old girl found shot to death, burnt: sheriff

Published

on

Florida teens in custody after 14-year-old girl found shot to death, burnt: sheriff

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!

Two teen boys in Florida are accused of fatally shooting a 14-year-old girl and setting her on fire along a wooded walking trail last week in what authorities are calling a “horrific” killing.

Santa Rosa County Sheriff Bob Johnson told reporters Thursday that the body has been identified as Danika Troy. He said Danika’s mother reported her as a runaway on Monday.

“Unbeknownst to the mother, Danika was murdered the previous night,” Johnson said.

A passerby discovered Danika’s body along a wooded area off Kimberly Road in Pace, a town about 16 miles northeast of Pensacola, and called 911, Johnson said.

Advertisement

MIGRANT TEENAGERS CHARGED IN FATAL STABBING OF HOMELESS MAN IN CHICAGO

Santa Rosa County Sheriff Bob Johnson told reporters that the suspects were supposedly friends with the victim from school. He said investigators were still working to determine a motive. (Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office)

Investigators quickly identified the suspects as 14-year-old Kimahri Blevins and 16-year-old Gabriel Williams and took them into custody.

“This is where it gets really horrific,” Johnson said.

Kimahri Blevins, 14, is facing premeditated first-degree murder charges. Authorities are seeking to charge him as an adult. (Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office)

Advertisement

Williams allegedly stole his mother’s handgun and shot Danika.

“It’s bad enough you kill a 14-year-old. You’re 14. You’re 16,” Johnson said. “Shoot her multiple times, and then they set her on fire.”

Gabriel Williams, 16, is facing premeditated first-degree murder charges. Authorities are seeking to charge him as an adult. (Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office)

Johnson said investigators are still working to determine a motive.

“They have been interviewed, but the motive that they’re giving doesn’t fit the forensics or any facts of the case, so we don’t have a legit motive,” he told reporters.

Advertisement

TEEN ARRESTED FOR MURDER IN SHOOTING OF 11-YEAR-OLD BOY IN NEW YORK: ‘AN UNIMAGINABLE TRAGEDY’

Blevins and Williams supposedly knew the victim from school, according to Johnson. He believed the two teens have had previous “run-ins” with law enforcement, though he could not immediately say if they had earlier arrests.

Blevins and Williams are being held at the Department of Juvenile Justice on premeditated first-degree murder charges. 

“You don’t want to go out and see a burnt child with bullet holes,” Johnson said. “That’s not something you sign up for.”

Johnson said no parents have been charged at this time, though investigators are “looking into it.”

Advertisement

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

The sheriff’s office is working with the State Attorney to charge both teens as adults.

“If you do an adult crime, you gotta do adult time,” Johnson said.

Read the full article from Here

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Southeast

Florida college student who allegedly shipped 1,500 rounds of ammo to dorm had AR-15 under bed

Published

on

Florida college student who allegedly shipped 1,500 rounds of ammo to dorm had AR-15 under bed

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!

A Florida college student who allegedly ordered 1,500 rounds of ammunition to his dorm room also had a semi-automatic rifle under his bed, according to authorities.

Constantine Demetriades, a 21-year-old senior at Rollins College, was arrested by Winter Park police on Wednesday and charged with possession of a weapon on school property after the ammunition order was reported to police by the school’s assistant campus safety director, according to an arrest affidavit, WKMG reported.

After the purchase was flagged, the assistant safety director searched Demetriades’ dorm and allegedly discovered an unloaded AR-15 under his bed inside an unsecured black carrying case with one loaded magazine and five empty magazines, as well as a tactical vest, knives, a black security vest and ear protection.

FLORIDA OFFICER SHOT IN FACE DURING SERVICE CALL TIED TO MENTAL HEALTH DISPUTE; SUSPECT KILLED

Advertisement

Constantine Demetriades, 21, was charged with possession of a weapon on school property. (Winter Park Police Department)

Demetriades, who said he likes to shoot as a hobby, told police he had the rifle on school property because he had recently returned from a Thanksgiving trip to New Jersey, where he said the guns were purchased and registered legally, according to the affidavit.

He said he did not have ill intentions and that he usually stores the firearm at a friend’s home off school property, the affidavit stated. He also said he only brought the gun to campus on one other occasion.

Constantine Demetriades said he did not have ill intentions. (Getty Images)

While Florida allows open carry, Rollins College bans all weapons on campus. Demetriades allegedly said he is aware that weapons are not allowed on campus and that his New Jersey concealed carry permit does not apply in Florida.

Advertisement

The college said in a statement obtained by Fox News Digital that he is banned from campus until the situation is resolved, adding that an internal investigation has been opened.

FLORIDA MAN ARRESTED IN WEALTHY BEACH TOWN OVER ALLEGED TIKTOK SCHOOL-SHOOTING THREAT

While Florida allows open carry, Rollins College bans all weapons on campus. (Getty Images)

“On Wednesday, the College received a report indicating a violation of our weapons policy,” Rollins College said in a statement. “After receiving this information, we immediately initiated an investigation.”

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

Advertisement

“We quickly identified and contacted the student, who cooperated fully with College officials and local law enforcement as we investigated the matter further,” the statement continued. “The student was arrested and is not permitted to be on campus while the College proceeds with the student conduct process.”

The school said Demetriades was additionally charged with a violation of the college’s weapons policy, and will go through the on-campus conduct process.

Read the full article from Here

Continue Reading

Southeast

Marjorie Taylor Greene spars with ’60 Minutes’ host over ‘accusatory’ questions

Published

on

Marjorie Taylor Greene spars with ’60 Minutes’ host over ‘accusatory’ questions

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., briefly sparred with “60 Minutes” host Lesley Stahl over what she claimed was “accusatory” behavior from the journalist.

Greene gave her first sit-down interview with Stahl since announcing her resignation from Congress last month. During the segment, Stahl and Greene spoke about the Georgia lawmaker’s apology for taking part in “toxic politics.”

“I would like to say humbly, I‘m sorry for taking part in the toxic politics,” Greene told CNN in November. “It’s very bad for our country, and it’s been something I’ve thought about a lot, especially since Charlie Kirk was assassinated, is that we, I’m only responsible for myself and my own words and actions, and I am committed, and I’ve been working on this a lot lately to put down the knives in politics.”

REP. MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE TO APPEAR ON ’60 MINUTES’ AHEAD OF EXIT FROM CONGRESS

Advertisement

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., gave her first sit-down interview with “60 Minutes” since announcing her resignation. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

“But you contributed to that,” Stahl asked Greene Sunday. “You. You, you were out there pounding, insulting people.”

Greene pushed back, claiming that Stahl had contributed to toxic politics herself.

“You’re accusatory, just like you did just then,” Greene said.

“I know you’re accusing me, but I’m smiling,” Stahl responded.

Advertisement

“You’re accusing me,” Greene said. “But we don’t have to accuse one another.”

The two continued to go back and forth, with Greene repeatedly insisting that Stahl should also acknowledge her own contribution to toxic politics.

“I don’t insult people,” Stahl said.

TRUMP SAYS HE’D ‘LOVE TO SEE’ GREENE RETURN TO POLITICS DESPITE RECENT ATTACKS

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., previously apologized for her role in “toxic” politics. (Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters)

Advertisement

“You just, you do in the way you question,” Greene said. “And you are, you’re accusing me right now.”

Fox News Digital reached out to CBS News for comment. 

Greene previously sat down with Stahl in April 2023, when the two had a fiery exchange over the congresswoman’s claim that Democrats are the “party of pedophiles.”

MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE SAYS SHE HOPES TO ‘MAKE UP’ WITH TRUMP AMID ONGOING FEUD

“They are not pedophiles. Why would you say that?” Stahl exclaimed.

Advertisement

“Democrats support — even Joe Biden, the president himself — supports children being sexualized and having transgender surgeries. Sexualizing children is what pedophiles do to children,” Greene said.

“Wow,” Stahl reacted.

“60 Minutes” correspondent Lesley Stahl had a tense exchange with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., over her claim that Democrats were the “party of pedophiles” during an April 2023 interview. (Screenshots/CBS News)

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

Greene shocked the political landscape last month when she revealed she would leave Congress Jan. 5. Many believe her abrupt exit was the result of her soured relationship with President Donald Trump.

Advertisement

Fox News’ Joseph Wulfsohn contributed to this report.

Read the full article from Here

Continue Reading

Trending