Ocala Police Looking For Man Who May Have Tampered With 'Crucial Evidence'
(Ocala, FL) -- Ocala Police are asking for help finding a man who may have tampered with what they call 'crucial evidence.' The OPD last night posted on Facebook a video of the man at the scene of Saturday's deadly shooting at the Paddock Mall. Police say he took the shooter's red hat from the crime scene, and the hat may contain valuable DNA evidence. Meanwhile, the OPD is offering a five-thousand dollar reward for information on the location of the alleged shooter, Albert Shell, Jr. The 39-year-old is wanted for premeditated first-degree murder and attempted premeditated first-degree murder. Forty-year-old David Nathaniel Barron was killed in the shooting. A woman was shot in the leg but is expected to survive. Police also ask that anyone who has video of the shooting to share it with them.
Family Rescued After Crash In Volusia County
(Ormond Beach, FL)-- First responders are credited with saving Christmas in Volusia County. That's what the sheriff's office said yesterday after a crash in Ormond Beach. Deputies say a car went off the road on I-95 South, hit a pole, rolled and ended up in a ditch in about three feet of water. A woman and three small children were inside, but witnesses were able to get them out safely. No major injuries were reported, but the car was submerged with the kids' presents inside. Firefighters and deputies used a ladder to get to the car, formed a human chain and passed the gifts from the car to dry land. The gifts were taken to the sheriff's office, dried, mixed in with some donated gifts and taken to the hospital to give to the kids. On Facebook, the sheriff's office writes, 'thanks to some great teamwork, this family's Christmas is a little bit brighter despite the crash.'
Child Boarded Onto Wrong Flight
(Fort Myers, FL)-- Spirit Airlines is sorry for a mixup involving a child heading to grandma's house for Christmas. A six-year-old boy named Casper was supposed to fly unaccompanied on Spirit from Philadelphia to Fort Myers on Thursday, but he wound up on a flight to Orlando instead. Grandmother Maria Ramos was at Southwest Florida International Airport in Fort Myers awaiting his arrival, and she says she was scared when she couldn't find him. Spirit Airlines apologized to the family but says he was always under the care and supervision of a Spirit Team Member. They add they took immediate steps to reconnect the family once the mistake was discovered. Ramos wound up driving to Orlando to get the boy. Spirit offered to reimburse her for the drive, but Ramos tells WINK News she just wants to know how this happened.
DeSantis Staffer Responds To 'Media Hit Job'
(Undated) -- Ron DeSantis' presidential campaign is reacting to what it calls a 'media hit job.' The New York Times reported yesterday that one of his closest advisers has privately told people that things are so bad their job now is to, in his words, 'make the patient comfortable. 'Polls show DeSantis has been unable to shrink Donald Trump's lead, and Nikki Haley is giving him a running for second place. The man the paper says made that comment denies it, and a campaign spokesperson accused the Times of a hit job based on unnamed sources with agendas. The spokesperson also tells the Times DeSantis has been underestimated in every race he's ever run and always proved the doubters wrong.
FSU QB To Transfer
(Tallahassee, FL)-- Florida State's football team will be down to its third-string quarterback in its upcoming bowl game. Redshirt junior Tate Rodemaker has decided to enter the transfer portal. He was expected to start in the Orange Bowl against Georgia on Saturday because starter Jordan Travis is hurt. This will leave freshman Brock Glenn as the starter and the only QB on scholarship available for the game. Glenn has some experience as he started for an injured Rodemaker when FSU beat Louisville in the ACC Championship game. Head coach Mike Norvell says Glenn will be fired up and excited for the opportunity.
Home Alone: What Kevin's Trip To Grocery Store Would Cost Today
(Undated) -- Here's a holiday example of how much more things cost these days. In the 1990 movie "Home Alone," eight-year-old Kevin McCallister visited a grocery store while his family was in Europe. He bought a half gallon of milk, orange juice, a microwavable TV dinner, macaroni and cheese, a loaf of bread, dryer sheets, laundry detergent, toilet paper, Saran wrap and a bag of toy soldiers. He paid 19 dollars 83 cents with a dollar-off coupon. Today, that same purchase would cost about 57 bucks.
TODAY IN HISTORY
1996, six-year-old JonBenet Ramsey was found beaten and strangled in the basement of her family's Boulder, Colorado, home.
1982, a computer was honored as "Time" magazine's "Man of the Year."
1933, the patent for FM radio was given to Edward Howard Armstrong.