A father in Florida is being charged with murder after deputies found his 5-year-old daughter in a "pool of blood" in their townhome and his 8-year-old is "fighting for his life."
Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister said the incident happened at Armature Gate Townhome in Tampa, Florida on Monday night shortly after the children's mother returned home from dinner, according to FOX 13.
After the mother tucked her children to sleep, she heard gunshots, the sheriff said.
"While she goes to the bathroom, she heard several gunshots," Chronister said during a press conference. "She initially thought it happened right outside the residence."
FLORIDA DEPUTIES FIND BODY IN POND NEXT TO HOOTERS RESTAURANT
A father in Florida is being charged with murder after deputies found his 5-year-old daughter in a "pool of blood" in their townhome and his 8-year-old is "fighting for his life."
(FOX 13)
The sheriff said that the mother then realized that the gunshots came from inside the residence and went outside, where she saw a neighbor on the phone with 911.
"She takes over the phone call and starts talking to her 911 dispatcher," Chronister said.
Jermaine Lavanda Bass, who was identified as the husband, then came outside while carrying the couple's 8-year-old son, who officials say he was "cradling" when law enforcement arrived.
GEORGIA WOMAN SEXUALLY ASSAULTED WHILE TAKING A SHOWER AT LA FITNESS
Jermaine Lavanda Bass
(FOX 13)
Bass, according to Chronister, told deputies that "It was an accident. I don't know how the gun went off. I accidentally shot my son."
After deputies asked Bass if anyone else was in the home, the husband said that their 5-year-old daughter was in her room.
The daughter was found in a "pool of blood" by officials after entering her bedroom, Chronister said, adding that the children had 3-4 gunshots to their heads.
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"Our 5-year-old victim has been pronounced deceased. Our 8-year-old is fighting for his life," Chronister said. "The 8-year-old went into surgery."
Bass faces charges of premeditated murder, aggravated child abuse, and premeditated attempted murder.
The mother is speaking with detectives and providing them with details, Chronister said.
Adam Sabes is a writer for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to Adam.Sabes@fox.com and on Twitter @asabes10.
A former deputy who switched allegiance from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for the occupying Russian forces in the southern region of Kherson has been shot dead, Russian investigators said Monday.
Alexei Kovalev, "the deputy head of the military and civil administration in the Kherson region was killed by bullets," the investigators said on Telegram.
The attack took place in his home on Sunday, they said, adding a young woman who lived with him was also a victim.
They did not give any further details.
In the past months, several Ukrainian officials named by Russian forces in occupied territory have been killed or wounded in attacks.
Kovalev, 33, was elected a deputy in 2019 in Kherson and joined Zelensky's group in the Ukrainian parliament.
After the Russian offensive on Ukraine at the end of February and the occupation of Kherson by Russian troops, Kovalev joined the invading forces and became a senior official.
He survived an assassination attempt in June.
Russian forces seized Kherson, a town of 280,000 inhabitants, on March 3.
It was the first major city to fall following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.
Hadi Matar, 24, reiterates his plea of not guilty to charges he faces for allegedly storming the stage at a literary event last week and stabbing the British novelist several times.
Hadi Matar is next scheduled to appear in court on September 7.
(AFP)
The suspected assailant of Salman Rushdie has pleaded not guilty to attempted murder and assault charges at a brief court hearing in upstate New York.
Speaking through his lawyer on Thursday, Hadi Matar, 24, reiterated his plea of not guilty to charges he faces for allegedly storming the stage at a literary event last week and stabbing the British novelist several times in the neck and abdomen.
Thursday's appearance at a court in Chautauqua County followed a grand jury indictment, according to county prosecutors.
The judge ordered Matar remain detained without bail. He is next scheduled to appear in court on September 7.
His head bowed, Matar wore a black and white striped prison outfit with orange crocs at the hearing that drew numerous reporters.
Following last Friday's attack, Rushdie was air-lifted to a nearby hospital for emergency surgery.
His condition remains serious but the 75-year-old has shown signs of improvement, and he has been taken off a ventilator.
Rushdie was about to be interviewed as part of a lecture series at the Chautauqua Institution in New York on Friday when a man rushed the stage and stabbed him repeatedly in the neck and abdomen.
Matar was wrestled to the ground by staff and audience members at the lecture, before police took him into custody.
Police and prosecutors have provided scant information about Matar's background or the possible motivation behind the attack.
Rushdie, who was born in India in 1947, moved to New York two decades ago and became a US citizen in 2016.
He spent years under police protection after Iran's late Supreme Leader Ruhollah Khomeini called for Rushdie's killing a year after the publication of his novel "The Satanic Verses" in 1988, which negatively portrayed Islam and the Prophet Mohammed.
Iran's government has long since distanced itself from Khomeini’s decree, but anti-Rushdie sentiment lingered.
Iran this week denied any link with Rushdie's attacker but blamed the writer himself for "insulting" Islam in "The Satanic Verses".
The Justice Department on Wednesday unsealed charges against an Iranian national and member of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps whom prosecutors say allegedly tried to arrange the murder of Donald Trump's former national security adviser John Bolton in "likely" retaliation for the killing of top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani when Trump was president.
The criminal complaint against 45-year-old Shahram Poursafi, who remains at large abroad, accuses him of attempting to pay various individuals in the U.S. $300,000 to kill Bolton, beginning in October.
Poursafi is charged with use of interstate commerce facilities in the commission of murder-for-hire and with providing and attempting to provide material support to a transnational murder plot.
In a statement after the case was unsealed Wednesday, Bolton said, in part: "I wish to thank the Justice Department for initiating the criminal proceeding unsealed today; the FBI for its diligence in discovering and tracking the Iranian regime’s criminal threat to American citizens; and the Secret Service for once again providing protection against Tehran’s efforts."
"While much cannot be said publicly right now, one point is indisputable: Iran’s rulers are liars, terrorists, and enemies of the United States. Their radical, anti-American objectives are unchanged; their commitments are worthless; and their global threat is growing," Bolton said.
The complaint and supporting law enforcement affidavit further allege how the Tehran-based Poursafi and the person he wanted to hire in the U.S. to arrange the killing -- identified by the FBI as a confidential human source -- conducted months of video and photo surveillance of Bolton at his home and office, in the Washington area, in late 2021 and early 2022.
According to the affidavit's timeline, on Oct. 22 Poursafi asked an unnamed U.S. resident to take photographs of Bolton while claiming it was for a book that Poursafi was writing. The resident later introduced Poursafi to the FBI's confidential source and Poursafi offered this person money to hire someone to "eliminate" Bolton, adding he had another "job" for which he would pay $1,000,000, the affidavit claims.
Investigators also said that Poursafi appeared to have private information about Bolton's routine and schedule, though the source of his information was not clear.
Shahram Poursafi is wanted for his alleged involvement in criminal activities to include material support to terrorism and the attempted murder for hire of a former high-ranking United States Government (USG) official.
FBI
At one point Poursafi allegedly suggested Bolton be killed by car or in the parking garage at his work and later said he should be shot -- either while he was alone or, if he was in a group, without harming anyone else -- the FBI said in the complaint affidavit.
The source whom Poursafi allegedly worked with told Poursafi they were working with a third individual who had ties to a cartel, the affidavit states.
The complaint affidavit also documents extensive communications between Poursafi and the confidential source. At one point, according to the complaint, he advised the source that killing someone "was like crossing the street; it was better not to spend too much time looking in one direction, but just to do it."
Poursafi also told the FBI's source that his “group” would require video confirmation of the target’s death, according to the affidavit. Poursafi repeatedly made further contact with the source, stating he was under pressure from his "group" or "his people" to have the killing carried out.
National Security Adviser John Bolton attends a meeting with President Donald Trump as he meets with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the G-7 summit in Biarritz, France, Aug. 26, 2019.
Andrew Harnik/AP, FILE
In January, the FBI alleged in the affidavit, Poursafi told the source he had a second "job" once Bolton was killed and he suggested that someone working for the Revolutionary Guard Corps was conducting surveillance on an unnamed second target in the U.S.
"This is not the first time we have uncovered Iranian plots to exact revenge against individuals on U.S. soil and we will work tirelessly to expose and disrupt every one of these efforts," Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen said in a statement Wednesday.
In a statement later Wednesday, President Joe Biden's national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, said: "The Biden Administration will not waiver in protecting and defending all Americans against threats of violence and terrorism. Should Iran attack any of our citizens, to include those who continue to serve the United States or those who formerly served, Iran will face severe consequences. We will continue to bring to bear the full resources of the U.S. Government to protect Americans."
ABC News' Adam Carlson, Sarah Kolinovsky and John Santucci contributed to this report.
Police in New Mexico’s largest city and federal agencies are trying to determine if the ambush shooting deaths of three Muslim men over the past nine months could be connected.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the country's largest Muslim civil rights organisation, increased a reward to $10,000 from $5,000 for information leading to the suspect or suspects related to the killings.
(AA Archive)
Police in the US state of New Mexico have said they are investigating the murders of three Muslim men that they suspect are related to a fourth homicide from last year.
The Albuquerque police department said in a statement on Saturday they had found the latest victim overnight the day before.
They did not identify him but said he was in his mid-20s, Muslim and "a native from South Asia."
"Investigators believe Friday's murder may be connected to three recent murders of Muslim men also from South Asia," the statement said on Saturday.
Two of the previous victims were Muslim Pakistani men, a 27-year-old whose body was found on August 1 and a 41-year-old who was found on July 26.
Detectives are now investigating whether these murders are connected to the death of a Muslim man from Afghanistan who was killed on November 7, 2021, outside of the business he ran with his brother in Albuquerque, the statement said.
The police urged anyone with information to call a tip line and said the FBI was assisting with the investigation.
New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham expressed outrage at the attacks and solidarity with the southwestern state's Muslim community.
"The targeted killings of Muslim residents of Albuquerque is deeply angering and wholly intolerable," Lujan Grisham said on Twitter.
She said she was sending additional state police officers to Albuquerque to help with the investigation.
"We will continue to do everything we can to support to the Muslim community of Albuquerque and greater New Mexico," she said.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the largest US Muslim civil rights group, said on Saturday it would offer a $10,000 reward to whoever provides information leading to the killer's arrest.
"This tragedy is impacting not only the Muslim community — but all Americans," CAIR national executive director Nihad Awad said in a statement.
"We must be united against hate and violence regardless of the race, faith or background of the victims or the perpetrators."
