News Update for 10/2/24

Tuesday night, Highlands County Sheriff’s Office Deputies, were involved in a shooting. At approximately 9:48pm, deputies responded to 1000 West Hill Street in Avon Park due to reports that a man was creating a disturbance and threatening others with a knife. As deputies were trying to take 28- year old Alberto Rodriguez into custody, he resisted and a taser was deployed, but it had no effect. Other non lethal methods were then used to try and restrain him, but deputies were still unable to place him under arrest. According to reports, Rodriguez then armed himself with a place weight from a nearby weight bench, and threw it at a deputy. When Rodriguez grabbed a second weight, one of the three respondng deputies shot him. Rodriguez was pronounced dead at the hospital. This is an ongoing investigation.

A 13 year old Highlands County Middle School student has been arrested and charged with two counts of making a written threat to conduct a mass shooting. The student was arrested Tuesday, after the suspect admitted to sending a school shooting threat to two friends as a joke to scare them. The two students, who attend a different school, did not report the threat but did post it on social media. Another student ended up reporting it to their parents. Sheriff Paul Blackman expressed thanks to the student who reported the threat and reiterated the importance of parents talking to their children about reporting these types of threats to an adult and not perpetuating it on social media.

The rigorous process of Jury selection for the capital murder case of Highlands County Sheriff’s Deputy William Gentry Jr. continues this week. Gentry was shot in the line of duty in May of 2018 and subsequently died from his injuries. Joseph Ables is accused of shooting and killing Gentry when the deputy responded to a call about a neighbor’s cat who had been shot. The first round of interviews of potential jurors, produced more than 40 people selected out of hundreds of county residents. Judge Angela Cowden will soon have those people return as a group to choose the final 12 jurors and some alternates. Jury selection will resume at 8:30 a.m. today.

Port Canaveral is running on its normal schedule despite a nationwide strike among dockworkers. About 45-thousand employees represented by the International Longshoremen’s Association walked out of work yesterday morning, affecting cargo operations throughout the eastern United States. It’s in response to ongoing contract negotiations with the labor union and the U.S. Maritime Alliance. Florida Today reports that Port Canaveral will not face impacts from the strike because they use nonunion labor for their cruise ship operations. Meanwhile, the experts warn the disruption will cost the economy billions of dollars a day and threaten the supply chain.

One person is dead after a plane crash in Citrus County. It happened yesterday afternoon in Crystal River near Fort Island Trail Park. Citrus County Fire Rescue says a twin-engine plane went down in a marsh near the Fort Island Beach boat ramp. There’s no word on how many were onboard. The FAA and NTSB are investigating.

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