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Spring Breaker accidentally shot as she unpacks

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PANAMA CITY BEACH — A 19-year-old Alabama woman was accidentally shot in the leg as she attempted to unpack for a Spring Break vacation at the Shores of Panama on Monday night.

Katlin Brianna Moore, of Quinton, northwest of Birmingham, and several fellow travelers were pulling bags out of a vehicle on the 12th floor of the parking garage when Moore tossed a red duffel bag on the concrete, according to a Panama City Beach Police incident report. Inside the bag was a two-shot 9 mm Cobra Derringer pistol owned by 21-year-old Ancelmo Avilez Diaz, the report states.

When the bag hit the ground, the pistol fired, hitting Moore in the left calf. Police on scene reported that the bullet went straight through Moore's calf and grazed the back of her right leg. Moore's friends tended to the wound until medical professionals arrived on scene.

"Ms. Moore was alert and conscious and advised she was in serious pain," according to the incident report.

Panama City Beach Chief Drew Whitman said that officials are ruling the shooting an accident and charges are not expected.


Small gas leak near Parker Elementary School

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PARKER - A small gas leak near Parker Elementary School was the center of attention this morning for Parker Police and Fire. Students were not evacuated, officials said.

According to Parker police, firefighters responded to a small gas leak near Parker Elementary. No danger or damage was reported. 

Everything is under control, they added but no other details were immediately available.
 

Deputies investigate stabbing

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PANAMA CITY BEACH — Deputies are investigating a stabbing Monday night that sent a Panama City Beach man to the hospital, where he was in stable condition Tuesday, according to the sheriff’s office.

A witness told deputies she was standing outside of Newby’s Trading Company around 7:30 p.m. Monday. There was a crowd of people in the parking lot, and one man suddenly began running east along Thomas Drive.

The witness then heard Richard Barner, 27, screaming that he had been stabbed and called 911. Barner sustained a “severe laceration” to his stomach and was taken to Bay Medical Center in critical condition, according to Bay County Sheriff’s Office report.

Barner’s condition was upgraded to stable, the BCSO said Tuesday.

Deputies detained three other Panama City Beach men who matched the description of men seen running from the scene. However, no arrests had been announced Tuesday evening.

Investigators were waiting for Barner to recover enough to give a statement about what happened. The investigation is ongoing.

Single red flags on PCB

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PANAMA CITY BEACH - Panama City Beach officials are warning swimmers to stay clear of the water this morning as single red flags are flying on the beach.

"The National Weather Service has issued a coastal warning of a high rip current risk, and visual inspection by the Bay County Sheriff’s Office and Panama City Beach Police Department has confirmed that conditions warrant single red flag status," officials wrote in a news release.

While the beaches only close when double red flags are flying the conditions are considered very dangerous to swimmers.  

Man who aimed rifle at deputies is shot and killed

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CHIPLEY — Law enforcment officers shot and killed a man who was pointing a rifle at them, advancing towards them and refusing to lower the weapon, officials wrote in a news release.

The incident happened at about 9 p.m. Tuesday on Highway 90 when Washington County when deputies responded to a call about a suspicious man walking along the street carrying a rifle. When deputies drove past the man he pointed the rifle at them, the news release states.

The deputies “took evasive action” and called for assistance. Meanwhile, the man fled into the woods.

“After numerous requests for the suspect to surrender to officers, the suspect proceeded to leave the woods, advancing with his weapon pointed at a group of officers that now included deputies from Holmes County," the news release states

There were several additional attempts to have the suspect surrender and drop his weapon but the man continued to advance and shots were fired by officers, officials wrote in a news release. The man was pronounced dead at the scene.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement, with their assisting crime lab team, were immediately contacted and are heading up the investigation, officials wrote.

The man’s name is being withheld pending family notification, they added. The names of the officers involved in the shooting were not released.

Teen sentenced to 40 years for murder

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PANAMA CITY — A teen was sentenced to 40 years in prison for murder Wednesday for his role in a drug deal near a school in which two men were shot in the head.

Judge Michael Overstreet put Katari Jackson, 19, behind bars for 40 years after Jackson entered a no contest plea. The first 25 years of his sentence are a minimum mandatory, so he will not be eligible to reduce his sentence during that time.

Jackson was scheduled for trial beginning Monday, and he would have faced life in prison if he’d been found guilty of second degree murder in the death of Christopher Purswell, who was killed March 1, 2013, near Rutherford High School.

Another man, 23-year-old Brandon Junlakan, was shot in the face but survived.

Jackson’s plea comes about a week after a codefendant, Damon Washington, made a deal with prosecutors to testify against Jackson, according to court records. Washington’s deal will see him sentenced to 10 years after he pleaded no contest to manslaughter and attempted robbery with a firearm.

Two days after Washington struck his deal, Overstreet ordered him moved to the jail in Jackson County at prosecutor Larry Basford’s request due to a threat to his safety in the Bay County Jail.

Washington and Jackson were two of several men and women swept up by police and sheriff’s deputies in the days after the shooting. Most did not face severe charges.

Jackson wanted to rob Purswell of a modest amount of marijuana — about $200 worth of either synthetic or natural marijuana, according to records.

When they met, Jackson demanded Purswell show him the dope; when Purswell got out of the car and produced it, Jackson shot him in the head.

Junlakan was still in the car. He closed the door, but Washington and Jackson reopened and shot him under his eye.

 

An earlier version of this story is posted below:

 

PANAMA CITY — A teen who shot a two men in the head during a drug deal near a school was sentenced to 40 years in prison for murder Wednesday.

Judge Michael Overstreet put Katari Jackson, 19, behind bars for 40 years after Jackson entered a no contest plea. The first 25 years of his sentence are a minimum mandatory, so he will not be eligible to reduce his sentence during that time.

Jackson was scheduled for trial beginning March 17, and he would’ve faced life in prison if he’d been found guilty of second degree murder in the death of Christopher Purswell, who was killed March 1, 2013 near Rutherford High School.

Another man, 23-year-old Brandon Junlakan, was shot in the face but survived.

Pedestrian pronounced dead 5 days after crash

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PANAMA CITY -- A woman hit by an SUV last week died Wednesday morning at Bay Medical Center, according to police.

Kelly Tuggle, 38, stepped out in front of a Nissan Murano driving west on 15th Street near Fountain Avenue around 8 p.m. on March 7, according to a press release from the Panama City Police Department. The driver, 46-year-old James Clark, is not charged.

Police are still investigating. Anyone with information is asked to contact Cpl. Michael Streichert at 850-872-3112 or report it anonymously to CrimeStoppers by calling 850-785-TIPS (8477).

Spring breaker recovering after shooting accident

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PANAMA CITY BEACH — A spring breaker who was accidentally shot in the leg Monday is recovering and trying to enjoy the rest of her vacation on crutches.

Katlin Moore, 19, of Quinton, Ala., was unpacking at the Shores of Panama on Monday night when she threw a duffle bag on the ground. Inside the duffel bag was her fiancé’s two-shot 9 mm Cobra Derringer pistol. Moore said her fiancé normally carries the gun and she did not know it was in the bag.

When the bag hit the ground, the gun went off and Moore was shot in the left calf. The bullet went straight through Moore’s calf and grazed the back of her right leg.

Moore said she did not realize she had been shot until she saw all the blood.

“He (her fiancé) started holding my leg and everybody called 911,” Moore said

Moore was rushed to the hospital, where she was treated and released Monday night.

“They said I should recover,” Moore said. “They said it should recover fast.”

Police have ruled the incident an accident and charges are not expected.

“Yesterday we took it easy,” Moore said.

However, comments online about the incident have left Moore “hurt,” she said. People accused Moore of failing to be safe around firearms. Moore’s grandfather is a world champion skeet shooter, she said.

“I grew up around guns,” Moore said. “I know a lot about guns and a lot about gun safety.”

On Wednesday, Moore was hoping see Luke Bryan play.

“That’s the only reason we came this week,” she said.


Lawmen kill armed man, FDLE investigating

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CHIPLEY — The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is taking the lead in the investigation of a fatal shooting by one or more officers from Washington County Sheriff’s Office, the Holmes County Sheriff’s Office and the Bonifay Police Department.

According to a press release from the Washington County Sheriff’s Office, deputies from Washington County were called to a report of a man with a rifle walking along State 90 Tuesday night. Deputies driving that stretch found the man, who raised his weapon toward the deputies’ vehicle or vehicles.

The man fled into the woods nearby as the deputies took evasive action and called for backup. Officers were somehow able to speak with the man but he refused to surrender and instead emerged from the woods and advanced toward officers with his gun raised.

Unidentified officers shot him an undisclosed number of times, and paramedics pronounced him dead at the scene.

Washington County officials immediately contacted the FDLE to lead the investigation and directed all questions to that agency.

The man has not been officially identified pending notification of next of kin.

FDLE spokeswoman Gretl Plessinger said Wednesday the investigation still is in the early stages. Investigators were conducting interviews and working to develop a timeline of the events, she said.

“Our job is to determine the facts and present them to the State Attorney’s Office,” which will determine whether charges are warranted or if the shooting was justified, Plessinger said.

Victim of fatal fire identified

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PANAMA CITY BEACH — An Ohio man who died in a mobile home fire Tuesday morning was physically disabled and unable to escape the fire, Panama City Beach police said Wednesday.

The man was identified as Theodore Kangelos, 59, of Oak Hill, Ohio. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police still have not released the identities of two other people who were injured in the fire. They were able to escape the blaze alive.

After initial treatment at Bay Medical Center Sacred Heart Health System, they were transferred to Wellstar Cobb Burn Center in Georgia with life threatening injuries, police said.

Although their names have been been released, The Gadsden Times newspaper reported the two are from Gadsden, Ala.

Officials received the initial fire call at about 3 a.m. Tuesday. Police and fire units responded to the Campers Inn RV Park on Thomas Drive, but the structure was engulfed in flames.

Beach police are working with the State Fire Marshal’s Office to determine the cause of the fire. PCB Fire Chief John Daly said Tuesday investigators initially believe the fire might have been caused by an electrical short.

Police said no foul place is suspected, but the investigation is continuing.

Spring breaker struck by vehicle

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PANAMA CITY BEACH — A spring breaker trying to cross Middle Beach Road was struck by a van at 4 a.m. Thursday. 

According to a report from the Panama City Beach Police Department, Joshua Aaron Connor, 23, of Morgantown, W.V., was attempting to cross the street while talking on his cellphone when he was struck by a white Dodge van. The driver of the van, 50-year-old James Paul Tomas of Panama City Beach, "was inattentive and was distracted by loud music coming from inside the vehicle," police wrote in the incident report.

Connor was taken to a local hospital where he was listed in critical condition. 

"Primary fault is not determined in this traffic crash," the incident report states. 

Pedestrian injured in Front Beach Road crash

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PANAMA CITY BEACH — A pedestrian was seriously injured after being struck by a vehicle at the intersection of Front Beach Road and Joan Avenue on Thursday night.

The Florida Highway Patrol reported 22-year-old Joshua Thomas of Galesburg, Ill., was struck by a Honda Accord driven by 21-year-old Haley Crist of Lindale, Texas, while crossing Front Beach Road around 9:15 p.m.

According to the FHP report, Crist was driving west on Front Beach Road while Thomas was running south from the north shoulder of the road. Thomas ran into the travel path of the vehicle and was struck by the car’s right front fender.

Thomas was transported to Bay Medical Center with serious injuries.

Crist was charged with failing to yield at a pedestrian crossing. The incident was not alcohol related, according to FHP.

BCSO expands search for missing spring breaker

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PANAMA CITY BEACH -- The search for missing spring breaker Reny Jose will expand with assistance from a group of recruits from the North Bay Learning Center of Gulf Coast State College, according to the Bay County Sheriff’s Office.

Jose, an engineering student from Rice University in Houston, was last seen March 3 by friends he was staying with, who told the sheriff’s office that Jose had taken LSD and talked about suicide before he disappeared. Deputies found his clothes, wallet and cellphone the next day in a trash can near the Front Beach Road home they rented for their visit.

Since Jose disappeared, numerous divisions of the BCSO have searched the area near the house, including the gulf waters in the area. Various other state and local law enforcement agencies also have been involved in the search for Jose.

Anyone with information should contact the Bay County Sheriff’s Office at 850-747-4700 or report it anonymously to CrimeStoppers at 850-785-TIPS (8477).

Few details released in fatal shooting

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CHIPLEY — Details remained slim Friday in the fatal shooting of a man in Washington County who reportedly refused to comply with deputies’ commands to lay down what appeared to be a rifle.

The Washington County Sheriff’s Office reported the incident began when deputies responded to a call from the Holmes County Sheriff’s Office in reference to a suspicious, armed male walking along U.S. 90 near the Washington-Holmes County line. When deputies passed the suspect, he reportedly raised and pointed the weapon at officers, who took evasive action and called for additional units to assist.

The suspect then fled into a wooded area, and additional officers responded to assist, including the Holmes County Sheriff’s Office and Bonifay Police Department. After numerous requests for the suspect to surrender to officers, authorities said he proceeded to leave the woods, advancing with his weapon pointed at officers as they made several additional attempts to have the suspect surrender and drop his weapon.

According to the Washington County Sheriff’s Office (WCSO) report, the suspect continued to advance, prompting shots to be fired by officers. EMS pronounced the suspect dead on scene.

Beyond those basics, not much else is clear, including the name of the deceased.

According to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the investigation of the suspicious person report remains in the hands of the WCSO while FDLE investigates the shooting itself.

“Our investigation is very narrow in scope,” FDLE spokeswoman Gretl Plessinger told The Washington County News on Thursday. “All we look at is if the actions by the law enforcement officers were criminal or appropriate.”

Plessinger said the department’s findings will be turned over to the State Attorney’s Office for a final determination after the case concludes, but that investigation could take several months.

“We are still very early in our investigation,” she said. “We’re still looking at all the information and developing a timeline.”

By Friday, there seemed to be some confusion as to which agency would have jurisdiction over releasing the deceased’s name. WCSO spokeswoman Andrea Gainey stressed the information would have to come through the FDLE.

“We won’t be doing official ID on deceased,” Gainey said. “FDLE will handle any confirmation of deceased on their timeline. They’ve assumed the lead on case.”

When contacted by the Washington County News, FDLE referred staff back to the WCSO, again stating their interest in the case remains strictly as to the appropriateness of the officers’ actions.

Plessinger said she would contact the WCSO and confirm which agency will be responsible for releasing additional information.

Fire damages home

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PANAMA CITY -- Nobody was hurt in a house fire Friday night on Roosevelt Drive, but a home there was badly damaged by smoke and flames, according to the Panama City Fire Department.

Eleven firefighters on three trucks responded to a single-story house at 1321 Roosevelt Drive just after 8 p.m. Friday and brought the fire under control in about 40 minutes. All of the occupants were out of the home.

The Florida State Fire Marshal’s Office is investigating. Investigators have determined the fire started in a rear bedroom of the home.


Ambulance 18 where are you?

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PANAMA CITY BEACH -- Someone stole an ambulance number 18.

The ambulance was parked at the EMS station on Hutchison Boulevard around 11 p.m. Friday. Paramedics had stopped to resupply the vehicle; while their backs were turned the ambulance disappeared, said EMS Division Chief Corky Young.

The crew assigned to number 18 got back to work in a different ambulance, Young said, so “there was no service interruption.”

Dozens of local law enforcement officers searched “every nook and cranny” of the beach overnight and turned up nothing. That the ambulance had not been located by Saturday afternoon had Young perplexed.

“I expected this thing to be found about a half-hour after sunrise,” he said.

Young could not release too many details of the investigation into the theft.

The ambulance is white with orange paint in a checkerboard pattern and the number 18 and word “medic” painted in blue. Anyone who sees should call 911, Young said.

Ambulance 18 is found

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PANAMA CITY BEACH — Ambulance 18, which was stolen from an EMS station on Panama City Beach around 11 p.m. Friday, was found abandoned and intact in Panama City around 5 p.m. Saturday.

The ambulance was parked at the EMS station on Hutchison Boulevard about 11 p.m. Friday. Paramedics had stopped to resupply the vehicle, but while they were away it disappeared, said EMS Division Chief Corky Young. They discovered the theft when they went outside to respond to another emergency and the vehicle was missing.

The crew assigned to number 18 got back to work in a different ambulance, Young said, so “there was no service interruption.”

Dozens of local law enforcement officers searched “every nook and cranny” of the beach overnight and turned up nothing. The vehicle is equipped with a GPS tracking device, but the on-board computer needs to be on to activate the GPS. Young said whoever took it didn’t turn on the computer. That the ambulance had not been located by Saturday afternoon had Young perplexed.

“I expected this thing to be found about a half-hour after sunrise,” he said.

Instead it was recovered after a resident phoned in a tip about a half-hour before sunset, abandoned in the area of Seventh Street and Grace Avenue, said Bay County spokeswoman Valerie Sale. Criminal investigators were processing the scene, but nothing was stolen, not even a paramedic’s purse, which was in the ambulance when it was taken, Sale said.

“All of the equipment and medications were intact,” she said.

The ambulance is an older model with an estimated total value of about $50,000, Sale said, but the cost to replace it would’ve been closer to $250,000.

The Bay County Sheriff’s Office is investigating.

One killed after wreck with PCPD patrol car

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PANAMA CITY — A Bay County man was killed early Sunday morning after he rear-ended a Panama City Patrol car.

Tyrone Sherman Jr. was traveling east at about 2 a.m. Sunday on 19th Street when he struck a Panama City Police Department patrol vehicle stopped at the traffic light at the intersection of 19th Street and Beck Avenue, according to a news release from the Florida Highway Patrol. Sherman fled the scene of the crash east on 19th Street, turning southbound on Chestnut Avenue.

A Panama City Police Department officer attempted to stop Sherman, but lost sight of him, according to the FHP. Sherman was moving south on Chestnut Avenue between 16th and 17th streets when his 2004 Ford Explorer ran off the road to the right. The right side of the vehicle collided with several bushes before colliding with a fence.

The front portion of the vehicle then collided with a standing tree, rotated counterclockwise and came to rest facing east.
The news release did not name the officer who was struck.

Panama City Police Chief Scott Ervin said the officer suffered minor injuries. He referred questions about the incident back to FHP which is handling the investigation.
 

Three injured in PCB wreck

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PANAMA CITY BEACH - A wreck left three people injured at about 6 a.m. Sunday.

Chase Allen Wimpee, 30, of Montgomery Ala., was driving a 2005 Acura west on Front Beach Road approaching the intersection of 12th street and Andrew Emerson Hickman, 20, of Cumming Ga., was driving a 2007 Acura east on Front Beach Road approaching the same intersection, according to a news release from the Florida Highway Patrol. Wimpee “failed to keep his vehicle in the westbound lane” and it collided with the front of Hickman’s vehicle, troopers wrote. Wimpee’s vehicle overturned and continued in motion until coming to final rest on the north side shoulder of Front Beach Road facing west, they added.

Hickman’s vehicle was spun around and came to final rest near the area of collision on the south side of Front Beach Road facing west.

Wimpee, Hickman and Hickman’s passenger, Lauren Crockett, 20, of La Grange Ga., all had serious injuries and were transported to a local hospital. Charges in the case are pending further investigation, troopers wrote.
 

Family of missing Spring Breaker reaches out for help

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PANAMA CITY BEACH - The family of Rice University student Reny Jose, who was reported missing two weeks ago while in Panama City Beach for Spring Break, reached out to the community in a letter Sunday.

“The Bay County Sheriff’s Office has been working diligently to help us find Reny and for that we are so grateful. As we approach the end of the second week in our search for Reny, we are pleading for any information on Reny’s whereabouts. The last two weeks have been the most difficult weeks of our lives,” the family said in the letter.

Anyone who has information about Reny Jose should contact the Bay County Sheriff’s Office at 747-4700 or Crime Stoppers at 785-TIPS (8477).
 

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