NEW YORK — The sophistication of a global network of thieves who drained cash machines around the globe of an astonishing $45 million in mere hours sent ripples through the security world, not merely for the size of the operation and ease with which it was carried out, but also for the threat that more such thefts may be in store.

Seven people were arrested in the U.S., accused of operating the New York cell of what prosecutors said was a network that carried out thefts at ATMs in 27 countries from Canada to Russia. Law enforcement agencies from more than a dozen nations were involved in the investigation, U.S. prosecutors in New York said Thursday.

"Unfortunately these types of cybercrimes involving ATMs, where you've got a flash mob going out across the globe, are becoming more and more common," said Rose Romero, a former federal prosecutor and regional director for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

"I expect there will be many more" of these types of crimes, she said.

Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Loretta Lynch, who called the theft "a massive 21st-century bank heist," announced the case Thursday in New York.

Here's how it worked:

Hackers got into bank databases, eliminated withdrawal limits on pre-paid debit cards and created access codes. Others loaded that data onto any plastic card with a magnetic stripe — an old hotel key card or an expired credit card worked fine as long as it carried the account data and correct access codes.

A network of operatives then fanned out to rapidly withdraw money in multiple cities, authorities said. The cells would take a cut of the money, then launder it through expensive purchases or ship it wholesale to the global ringleaders. Lynch didn't say where they were located.

It appears no individuals lost money. The thieves plundered funds held by the banks that back up prepaid credit cards, not individual or business accounts, Lynch said.

Ori Eisen, a cybercrime expert and founder of 41st Parameter, a fraud detection and prevention firm, said the $45 million heist was on the "high-end" of what can be done by cybercriminals who exploit banking systems connected to the Internet.

"Given the scale of the global credit card networks, it is almost impossible to detect every kind of attack," he said. "This attack is not the last one, and if the modus operandi proves to be successful crooks will exploit it time and again."

There were two separate attacks in this case, one in December that reaped $5 million worldwide and one in February that snared about $40 million in 10 hours with about 36,000 transactions. The scheme involved attacks on two banks, Rakbank in the United Arab Emirates and the Bank of Muscat in Oman, prosecutors said.

Such ATM fraud schemes are not uncommon, but the $45 million stolen in this one was at least double the amount involved in previously known cases, said Avivah Litan, an analyst who covers security issues for Gartner Inc.

Middle Eastern banks and payment processors are "a bit behind" on security and screening technologies that are supposed to prevent this kind of fraud, but it happens around the world, she said.

"It's a really easy way to turn digits into cash," Litan said.

Some of the fault lies with the ubiquitous magnetic strips on the back of the cards. The rest of the world has largely abandoned cards with magnetic strips in favor of ones with built-in chips that are nearly impossible to copy. But because U.S. banks and merchants have stuck to cards with magnetic strips, they are still accepted around the world.

Lynch would not say who masterminded the attacks globally, who the hackers are or where they were located, citing an ongoing investigation.

The New York suspects were U.S. citizens originally from the Dominican Republic who lived in the New York City suburb of Yonkers. They were mostly in their 20s. Lynch said they all knew one another and were recruited together, as were cells in other countries. They were charged with conspiracy and money laundering. If convicted, they each face 10 years in prison.

The accused ringleader in the U.S. cell, Alberto Yusi Lajud-Pena, was reportedly killed in the Dominican Republic late last month, prosecutors said. More investigations continue and other arrests have been made in other countries, but prosecutors did not have details.

An indictment unsealed Thursday accused Lajud-Pena and the other seven New York suspects of withdrawing $2.8 million in cash from hacked accounts in less than a day.

Arrests began in March.

Lajud-Pena was found dead with a suitcase full of about $100,000 in cash, and the investigation into his death is continuing separately. Dominican officials said they arrested a man in the killing who said it was a botched robbery, and two other suspects were on the lam.

The first federal study of ATM fraud was 30 years ago, when the use of computers in the financial community was growing rapidly. At the time, the Bureau of Justice Statistics found nationwide ATM bank loss from fraud ranged from $70 and $100 million a year.

By 2008, that had risen to about $1 billion a year, said Ken Pickering, who works in security intelligence at CORE Security, a white-hat hacking firm that offers security to businesses.

He said he expects news of the latest ring to inspire other criminals.

"Once you see a large attack like this, that they made off with $45 million, that's going to wake up the cybercrime community," he said.

"Ripping off cash, you don't get that back," he said. "There are suitcases full of cash floating around now, and that's just gone."

___

Associated Press technology writer Peter Svensson in New York, national writer Martha Mendoza in San Jose, Calif., and writer Ezequiel Abiú López in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, contributed to this report.

PANAMA CITY — Before he was tackled by bystanders and charged with murder in the shooting death of 24-year-old Megan Pettis, Joseph Moody wrote a suicide note.

Though prosecutors declined to release the suicide note, many court records — or at least portions of them —are becoming public as the prosecution enters the discovery phase.

One investigative report obtained by The News Herald this week indicates Pettis, who had broken off a long-term relationship with Moody a couple of months before her death, was scared of Moody and had changed her phone number to avoid harassing text messages from him.

A Panama City Police investigator, who talked to Pettis’ parents after she was shot around lunchtime March 19 in a busy 23rd Street shopping center parking lot, reported that Pettis feared Moody. Pettis had moved out of Moody’s house in mid-January and got her own apartment at the end of that month, they said.

On at least one occasion, Pettis had taken Moody’s guns out their home because she was scared of what he would do, her parents told investigators. Moody had kept trying to initiate contact with Pettis, too, phoning and texting and showing up at her job.

Six days before she was shot, Pettis sent a text messages to an unknown recipient that stated: “He threatened me … said he was gonna find me … I’m just scared,” according to the report. She changed her phone number the same day.

The day before Pettis was shot, Moody composed but didn’t send a text message to his daughter. The content of the message is redacted from the report, but it is described as “very similar” to the suicide note.

Prosecutors this week declined to release the note.

“While it has been characterized as a suicide note, Moody’s actions after writing it lead us to believe it was a declaration of his intent. Confessions and statements made by defendants are exempt from public records laws,” State Attorney’s Office spokesman David Angier wrote in an email denying a records request.

Moody pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder and discharging a firearm in public Tuesday. He is tentatively scheduled for trial in September.

SOUTHPORT — The search for 14-year-old Emily Paul enters its fourth week Saturday.

Law enforcement believes she is still in Bay County and simply doesn’t want to go home, but her mother said this week that’s not like her daughter, who was family-oriented even at 14. She always wanted to be with her mother, Pamela Massimiani said.

“That’s not my kid,” Massimiani said. “My kid wouldn’t do that.”

Paul packed some bags full of clothes, a laptop and an X-box before she walked down the driveway to a waiting vehicle April 13, according to police records. Before she left, she wrote a note to Massimiani.

The contents of the note were omitted from a public record provided to The News Herald by the Bay County Sheriff’s Office, and Massimiani didn’t want to talk about what it said. BCSO investigators decided to investigate Paul as “missing endangered based on the comments.”

Paul was “not a constant gamer,” Massimiani said, but she spent enough time on X-box live, an online multiplayer video game platform that allows users with the right equipment to talk to each other live during play, to meet an adult man from Chicago living in Madison, Wis.

Investigators have given the case the full-court press, officials said, in part because they initially believed that she might have, at least, left the state with an older man she met online.

“We did even more on this case because of the fear that she was with that guy,” said Maj. Tommy Ford with the Sheriff’s Office. “And we continue to follow all leads in the case.”

Investigators got some help from police in Madison, and the man was arrested on misdemeanor warrants there. Police there talked to him and were able to clear him from suspicion, Ford said.

Where is she?

Investigators now believe Paul remains in the area — and that is where Massimiani’s account starts to diverge from BCSO’s.

BCSO officials, however, said there has been a confirmed sighting near Econfina Creek; someone who knew her saw her April 26 and called out her name. Paul reacted to her name but turned away and left the area when recognized, Ford said.

There also have been unconfirmed reports she was at Pier Park early in the investigation and another April 30 near County 77 and State 20, where someone matching Paul’s description was panhandling, Ford said.

Massimiani said she’s aware of only one sighting, near Econfina Creek, and she doesn’t believe it was her daughter.

 “I wouldn’t care if she handed a note out to everybody in Bay County that said, ‘I’m running away,’ ” Massimiani said. “To me it doesn’t seem like a runaway.”

Part of the reason Massimiani bristles at the use of the term runaway is that it creates the perception Paul is not endangered and people will grow less concerned. She points to a federal law that says anyone under 18 whose whereabouts are unknown to their custodian is considered endangered.

Massimiani, along with friends and family, have created a Facebook group called “The search for Emily Paul” to share information amongst the groups 3,000-plus members. She searches for Paul everywhere she goes, and she’s posted numerous fliers and billboards advertising Paul as missing.

“I’ve been to just about every corner of Bay County looking for my child,” she said.

She doesn’t think her daughter is aware of all the effort to find her.

“If she’s seen it, she would’ve called someone,” Massimiani said. “Any one of us would go get her, no questions asked.”

Can you help?

Emily Paul is a white female who stands nearly 5 feet tall and weighs about 100 pounds. She has blue eyes and braces on her teeth, her ears are pierced in the traditional manner, and she has brown hair that she changes frequently, said her mother, Pamela Massimiani. She may go by the nickname “Em.”

Paul went missing from her Southport home April 13 and has not had contact with her family since that day. Anyone with information about her whereabouts should contact the Bay County Sheriff’s Office at 850-747-5079.

Massimiani said many businesses have taken down the “missing” fliers recently, perhaps out of confusion after another child went missing and was recovered. She hopes people and business with fliers will keep them posted until her daughter is located.

PANAMA CITY — Shelf-lives of case workers for Children’s Home Society Florida (CHS) are often short, according to CHS officials.

CHS will be honoring all the child welfare professionals who devote their careers and lives to protecting and guiding abused, neglected and abandoned children for Child Welfare Professionals Recognition Day on Monday.

Many do not see the long-term effects of their work before succumbing to the heart-breaking duty of removing children from abusive homes, said Lisa Aufdencamp, a dependency case manager with Panama City CHS.

“It’s difficult to explain what that is like,” Aufdencamp said. “Strange, but it’s actually easy for smaller children. But if you have to tell an 8- or 9-year-old they are not going to see their parents again, it’s really hard for them because children at that age, no matter what has been done to them, want to be with their parents.”

As a dependency case manager for CHS, Florida’s oldest and largest statewide organization devoted to helping children and families, Aufdencamp said while the rewards may not be immediately apparent, the job is altogether worth it.

“In severe cases we are preventing fatalities,” Aufdencamp said. “In not so severe cases, a constant cycle of violence or abuse would go on if this service was not present.”

A case worker’s job can be emotionally and physically draining. There are times when parents don’t want to have their kids return home and child welfare professionals are the people who explain to a child why he or she is not going home and what process he or she will have to go through to achieve a permanent home.

However, there are those moments when case workers are able to reconnect children with their parents.

To Aufdencamp, this is the best part of her job. She works hard to ensure that children find the stability of a family and receive the love and the support they deserve.

“Some times it’s difficult because you don’t see the rewards day-to-day,” Aufdencamp said. “The initial abuse stops but then the children are put in this whirl wind of events they don’t understand.

“But later on when they are reunified with their parents or put into some different permanent placement situation, they have a better life,” she said. “It’s a better situation for them.” 

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Gunmen opened fire on dozens of people marching in a neighborhood Mother's Day parade in New Orleans on Sunday, wounding at least 19 people, police said.

The FBI said that the shooting appeared to be "street violence" and wasn't linked to terrorism.

Many of the victims were grazed and most of the wounds weren't life-threatening, according to a police news release. No deaths were reported.

The victims included 10 men, seven women, a boy and a girl. The children, both 10 years old, were grazed and in good condition. Police said at least two people were in surgery Sunday night.

Mary Beth Romig, a spokeswoman for the FBI in New Orleans, said federal investigators have no indication that the shooting was an act of terrorism.

"It's strictly an act of street violence in New Orleans," she said.

Officers were interspersed with the marchers, which is routine for such events. As many as 400 people joined in the procession that stretched for about 3 blocks, though only half that many were in the immediate vicinity of the shooting, said Police Superintendent Ronal Serpas.

Police saw three suspects running from the scene in the city's 7th Ward neighborhood. No arrests had been made as of late afternoon.

Second-line parades are loose processions in which people dance down the street, often following behind a brass band. They can be impromptu or planned and are sometimes described as moving block parties.

A social club called The Original Big 7 organized Sunday's event. The group was founded in 1996 at the Saint Bernard housing projects, according to its MySpace page.

The neighborhood where the shooting happened was a mix of low-income and middle-class row houses, some boarded up. As of last year, the neighborhood's population was about 60 percent of its pre-Hurricane Katrina level.

Police vowed to make swift arrests. Serpas said it wasn't clear if particular people in the second line were targeted, or if the shots were fired in a random fashion.

"We'll get them. We have good resources in this neighborhood," Serpas said.

In the late afternoon, the scene was taped off and police had placed bullet casing markers in at least 10 spots.

SPRINGFIELD— Residents can expect to have six new firefighters in place before the June 1 deadline set by Insurance Services Inc. (ISO).

Commissioners voted at a meeting Monday to hire the six firefighters, outfit each with $12,042 worth of equipment and promote a fire chief. The vote did not come easy, as commissioners split 3-2, then reconsidered the firefighters chosen and voted 4-1 for a revised list.

The motion to reconsider the initial hires proposed by Commissioner Jimmy Talley came after Mayor Ralph Hammond informed commissioners the final hire of the six, Kenneth Demouy, would be a “liability.”

Hammond and Commissioner Robert Curti were the opposing votes to the initial list of hires.

Hammondsaid he was going by the recommendations made by the Springfield Civil Service Board, a group appointed to evaluate applicants and rank them according to several factors.

“I go with their recommendation because that is what we pay them for,” Hammond said. “I don’t want to bring anybody into the city that is going to be a liability.”

Talley suggested the issue was political, as Demouy supported himself and the former mayor, Robert Walker. Talley was the sole dissenting vote against the revised list, which removed Demouy.

“Everybody is going to have issues, and he had a lot of experience and a lot to offer the city,” Talley said. “I think it was personal and political.”

Demouy could not be contacted for comment.

ISO informed commissioners in October the city’s rating would increase — homeowners would pay more for insurance — without the additional firefighters to meet staffing level requirements.

Hiring the six increased the city’s budget for fire services by about $477,000, and commissioners voted in March to levy a special assessment fee on property owners to pay for the measures. For each tax parcel, 62 cents per $1,000 of the value of improvements (not land value) was approved, plus $88.31 per tax parcel.

Commissioners on Monday also promoted Assistant Chief Michael Laramore to the position of chief with a 4-1 vote. Talley was the dissenting vote.

Talley voiced concerns over qualifications during the city’s last meeting. The listed qualifications presented by Talley included10 years experience as a certified firefighter, five in a supervisory position as lieutenant or higher; a diploma or equivalent; accountability procedures; biological waste disposal procedures and an associate degree in fire science.

Laramore said he would increase current standards within the fire department and attempt to get the accreditation.

“I’m going to work as much as I can to get my degrees,” Laramore said.

Before voting against the promotion, Talley said he would support Laramore.

“I’ve got all the confidence in the world [Laramore] can do the job,” Talley said. “I just feel like we should have a chief with a degree because of the type of science that fire is now.”

Also Monday, commissioners voted unanimously to spend $12,042 to equip the new firefighters with coats, pants, suspenders, boots, helmets, gloves and shields.

PANAMA CITY – The man charged in a fatal hit-and-run crash last year admitted to being behind the wheel of the SUV police found damaged and abandoned near the scene, according to court records.

Attorneys selected a jury Monday morning to decide the fate of a Joseph Christopher Acoff, who is accused of fleeing the scene of a Panama City Beach crash last year that killed 23-year-old Phillip Drozd. Acoff, 38, is charged with five felonies, including fleeing the scene of a crash involving death, DUI manslaughter and vehicular homicide, that could land him in prison for up to 30 years.

But according to a motion filed by Devin Collier, Acoff’s attorney, the state doesn’t have any evidence to establish Acoff was driving on July 22, 2012, without playing a phone call he placed from the jail the next day, in which he allegedly admitted he was behind the wheel. Collier, who declined to comment Monday, cited case law that says a defendant’s admission cannot be the only evidence of his guilt.

According to an investigative report by Panama City Beach police, a SUV belonging to Acoff’s significant other was discovered abandoned near the scene of the crash on Back Beach Road. Police went to the owner’s apartment and found Acoff asleep in the stairwell.

When he woke up, he made statements such as “This is all on me,” and “I went to sleep under the wheel and that is what happened.” Acoff’s blood-alcohol content was .17, more than twice the legal limit, according to the report.

Drozd’s vehicle overturned after the vehicle Acoff allegedly drove rear-ended it while they both headed eastbound on Back Beach Road. Drozd was thrown from the vehicle, and he died.

Acoff allegedly called a cab to take him home.

The trial is expected to conclude Tuesday.

The owner of Eternal Freedom Youth Ranch and Horse Rescue in Washington County has been charged with 6 felonies after law enforcement investigated complaints made about the ranch.

Stephanie Lynn faces four felony counts of animal cruelty and two felony counts for allegedly falsifying immunization records, according to

The State Attorney’s Office, Washington County Animal Control and the Department of Agriculture conducted the investigation that led to the charges against Lynn, Wilson said. The investigation is ongoing and additional charges are possible, Wilson said.

Police believe a man who was killed Monday afternoon at Oaks by the Bay Park in St. Andrews died by his own hand.

The victim, who Panama City Police spokesman Lt. Robert Luther declined to identify at the scene, was an adult white male. He sustained a gun-shot wound to the head and was transported to the hospital before he died.

The Panama City Police Department is investigating a motorcycle crash. 

The crash occurred on May 14 at about 1:45 a.m., on U.S. 98 at the intersection of Hannah Avenue, police wrote in a news release. The driver was transported to a local hospital with head injuries and is listed in critical condition. Through the investigation, responding officers and crash investigators were able to determine the motorcycle was west bound on U.S. 98 and that the driver, Paul M. Mendryga, 30, of Panama City Beach, possibly failed to negotiate a turn onto Hanna Avenue, losing control and separating from the motorcycle, police wrote. The driver was not wearing a safety helmet, they added.

The crash remains under investigation.
Anyone with information in reference to this crash is asked to contact the Panama City Police Department at 850-872-3112. Anonymous tips can be reported to CrimeStoppers at 850-785-TIPS.

SPRINGFIELD -- A Springfield man who was injured in a fire last month has been arrested on charges of manufacturing methamphetamine, arson of an occupied dwelling, and child neglect, according to Springfield police.

Investigators from the State Fire Marshal’s Office and officers from the Springfield Police Department arrested Raymond Scott Hewett, 20, Tuesday.

Police and fire/rescue personnel responded to a structure fire at 918-B Bob Little Road at about 3:30 a.m. on April 9. Hewett was injured in the fire, but no one else was hurt, including the toddler residing there.

The investigation determined that the fire started as a result of errors Hewett made while attempting to manufacture methamphetamine, police said. Hewett’s action endangered the lives of himself, his sister’s infant, and several other family members.

Hewett has been released from the hospital and was transferred to the Bay County Jail.

LYNN HAVEN -- A fire broke out just after 8 a.m. Tuesday at the McDonald’s restaurant on State 77, just south of 17^th Street in Lynn Haven.

According to Lynn Haven Fire Chief John DeLonjay, the first started in the kitchen area. An employee was unable to douse the blaze the fire department was called at about 8:10 a.m. Firefighters were on the scene for about an hour, DeLonjay said.

The restaurant was able to open for lunch by 11:30 a.m.

DEFUNIAK SPRINGS — Three people were seriously injured Tuesday morning after a traffic accident on U.S. 331 south of Rock Hill Road, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.

Traffic was detoured for several hours after the crash, which involved a van, pickup truck, semitrailer and tanker truck.

Denis Leonel Martinez, 34, of Louisville, Ky., was driving a 2005 Dodge Caravan south on U.S. 331 about 7:40 a.m., according to the FHP. After passing a line of vehicles in a no passing zone, Martinez tried to return to the southbound lane and sideswiped a 2012 Chevrolet pickup truck driven by Leonard Scott Woodward, 50, of DeFuniak Springs.

Martinez then entered the northbound lane and hit a semitrailer driven by Shannon R. Addleman, 42, of Lakeland. Addleman’s semitrailer jackknifed and veered into the southbound lane.

Douglas E. Lehotay, 48, of Crestview, was driving a fuel tanker in the southbound lane and tried to evade Addleman by swerving onto the west shoulder. The two trucks hit head-on and caused the tanker to roll onto its passenger side.

Martinez, Addleman, and Lehotay were taken to Bay Medical Center Sacred Heart Health System with serious injuries, the FHP reported. Woodward was not hurt.

Motorists were routed to surrounding roads for about five hours after the crash.

Charges are pending against Martinez, according to the FHP.

PANAMA CITY — Though there was no physical evidence to show Joseph Acoff was driving and involved in the crash that killed Filip Drozd, it took jurors less than an hour to find him guilty as charged of five felonies.

Assistant State Attorney Bob Sombathy played jurors audio recordings of phone calls Acoff made in the Bay County Jail after his arrest in which Acoff said he believed he would be charged with driving under the influence and that no one else was in the car with him that night. He also said he knew Drozd had died as a result of the July 22, 2012, crash.

“We have a very strong circumstantial case here,” Sombathy told Judge Brantley Clark during arguments about whether the jury would be allowed to hear the phone calls.

Acoff’s attorney, Devin Collier, asked Clark to prevent the prosecution from playing the calls, citing case law that essentially says a defendant’s confession cannot be the only evidence against them. Clark agreed the evidence was all circumstantial, but it was strong enough for him to rule against Collier.

Panama City Beach police arrested Acoff after they found him sleeping in the stairwell of an apartment complex in the hours after the crash. Investigators took a blood sample that showed his blood-alcohol content to be 0.17 four hours after the crash.

Sombathy showed the jury video from a hotel near the scene of the crash on Back Beach Road (U.S. 98) that showed Acoff walking into the lobby about 15 minutes after the crash and calling a taxi. The cab driver who took him to the apartment complex told the jury Acoff smelled of alcohol that night.

Collier highlighted the lack of physical evidence in his closing argument Tuesday afternoon. After the jury returned its verdict, he thanked the jury and expressed his sympathy for Drozd’s family.

“I believe that the jury returned a verdict that was difficult in a difficult case,” Collier said. “We do have sympathy for the family, and we do give our condolences to the family.”

Drozd’s mother traveled from the Czech Republic to attend the trial. She doesn’t speak English, but speaking on her behalf, interpreter Nikola Kwiatek said Drozd’s mother felt the verdict was fair and thanked Sombathy and Assistant State Attorney Megan Teeple and State Attorney’s Office staff, as well as the police who worked on the case.

“My mother is happy with the decision, and thank you to all these guys working this case, and thank you to beach police,” Kwiatek said. “Her life is completely changed.”

Clark revoked Acoff’s bond and ordered bailiffs to take him into custody after the trial. He is scheduled for a sentencing hearing for June 6.

Acoff was convicted of DUI manslaughter, leaving the scene of a crash involving death, vehicular homicide and two counts of DUI causing serious bodily injury for the injuries Pavel Drozd, Filip Drozd’s father, and Pavol Vydrozd sustained in the crash. Sombathy said sentencing guidelines call for a minimum sentence of 20 years.

PANAMA CITY — A judge has initiated criminal charges against a Panama City attorney for allegedly violating a court order directing him not to pursue certain lines of questioning during a recent trial.

Judge James Fensom has ordered Bill Price to appear for an arraignment hearing May 23, when an evidentiary hearing will be scheduled for Price to show why he should not be held in criminal contempt for obstruction of justice.

In the February trial of Juliana Ellzey, who ultimately was convicted of leaving the scene of a fatal crash, Price allegedly disregarded basic rules of evidence and violated several pretrial rulings that prohibited him from referring to the penalty she would face if convicted and referring to the gender of a witness. Price was Ellzey’s defense attorney.

Fensom ruled orally on the state’s motion to limit Price’s questioning during the trial prior to the trial and filed a written order to the same effect on the day the jury returned its verdict. Price objected in writing to certain aspects of the state’s motion, but in a pretrial hearing all of his objections were resolved or overruled.

Fensom’s order refers to the trial transcript to show where Price overstepped the bounds of Fensom pretrial order. For instance, in his closing arguments, Price referred to the charges against Ellzey as “a first-degree felony,” calling them “a pretty big deal.”

In his questioning of a witness who was born a male but lives as a female, Price addressed the witness as “mister” and asked if the witness had psychological problems.

Price also attempted to “suggest to the jury evidence that had been excluded by the court” in violation of the pretrial order, and violated rules of evidence by questioning a witness about their criminal history though he had no evidence the witness had any criminal history, according to Fensom’s order.

Price declined to comment on the charge Tuesday. If convicted, he could face less than six months in jail, so a jury trial is not required, Fensom noted in his order.

Fensom has asked State Attorney Glenn Hess to assist in the prosecution. In the event Assistant State Attorney Bob Sombathy, who prosecuted Ellzey, becomes a witness and conflict arises, Fensom has asked Bill Eddins, state attorney for the 1st Judicial Circuit, to assist in the prosecution.

PANAMA CITY — Police are searching for at least one suspect in a shooting Wednesday afternoon that left two men wounded.

Police were called to the Macedonia Garden Apartments around 4 p.m. when shots rang out in a busy courtyard. Two men were hit and transported to the hospital with what Panama City Police Chief Scott Ervin said did not appear to be life threatening injuries.

Both men were shot below the waist, Ervin said, and it appeared neither lived in the apartment complex. Police did not release the names of the victims.

It’s not clear how many guns or shots were fired, but Ervin described the gunfire as an “exchange.”

Neighbors gathered in breezeways to watch as investigators taped off a large portion of the property and appeared to be marking shell casings in a courtyard between the D and F buildings. Detectives knocked on doors to locate anyone who might have witnessed the shooting.

One man sat on the steps in handcuffs a few feet from another man who had been shot. He appeared to have been hit in the upper leg or buttocks as paramedics wheeled him to an ambulance on a stretcher. The man in handcuffs was not a suspect in the shooting and had been arrested on an unrelated charge, Ervin said.

Police were still investigating a motive for the shooting, but Ervin said there had been a confrontation between the two men who were shot and at least one other man. Ervin said he didn’t know the type of gun or the number of shots fired when he briefed reporters less than an hour after the shooting.

“It’s going to take some time, especially in an outdoor environment, to … canvas the area,” Ervin said.

Police will release more information when it becomes available, Ervin said.

An earlier version of this story is posted below:

PANAMA CITY — Authorities are responding to an apparent shooting at the Macedonia Garden Apartments in Panama City.

There are two gunshot victims, but the injuries do not appear life-threatening.

Some streets in the area are being blocked off.

A News Herald Writer and photographer are en route to the scene. Check back for details.

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Authorities have arrested the man wanted in a Mother's Day parade shooting that wounded 19 people in New Orleans after he was identified in surveillance video that showed him running from the scene as the crowd scattered in all directions, police said.

Akein Scott, 19, was arrested Wednesday night in the Little Woods section of eastern New Orleans, police department spokeswoman Remi Braden said. She said no additional details were available and would not be until Thursday morning.

A possible motive has not been disclosed, and authorities have not publicly identified any other suspects. Investigators launched an intense search for Scott, with Police Superintendent Ronal Serpas urging him to surrender at a news conference Monday and warning the teen that "we know more about you than you think we know." At one point, SWAT team members and U.S. marshals served a search warrant at one location but did not find Scott.

Police offered a $10,000 reward in the case, and investigators received several tips after images from the surveillance camera were released.

Police previously said Scott had an arrest record involving drug and weapon charges.

Court records show some had been dropped but he was facing a felony charge of illegally carrying a weapon while in possession of a controlled dangerous substance. Scott was scheduled for a court hearing on motions related to that case Thursday. It was not immediately known whether he would be present for that hearing or whether it would be rescheduled.

Video released Monday showed a crowd gathered for the Sunday parade suddenly scattering in all directions, with some falling to the ground. They appear to be running from a man in a white T-shirt and dark pants who turns and runs out of the picture. Police said they identified the suspect from the surveillance camera images.

Police initially said three people were spotted running away from the shooting scene, though Scott has been the only suspect identified publicly.

As many as 400 people had come out for the event. Officers were interspersed with the marchers, which is routine for such events. The crime scene was about a mile-and-a-half from the heart of the city's French Quarter.

Two children were among those wounded.

The mass shooting showed again how far the city has to go to shake a persistent culture of violence that belies the city's festive image.

Gun violence has flared at two other city celebrations this year. Five people were wounded in a drive-by shooting in January after a Martin Luther King Jr. Day parade, and four were wounded in a shooting after an argument in the French Quarter in the days leading up to Mardi Gras. Two teens were arrested in connection with the MLK Day shootings; three men were arrested and charged in the Mardi Gras shootings.

MARIANNA — Jackson County Sheriff’s investigators found pornography and “suspected child pornography” in a locked cabinet in the classroom of a Marianna High School teacher.

Investigators found the material in February while investigating the death of the teacher, John Summers, officials wrote in a news release. On Feb. 15, Florida’s Department of Children and Families investigators began interviewing students and school employees after an employee reported “inappropriate” conduct between Summers and his students, the report stated. Summers was found dead at his home Feb. 17, the news release states. His death has been ruled a suicide, officials wrote.

The Panama City Police Department has released the names of two victims in a shooting that happened Wednesday at  Macedonia Garden Apartments.

William Poole, 18, and Defrevion Duhart, 21 were both shot in the incident, police wrote in a news release. Poole was treated and released from a local hospital for a gunshot wound to his left foot, the news release stated. Duhart was admitted to a local hospital for continued treatment for a gunshot wound to his buttocks area. Both wounds are believed to be non-life threatening, officials wrote.
The third male who was observed fleeing the area armed with a handgun remains unidentified. He is described as a black male wearing a white tank top and black pants, officials wrote. 

On Wednesday officials said the shooting erupted after a confrontantion between several men.
Anyone with information in reference to this incident is asked to call Detective Tony Phinney at the Panama City Police Department, 850-872-3100. Anonymous tips can be reported to CrimeStoppers at 850-785-TIPS.

MARIANNA — A Jackson County deputy killed in the line of duty in 2007 was honored Thursday. 

Harold “Mike” Altman was on patrol the night of Jan. 30, 2007, near then-Sheriff John McDaniel’s house and was the first to respond that night to a call for help from McDaniel’s wife, Mellie.

When Altman arrived at the McDaniel house, he was shot down by Lionel Sands and Daniel Brown, the two men who had followed Mellie McDaniel home and killed her. Moments later, Sheriff John McDaniel and several other officers arrived and during a gun battle Sands and Brown were killed.

Altman’s sacrifice that night was recognized Thursday at the Florida Coalition Against Domestic Violence: Behind Closed Doors, 2013 Rural Training Institute at Chipola College in Marianna. The institute gave a special presentation, the first of its kind, to Altman’s mother and father, Madeline and Harold Altman.

Jackson County Sheriff Lou Roberts made the presentation, telling them every law enforcement officer recognizes that at any moment they, too, may be asked to make the ultimate sacrifice.

“He was one of the most caring people I’ve ever known,” Roberts said. “He had a real compassion for people.”

Madeline Altman said her son died “doing what he loved best.”

After the ceremony, she said Deputy Altman would call her every night after work and tell her about her day.

“He wasn’t about locking people up,” she said. “He was about helping people.”

Deputy Altman will be honored again in a memorial May 24 at the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office.