Authorities on Sunday say they found the car of the man wanted in connection with the shootings of two Minnesota state lawmakers and their spouses, killing one of the couples. The suspect, Vance Boelter, 57, was not with the car.
Drew Evans with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension said Sunday authorities are seeking the public’s help locating Boelter, who is considered armed and dangerous.
“We are asking for the public’s help at this point in time in locating Vance Luther Boelter, who is a 57-year-old white male, 6 feet 1 inches tall, 220 pounds with brown hair and brown eyes,” Evans said. “We still don’t know if additional people are involved, but this individual is the one that we are looking as a person of interest now.”
Boelter’s wife was reportedly stopped near Onamia, Minnesota, on Saturday and found with a weapon, ammunition, cash and passports, according to KSTP Channel 5. KSTP reported that Boelter’s wife was the subject of a traffic stop at a convenience store located near Onamia late Saturday morning in a vehicle carrying at least three other relatives of the accused shooter.
Authorities also think Boelter is no longer in the area of the shootings and issued an alert to South Dakota authorities.
House Speaker Emeritus Melissa Hortman and her husband were shot and killed early Saturday in what Gov. Tim Walz called a politically-motivated assassination.
State Sen. John Hoffman, DFL-Brooklyn Park, and his wife also were shot about 2 a.m., and Hortman and her husband were found about 90 minutes later.
The gunman allegedly escaped through a back door of Hortman’s house following an exchange of gunfire with police. Media outlets reported that Boelter had a list of about 70 names in his vehicle which included the lawmakers who were shot, other lawmakers and abortion providers.
The shootings happened seven miles away from each other, and law enforcement officials have called both shootings “targeted.”
Boelter was appointed by Walz to serve on the Governor’s Workforce Development Board in 2019. Various media outlets reported that he is the director of Praetorian Guard Security Services, where he had access to police-like security equipment.
The FBI said it is offering a reward of up to $50,000 for information leading to the arrest of Boelter.
Authorities identified 57-year-old Vance Luther Boelter as the suspected gunman wanted for allegedly shooting and killing a state representative and shooting and wounding a state senator in a targeted act of violence.
It is believed that the third photo in this wanted poster shows the suspect at one of the lawmakers’ homes early Saturday. Authorities said the suspect was impersonating a police officer. Police believe that when the shooter opened fire, he was wearing a latex mask that looked realistic, sources said.
Boelter — a husband and father, according to an online biography — has touted an extensive background in security and military training, according to an ABC News review of his online presence and professional history.
Boelter helped lead the private security firm Praetorian Guard Security Services, which is based in the Twin Cities area, according to the company website.
Boelter’s biography on that site said he’s been “involved with security situations in Eastern Europe, Africa, North America and the Middle East, including the West Bank, Southern Lebanon and the Gaza Strip.”
“He brings a great security aspect forged by many on the ground experiences combined with training by both private security firms and by people in the U.S. Military,” the biography said, adding that he’s “focused all this experience” to make sure Praetorian Guard “covers the needs you have to keep your family and property safe.”
The security firm’s site says they “only offer armed security,” and that they use “the same make and model of vehicles that many police departments use in the U.S.”
Boelter’s role as a local businessman appeared to help build inroads into state politics. In 2016, Boelter was appointed to the Minnesota Governor’s Workforce Development Board, which is tasked with analyzing and recommending policy to the governor and legislature on workforce and resources. Boelter’s appointment as a private sector representative from then-Gov. Mark Dayton came due to the “special trust and confidence” he had earned in his “integrity, judgment, and ability,” according to his official notice of appointment. Boelter was reappointed in 2019 by Walz.
Boelter appeared to have an interest in electoral outcomes, posting on LinkedIn six years ago, urging “everyone to vote in the election on Tuesday.”
Police released this photo of Boelter taken on Saturday.
Dozens of Minnesota Democrats were on a target list written by the gunman, according to law enforcement sources.
Those on the list included Gov. Tim Walz, U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar, U.S. Sen. Tina Smith and state Attorney General Keith Ellison, according to law enforcement sources familiar with the matter.
Police said the list — which was retrieved from the suspect’s vehicle — also named Hortman and Hoffman. Both victims are Democrats and Hortman was formerly the Speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives.
The shooter’s list of potential targets also included the names of abortion providers and pro-choice activists, several sources told ABC News. Many of the Democratic lawmakers on the list have been outspoken about pro-choice policy positions, two sources said.
Security resources have been dispatched to protect those people named on the list, authorities said. The Capitol Police said it’s “working with our federal, state and local partners.”
The shootings began around 2 a.m. Saturday, when Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, were both shot multiple times at their home in Champlin, Minnesota, authorities said.
After Hoffman was shot, officers headed to proactively check on Hortman, who lived in the nearby town of Brooklyn Park, police said.
Around 3:35 a.m., the officers found the suspect — dressed as a police officer — coming out of Hortman’s house, police said.
The suspect fired at the officers; gunfire was exchanged and the suspect was able to escape and flee on foot, authorities said.
Hortman and her husband, Mark, were both found fatally shot at the house, police said.
The suspect’s vehicle — which looked like a police vehicle, including police lights — was in Hortman’s driveway, authorities said, and the list of potential targets was found inside the car.
Walz said in a statement, “We are not a country that settles our differences at gunpoint. We have demonstrated again and again in our state that it is possible to peacefully disagree, that our state is strengthened by civil public debate. We must stand united against all forms of violence.”
“We will spare no resource in bringing those responsible to justice,” he added.
Democratic Sen. John Hoffman also shot, expected to recover.
House Democratic-Farmer-Labor caucus leader Melissa Hortman, who was among the most influential Minnesota elected officials of the past decade, died on Saturday morning after a man impersonating a police officer shot her in her Brooklyn Park home, Gov. Tim Walz said.
Hortman’s husband was also shot and killed, the governor said.
Walz, appearing emotional at a press conference in the north metro, said they were killed in an apparent “politically motivated assassination.”
“Our state lost a great leader, and I lost the dearest of friends,” Walz said. “(Hortman) was a formidable public servant, a fixture and a giant in Minnesota.”
Democratic Sen. John Hoffman and his wife were also shot multiple times earlier in the evening in their Champlin home. Walz said they were out of surgery, and that he’s “cautiously optimistic they will survive this assassination attempt.”
Bureau of Criminal Apprehension Superintendent Drew Evans said Champlin law enforcement received a call at about 2 a.m. that a person shot Hoffman and his wife.
Brooklyn Park Police Department Chief Mark Bruley said his officers assisted with the Champlin shooting; a sergeant suggested checking in on Hortman’s home. They live about five to eight miles away from each other. When Brooklyn Park police officers arrived at Hortman’s home, they encountered a person who was dressed like a police officer who “immediately fired at them,” Evans said. Police exchanged gunfire with the person, but they were able to escape.
The shooter is still at large, and Brooklyn Park is under a shelter-in-place order. Hundreds of police officers and SWAT teams are conducting a manhunt for the person, officials said.
Bruley said that when they arrived at Hortman’s home, they saw a police SUV with its lights on and saw the suspect was impersonating a police officer.
In the SUV, police found a “manifesto,” with a list of lawmakers and other officials on it. Hortman and Hoffman were on the list.
Hortman, who has two adult children, was first elected to the Legislature 2004 and served as House Speaker from 2019-2024. She lost two elections before winning, which she said gave her an understanding of what it takes to win swing seats and hold them.
Her speakership will be remembered as among the most consequential in recent Minnesota political history. With Walz and Senate GOP Majority Leader Paul Gazelka, she guided the state through the pandemic before helping Democrats achieve a trifecta in the 2022 election.
During the 2023 legislative session, she helped bridge the wide gulf between moderates and progressives in her caucus to achieve a historic legislative agenda. Democrats codified abortion rights in law; invested in education, including universal schools meals, as well as transportation and housing; created paid family leave; legalized cannabis; and passed gun control laws.
The encomiums poured in Saturday. “There is no greater champion for Minnesota’s working people than Melissa Hortman,” said Joel Smith, President and Business Manager of LIUNA Minnesota and North Dakota, the laborers union.
Hoffman was elected in 2012 and is known for his work on human services.
During his remarks Saturday, Walz denounced political violence and said the people involved in the shooting would be caught and held responsible.
“This was an act of targeted political violence. Peaceful discourse is the foundation of our democracy. We don’t settle our differences with violence or at gunpoint,” Walz said.
House Speaker Lisa Demuth, R-Cold Spring, who worked closely with Hortman in the Legislature to negotiate a state budget this year, said she was horrified by Hortman’s murder.
“I am horrified by the evil attack that took place overnight, and heartbroken beyond words by the loss of Speaker-Emerita Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark,” Demuth said in a statement.
A 36-year-old man was taken into custody after a man was shot dead with a gun he had been open-carrying inside a business just east of downtown Las Vegas on Friday, police said.
Kyle Robert Capucci was arrested and booked into the Clark County Detention Center on a charge of open murder with a deadly weapon, the Metropolitan Police Department said in a news release Saturday.
The slaying happened in the 1200 block of Charleston Boulevard across from the Huntridge Theater. Police didn’t name the business where the killing happened, but in front of the AutoZone store, at 1201 E. Charleston Blvd., a small makeshift memorial appeared Saturday. The memorial consisted of a few candles, a beer bottle and a vape, along with a piece of paper with the words “#Long Live David” written on it.
The identity of the person killed had not been released as of Saturday afternoon.
Employees in the AutoZone said they were unable to comment.
The suspect was located and apprehended about a block away from the shooting.
According to court records listed Saturday, Capucci was “not interviewed due to being in discipline or uncooperative.”
The victim from the Friday homicide “just happened to be open and carry” with a firearm and the suspect “went to grab the open and carry firearm, which caused a struggle to ensue,” Metro Lt. Robert Price said near the scene Friday.
“While he was in line to pay for items, Capucci entered the business acting erratic,” the Metro news release added. “After a short interaction with an employee, Capucci lunged for the firearm on the victim’s waist and a struggle ensued. Capucci was eventually able to get the gun away from the victim before shooting him.”
The call came in just before 5 p.m. Friday, Price said.
“The suspect was taken into custody without incident,” Price said.
A large police presence could be seen in the area of the homicide for several hours after the shooting. Attention was focused on the AutoZone store and a nearby restaurant and auto repair shop. The initial police call referenced 1201 E. Charleston, according to jail log documents.
Ralph Bartley, a Las Vegas resident who works as an overnight security guard in the area, watched from across the street as police worked the scene at about 8 p.m. Friday.
He said he wasn’t surprised by the violence.
“It’s getting worse and worse around here,” Bartley said. “I’ve had knives pulled on me. I watch out for who I confront now. You have to keep your head on a swivel.”
According to court records, Capucci pleaded guilty to a felony attempted robbery charge and served time in prison following a disturbance at a Grouchy John’s coffee shop on South Maryland Parkway in February 2022. He also pleaded guilty to a drug trafficking charge from 2014 in Las Vegas, court records show.
Capucci is scheduled to appear before Justice Court Judge Rebecca Saxe on the open murder charge on Wednesday.
What happens when a city fails to block access to streets to a street festival?
VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — A man drove a vehicle into a crowd at a Filipino heritage festival in the Canadian city of Vancouver, killing at least nine people and injuring an unknown number of others, police said Sunday.
The vehicle entered the street at 8:14 p.m. on Saturday and struck people attending the Lapu Lapu Day festival, the Vancouver Police Department said in a social media post.
Several other people were injured, but the exact number of casualties wasn’t immediately available.
A 30-year-old Vancouver man was arrested at the scene and the department’s Major Crime Section is overseeing the investigation, police said.
“At this time, we are confident that this incident was not an act of terrorism,” the police department posted early Sunday.
Interim Vancouver Police Chief Steve Rai told a news conference that the man was arrested after initially being apprehended by bystanders.
Two people are dead and a sheriff deputy’s son is in custody after an active shooter was reported at Florida State University’s campus in Tallahassee.
The suspect is the 20-year-old son of a current sheriff’s deputy who had access to one of her weapons, according to Leon County Sheriff Walt McNeil.
At least six people are receiving treatment at Tallahassee Memorial Healthcare, a hospital spokesperson confirmed to NBC News.
In a recent update, FSU informed students that the threat to the campus has been “neutralized” but the area around the campus is still considered an active crime scene.
One FSU student who saw the shooter described him as a “normal college dude” who was wearing an orange T-shirt and khaki shorts. “I was walking and this guy pulls up in an orange Hummer,” the student said. “And he gets out with a rifle and shoots in my direction.”
Police responded to a 911 call at 1673 84th Street around 10:15 a.m and confirmed that a police-involved shooting investigation is underway.
Four young girls were injured by a knife-wielding man inside a home in Bensonhurst Sunday morning before responding officers shot him, according to NYPD Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch.
The commissioner said police received a 911 call from an 11-year-old who said that she and her siblings had been stabbed by her uncle. The girl did not know her address, so the 911 call center used her phone’s location to send units.
When they arrived at 1671 84th St., an uninjured child led them to a vestibule that faced two doors. Tisch says officers kicked down one of the doors after hearing screaming.
Inside the home, they encountered a man holding a meat cleaver and covered in blood. Tisch says the officer ordered the man to drop the cleaver, but he refused and “advanced toward them.”
Officers fired seven rounds between them and “ended the threat.” The incident was capture on bodycam, which has not yet been released.
The four female victims inside the apartment were ages 16, 13, 11 and 8. All had serious slash and stab wounds but are expected to survive.
The accused slasher was identified as 49-year-old Longqian Chen. The relationship between the man and the children has not yet been confirmed, but police believe he was a family member. He was taken to Maimonides Medical Center in critical condition.
Family members said he has a history of mental illness.
The demoncrap leadership has made it clear they approve of violence against their opponents. I wonder what they’ll think when -not if, when – people get fed up enough with that and decide to turn this into a two way range, likely under Bill Clinton’s Rules of Engagement?
When the Philanderer in Chief, frustrated with Serbian intransigence in 1999, changed the rules of engagement to include the political leadership, news media and the intellectual underpinnings of his enemy’s war effort, he accidentally filed suit under the Law of Unintended Consequences. The Serbians knuckled under, yes. But the rest of the world took note, including us. I assure you, the appeal to the higher court of history in that case has yet to be decided.
There are two stories here. Once is the ongoing wave of vandalism and domestic terrorism by left-wing nutjobs and the other is the silence of Democrats. Neither of these stories is really breaking news at this point, but I haven’t stopped caring and I don’t think our readers have either.So on that note, let’s just go over a few acts of vandalism and the people who’ve been either identified as suspects or already arrested. Apparently these people don’t understand that Tesla’s have lots of cameras.In Boston, a woman was captured on video throwing a brick through the window of a Tesla.
This happened on Sunday. Boston PD is now looking for the suspect. Something tells me she won’t be too hard to identify.
This one happened in Dallas where a guy keyed a Tesla at an airport parking lot. He has now been arrested and is being sued by the owner in a civil case. Here’s a local news story on the lawsuit:
And this guy from West Fargo, North Dakota is now facing a felony charge.
He apparently confessed when questioned by police. Not much doubt about the politics that motivated him.
In Gilbert, Arizona a man named David Moller was arrested for keying a Cybertruck.
And in Kentwood, Michigan, police released a photo of two suspects they believe spray painted five Tesla Cybertrucks in a mall parking lot.
Again, the politics motivating this are pretty clear.
In the small city of Town and Country, Missouri a man named Matthew Reynolds has been arrested for keying a woman’s Model 3 in a parking lot.
Reynolds is also facing a felony charge. Here’s his mugshot.
In Aventura, Florida just north of Miami, a woman was arrested after spreading chewing gum on the door handle of a Tesla parked in a mall parking lot. Her name is Yamaris Marrero.
In Brookhaven, Mississippi a Cuban migrant named Osvaldo Torres-Rodriguez is still wanted for (allegedly) vandalizing a Tesla with a pair of pliers or wire-cutters.
Here’s one from Columbus, Ohio. Don’t know if this person has been caught yet.
Unfortunately, I could go on. There are many more examples of people who haven’t been arrested yet but who probably will be soon. You can see a bunch of them on this X account.
Meanwhile, the Democrats who have inspired all of this have said almost nothing about it. AOC has been asked about it twice and has replied that Republicans say all sorts of things about her. But of course she has called out others for “stochastic terrorism” in the past.
Questioned by Fox News Digital, “Squad” member and leading Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York refused to answer whether she believes Democrats’ inflammatory rhetoric against Elon Musk has any connection to the violent attacks and vandalism against Tesla owners and dealers across the country…
Though she would not comment on the acts of terror against Tesla owners and workers, Ocasio-Cortez, considered one of the country’s leading Democratic voices, has previously accused her Republican opponents of engaging in “stochastic terrorism,” using inflammatory language to incite violent action, by criticizing her, which she said prompted her to hire security.
Speaking on CNN in 2023, she said, “It’s uncomfortable serving with people who engage in what many experts deem stochastic terrorism, which is the incitement of violence using digital means and large platforms so that individuals themselves may not be the one that’s wielding a weapon.
Few national Democrats have criticized the wave of arson and vandalism. It’s almost as if they know the vandals are on their side.
BLUF
If the border crossings stay at these levels, the US could see the number of illegal migrants hit a low not seen since 1968.
The Trump administration has deported more than 100,000 migrants since President Trump returned to the White House in January, The Post has learned.
Both ICE and CBP officials have made 113,000 arrests and carried out “north of” 100,000 deportations since Trump’s Jan. 20 inauguration, a Department of Homeland Security official told The Post Monday.
Sources said it shows that Trump is keeping his promise to boot illegal migrants, alleged gangbangers and suspected terrorists from the United States.
ICE officials have made 113,000 arrests and carried out “north of” 100,000 deportations since Trump’s Jan. 20 inauguration.CBP
“He’s doing what he was voted in to do. Point blank!” an ICE source told The Post.
Traditionally, the school shooting phenomenon was perpetrated by young, disaffected males. But, a disturbing new trend seems to be forming. The tragic shooting at the Abundant Life Christian School this week was committed by a young girl. A fifteen-year-old with a digital history indicative of the deep angst experienced by many young teenagers left adrift in existential darkness.
It is a very disturbing trend indeed when our young girls, typically characterized by feminine compassion, who should be anticipating the joys of family, motherhood, or career, instead are driven to find meaning in mass homicide. Surely, this is a sign of cultural apocalypse.
Reportedly, Natalie Rupnow had an online obsession with mass shootings and death. Can it really be surprising that our culture of death (the death of God, death of the unborn, the death of personhood) produces mass-murdering kids?
We treat the unborn like bio-waste and devalue life to the point of absurd irrelevance, discarding it at will. The message to anyone paying attention is that life is disposable and subject to whim or convenience. Making a statement with the lives of innocent people is a simple metaphysical extension of the secular culture of grievance and lack of eternal accountability.
Perhaps some old-fashioned hell-fire preaching might go a long way toward saving lives, both temporal and spiritual.
Well, they have a guy in custody in Pennsylvania for schwacking the insurance company CEO. Reports are he was found with several fake IDs, as well as a suppressed pistol, and his social media posts put him the category of leftist, Ivy League educated, lunatic.
As my first Squad Leader once told us:
“Experience is the best teacher, and the best experience is someone else’s as it’s usually less expensive and less painful.”
Leah covered this story earlier today: Brian Thompson, CEO of UnitedHealthcare, was shot and killed in what looks like a professional hit job. The targeted killing occurred around 6:45 AM, outside the New York Hilton Midtown, where an investors meeting was being held. In the video footage, the killer is seen shooting Mr. Thompson with a suppressed firearm in the leg and back before finishing him off.
There’s a new chilling clue regarding this premeditated killing: bullet casings were found at the scene, with “deny,” “defend,” and “depose” on them:
Mr. Thompson was the subject of a Justice Department investigation for insider trading (via NY Post):
UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was one of several senior executives at the company under investigation by the Department of Justicewhen he was gunned downoutside a Manhattan hotel on Wednesday.
The stock price dropped sharply after the revelation that the DOJ was investigating whether the company had made acquisitions that consolidated its market position in violation of antitrust laws, a source familiar with the probe told the outlet.
Fifty-year-old UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was shot and killed by a masked gunman outside the Hilton Hotel in Midtown Manhattan as he arrived for a conference around 6:45 a.m. on Wednesday.
The New York Postreported the masked attacker fired “repeatedly” at Thompson then “fled eastbound off of 6th Avenue.”
Thompson was shot in the chest during the attack and rushed to the hospital thereafter, where he died.
ABC 7 noted police believe the shooting was targeted but they do not know a motive. The masked attacker is still on the loose.
Mike Bloomberg-affiliated Everytown for Gun Safety ranks New York the No. 2 state in the Union for gun control laws, making the Empire State second only to California.
New York has universal background checks, an “assault weapons” ban, a “high capacity” magazine ban, a red flag law, gun storage requirements, a microstamping requirement for new pistols, a ban on college carry for self-defense, a ban on campus carry on K-12 campuses for classroom defense, a “sensitive places” ban for licensed concealed carriers, and much more.
When New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham took her animosity toward the Second Amendment and ramped it up to 11, trying to ban all lawful carry in Albuquerque, she said it was in response to the rampant violent crime in the city. She called it a public health crisis and used the draconian restrictions we saw during COVID-19 to justify this particular draconian measure.
And, of course, she got slapped down over it.
But it’s clear that she never got the message regarding the right to keep and bear arms nor the fact that while the city does have a problem, it’s not guns that are causing it.
The Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office seized 65,000 fentanyl pills and three guns on Tuesday during a search of an apartment off East Central.
Richard Cortez, 44, who authorities say lived in the apartment, is charged with drug trafficking and three counts of possession of a firearm by a felon.
Michael Herrera, 18, who was inside the apartment at the time of the raid, is charged with resisting, evading or obstructing an officer for not surrendering “for over 30 minutes.”
Both men were booked into the Metropolitan Detention Center. Neither man had an attorney listed in online court records.
Court records show Cortez was sentenced to prison for drug trafficking in 2010 and for years afterward bounced between prison and probation after repeated violations.
In 2016, a BCSO deputy arrested Cortez on felony drug possession, according to court records. Cortez faced another potential prison stretch, but the case was dismissed, and Cortez was set free after the deputy didn’t show up for court.
Prosecutors filed a motion to detain Cortez until trial following Tuesday’s seizure, calling him “dangerous.”
“The defendant is a major dealer of fentanyl in the Albuquerque area,” according to the motion. “He had three firearms ready for use.”
How could he possibly have gotten guns? Gun control laws are in place to prevent people like this from getting guns, after all.
Then again, there are laws intended to prevent people from getting 65,000 fentanyl pills, too, and we see how well they worked.
See, the issue with most violent crime is that the violence is often ancillary to something else. In the 1990s, when the homicide rate was so ridiculous, it was gangs and drugs. To some degree, that’s still the case. Convicted felons aren’t reformed, they’re just put back on the streets where they seek out ways to continue with their previous criminal endeavors.
In this case, Cortez was a known felon with a long and prodigious history as a criminal, only to be able to become a “major dealer of fentanyl in the Albuquerque area.”
It looks to me like putting him right back on the streets time and time again wasn’t really doing all that much, and knowing a deputy didn’t show up for court in 2016, which got his case dismissed makes it that much worse.
Let’s remember something, folks. If fentanyl is so heavily controlled–and yes, it is–and people like this jackwagon can get it, why does anyone believe you can keep someone like this disarmed? What makes them think that suddenly a law will be passed that will make it so he can’t get firearms from any source?
TULARE, Calif. — A home invasion ended in a tragic loss for a family already in mourning in California.
Surveillance video from last Thursday morning allegedly shows a burglar trying to break into a home on Berkeley Way in Tulare, California.
It appears he sees the camera then turns and moves on another home nearby.
That’s where police said Fabian Gamez, 30, tried to enter through the backyard, when he was confronted by the owner, Melissa Quinn, 58.
Gamez attacked Quinn with a knife, then her son Raymond Garza,38, tried to intervene and Gamez began stabbing him, detectives said.
The mother and her eldest son both died from their injuries.
“Losing them, not just one but both at the same time, is a huge hit to the family. They were our protectors and if anything happened they were the first to defend their family members,” said Michael Garza, who is Melissa’s second son and Raymond’s younger brother.
He says their youngest sibling heard the commotion, came out and shot the intruder.
He was able to keep the suspect from getting away until police arrived.
There were more than six people in the home, including Melissa’s father she cared for and Raymond’s children, ages 7, 9 and 19.
The two youngest kids also lost their mother in 2019 and are now coping with the trauma of another tragedy. “They are scared, what my nephew had to see his dad dying on the floor after being viciously stabbed by the intruder,” said Michael.
ABC Fresno affiliate KFSN found Gamez has a history of run-ins with police.
Detectives believe he’d been canvassing the area Wednesday night.
“Detectives now believe that he may have been burglarizing in the area,” explains Sgt. Rosa Moreno, with the Tulare Police Department.
Gamez pleaded not guilty Tuesday to two counts of first degree murder and one count of residential burglary with special circumstances.
The victims’ loved ones say they will continue to fight for justice as they honor the mother and son.
“They were the limelight of any event they’d show up. Their personalities were always glowing,” said Michael.
The family now left with only memories and heartbreak.
Melissa leaves behind six grandkids and two sons.
Raymond leaves behind his three young children. He was their only living parent.
The family has set up a GoFundMe page to help with funeral expenses.
On October 6, 2024 at approximately 2:10 AM, Calumet City Police responded to the Walgreen’s store located in the 500 block of Torrence Avenue for the report of a retail theft, according to Calumet City Police.
While responding, the Calumet City 911 Center received a report of shots fired and a vehicle that fled westbound from the scene.
Officers located the vehicle in the 1600 block of Sibley. The driver of the vehicle, a 42 year old male, had a gunshot wound to the chest. Officers provided immediate trauma care to the male who was then transported to a local trauma center where he later succumbed to his injuries.
The preliminary investigation indicates that the 42 year old male and a 48 year old female exited the Walgreen’s store, separately, without paying for merchandise in their possession. Both were approached by store employees. Store employees recovered the stolen merchandise from the 48 year old female who then fled the scene on foot. When the 42 year old male was approached, he displayed a handgun and the store employee, who has a concealed carry license, discharged his weapon striking the 42 year old male. The male then entered a vehicle and fled in a westbound direction.
Calumet City Detectives are investigating. Anyone with information is requested to contact the Calumet City Police Department at 708-868-2500.
