News / Public Safety
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Weak password or ‘phishing’ emails may explain takeover of Buckhorn’s tweets, experts say
News / Public Safety Tweets posted from Buckhorn’s account include threats against Tampa International Airport and others along with racist and pornographic images. By Howard Altman / Tampa Bay Times / February 21, 2019 PHOTO: The Twitter account of Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn was hacked early on Feb. 21, 2019. (Times files) TAMPA — The…
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Deputies searching for suspect who shot man in a Tampa apartment parking lot
News / Public Safety A man was shot dead Friday night. Deputies are seeking two vehicles in connection with the killing. By Howard Altman / Tampa Bay Times / February 16, 2019 Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office deputies are searching for the killer, or killers, of a man shot shortly before midnight in an apartment complex…
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Neighbors piled into SUV to escape flooding in Hudson
News / Public Safety By Howard Altman / Tampa Bay Times / September 2, 2016 PHOTO: Washington Street in Port Richey is flooded due to rains from Hurricane Hermine. (HOWARD ALTMAN | Staff) HUDSON — As the outer bands of Hurricane Hermine lashed coastal Pasco County, Jennifer Webb woke up to rising water in her…
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Misuse of state’s driver database often for personal reasons
News / Public Safety By Howard Altman / Tampa Bay Times / August 27, 2016 PHOTO: The state’s Driver and Vehicle Information Database (DAVID) is intended to provide information to certified users in law enforcement. Some officers have misused it, sometimes inadvertently. (flhsmv.gov) After relations with his girlfriend grew cold last year, Ryan Elliott Butler…
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Few answers as Orlando shooting investigation moves into fourth day
News / Public Safety By Zachary T. Sampson, Samuel Howard, Anthony Cormier, Howard Altman and Kathryn Varn / Tampa Bay Times / June 15, 2016 PHOTO: Investigators comb the crime scene Wednesday at Pulse, a gay nightclub where a gunman killed 49 people. Authorities released little information Wednesday but said they hoped the area around the club…
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Complaints, investigations not enough for Orlando nightclub shooter to lose his security job
News / Public Safety By Howard Altman / Tampa Bay Times / June 14, 2016 PHOTO: Omar Mateen has been identified as the gunman who killed 49 people in the Pulse nightclub in Orlando early Sunday. (MySpace via AP) A former coworker said that that long before Omar Mateen became the deadliest mass shooter in…
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Officials say nothing in law to prevent Orlando gunman from buying firearms
News / Public Safety By Howard Altman / Tampa Bay Times / June 13, 2016 The Florida Department of Law Enforcement lists more than a dozen reasons on its website why someone would be rejected for a weapons purchase. They including felony convictions, active warrants, adjudication of mental illness, even renounced U.S. citizenship. But not…
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How far should we go in preparing for future mass shootings? (w/video)
News / Public Safety By Howard Altman / Tampa Bay Times / June 12, 2016 VIDEO: Regardless of his motive, Omar Mateen’s massacre at an Orlando nightclub has once again sparked a debate about the role of weapons in society and how to protect so-called “soft” targets like nightclubs, malls and other places where large…