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4 people, 3 dogs dead after home intentionally set on fire, Florida sheriff says
Four people are dead after a man intentionally started a fire at his home on Wednesday, according to Florida officials. Three dogs in the house also died in the blaze in Plant City, which is about 25 miles east of Tampa, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.
Shawn Gossett, 25, was arrested and charged. Police said that he “intentionally started” the fire “with the intent to burn the house down.”
Danilo Alvarez / AP
A person inside the home called 911 reporting smoke and saying that they and others were trapped with no way out, Hillsborough County Fire Rescue said on social media. The blaze was brought under control in about 20 minutes. Three victims were pulled from a bedroom window, but died on the scene. A fourth person also died, fire officials said.
The victims have not been publicly identified by authorities.
Gossett was arrested sometime before noon on Wednesday, officials told CBS affiliate WTSP. He allegedly started the fire by using a BIC lighter to set paper towels on fire, police chief Joseph Maurer said in a news conference on Wednesday afternoon.
Danilo Alvarez / AP
Gossett was not hurt in the blaze, and officials are working to determine a motive, Maurer said. Gossett has been charged with four counts of first-degree murder while engaged in arson, three counts of aggravated cruelty to animals, and one count of arson, the sheriff’s office said.
“This is an utterly senseless and horrific crime where four innocent lives were tragically taken due to the evil actions of this man,” said Sheriff Chad Chronister in the news release. “I want to commend our detectives and our partners at Hillsborough County Fire Rescue for their swift actions which resulted in the arrest of this individual and their relentless efforts to ensure justice is served.”
At least 11 employees were taken to hospitals and residents were urged to shelter in place on Tuesday after an explosion at a Louisville, Kentucky, business.
The Louisville Metro Emergency Services reported on social media a “hazardous materials incident” at 1901 Payne St., in Louisville. The address belongs to a facility operated by Givaudan Sense Colour, a manufacturer of food colorings for soft drinks and other products, according to officials and online records.
Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg said emergency teams responded to the blast around 3 p.m. News outlets reported that neighbors heard what sounded like an explosion coming from the business. Overhead news video footage showed an industrial building with a large hole in its roof.
WLKY-TV
“The cause at this point of the explosion is unknown,” Greenberg said in a news conference. No one died in the explosion, he added.
Greenberg said officials spoke to employees inside the plant. “They have initially conveyed that everything was normal activity when the explosion occurred,” he said.
The Louisville Fire Department said in a post on the social platform X that multiple agencies were responding to a “large-scale incident.”
The Louisville Metro Emergency Services first urged people within a mile of the business to shelter in place, but that order was lifted in the afternoon. An evacuation order for the two surrounding blocks around the site of the explosion was still in place Tuesday afternoon.
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A rare square 37-carat emerald owned by the Aga Khan fetched nearly $9 million at auction in Geneva on Tuesday, making it the world’s most expensive green stone.
Sold by Christie’s, the Cartier diamond and emerald brooch, which can also be worn as a pendant, dethrones a piece of jewelry made by the fashion house Bulgari, which Richard Burton gave as a wedding gift to fellow actor Elizabeth Taylor, as the most precious emerald.
In 1960, Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan commissioned Cartier to set the emerald in a brooch with 20 marquise-cut diamonds for British socialite Nina Dyer, to whom he was briefly married.
Dyer then auctioned off the emerald to raise money for animals in 1969.
FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP via Getty Images
By chance that was Christie’s very first such sale in Switzerland on the shores of Lake Geneva, with the emerald finding its way back to the 110th edition this year.
It was bought by jeweler Van Cleef & Arpels before passing a few years later into the hands of Harry Winston, nicknamed the “King of Diamonds.”
“Emeralds are hot right now, and this one ticks all the boxes,” said Christie’s EMEA Head of Jewellery Max Fawcett. “…We might see an emerald of this quality come up for sale once every five or six years.”
Also set with diamonds, the previous record-holder fetched $6.5 million at an auction of part of Hollywood legend Elizabeth Taylor’s renowned jewelry collection in New York.
