AMBERLEA, Fla. (CBS12) — Six people were shot and killed in a Florida cross-state murder on Thursday, according to CBS Miami.
In addition to the victims, the suspect, identified as Russell Kot, 51, was also found dead following the homicide.
Police say the killing spree started in Fort Lauderdale’s upscale Victoria Park neighborhood and ended roughly 200 miles northwest in a gated community in Sarasota County.
On Tuesday, the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office emergency operations center received a 911 call reporting that a man had been shot at a home in the Amberlea neighborhood near Proctor and McIntosh. Deputies said they arrived within minutes and found him in the front yard, where neighbors were performing CPR.
The neighbors also told responding law enforcement that the man’s wife could also be inside the home, the sheriff’s office says. Deputies moved the man to another location where care was administered by the Sarasota County Fire Department. The victim was pronounced dead shortly after.
SCSO says fearing for the man’s wife safety, they entered the house where they found four additional victims, two women and two men.
As the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office worked to identify the victims and the potential suspect, detectives received information from the Fort Lauderdale Police Department that they were working on a double homicide and believed the Sarasota shooting was related. According to CBS Miami, the Fort Lauderdale Police Department identified the two adults as Larisa Blyudaya, 46, and Ben Azivov, 18 who were both found dead inside a Fort Lauderdale home.
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The Fort Lauderdale Police Department released information about the suspect vehicle, saying it was captured traveling north through Punta Gorda after the homicide in Fort Lauderdale and before the shooting in Sarasota.
With help from Amberlea HOA representatives and neighbors, the sheriff’s office found video of Kot’s vehicle entering the neighborhood at approximately 11:01 a.m. The sound of gunfire was heard shortly after on a neighbors Ring camera.
The sheriff’s office says about 37 minutes later, the man who was found in the front lawn was seen on video entering the neighborhood in his vehicle. As the man approached the front door to the residence, he was shot, the sheriff’s office says. No other people were seen entering or exiting the residence until deputies arrived at the scene, the sheriff’s office says.
The four Sarasota victims were identified as:
- Olga Greinert, 49
- Florita Stolyar, 67
- Anatoly Ioffe, 61,
- Yaroslav Blyudoy, 39
The sheriff’s office says the suspect’s vehicle was found within the neighborhood. Investigators say the gunman in the Fort Lauderdale shooting had a romantic relationship with one of the victims, while the connection to the other Sarasota County victims remains unknown, and homicide detectives are continuing their investigation.
date: 2026-02-12 10:07:00
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