Two tourists from England shot to death by teen in the Newton area of Sarasota (Utopia: rental car, rental)

[tablemtn]

What an ugly story:

Two Britons shot dead in Florida named

James Cooper, 25, and James Kouzaris, 24, both from England, were found dead by police in Sarasota, in the early hours of Saturday morning. A 16-year-old boy has been arrested and charged with both murders. Police said he was known to them and had previously been arrested.

I sure hope Sarasota wasn't banking on tourism to help revive the economy, since this story is getting a lot of international attention.

[loves2read]

Captain Paul Sutton, of the Sarasota police, said no motive for the killings had yet been established. from the linked article

This is taken from a different UK newspaper

Police sources said the men died late on Saturday night after what was thought to be a botched robbery as they returned to their hotel.

no mention of any rental car abandoned or shotup in the area in any account I read--no mention of any taxi driver who dropped them off there

so who is walking from that part of Sarasota where the "housing block" is located--Carver Ct and Grove St--close to 3am--to Long Boat Key hotel--

I guess I am suspicious but I can think of couple of senarios for what they were doing there
and I would assume that if they had had large sums of money or carried their own drugs there--then they were stolen and not left with the bodies

[jnanner]

Originally Posted by tablemtn

What an ugly story:

Two Britons shot dead in Florida named



I sure hope Sarasota wasn't banking on tourism to help revive the economy, since this story is getting a lot of international attention.

meh, it's awful that 2 died and that a 16 year old is that messed up but I doubt it will have an effect on tourism. Have you heard about what's been going on back in my old neck of the woods? so many bodies dumped in the dunes along the LI beaches! i know that's getting alot of international press too but i'm sure Fire Island will still be hoppin' this summer! Actually, before I left NY this morning my mom suggested we all plan a family get together on Fire Island this summer...serial killer(s) be damned, i guess!

[=^..^=]

Originally Posted by jnanner

meh, it's awful that 2 died and that a 16 year old is that messed up but I doubt it will have an effect on tourism. Have you heard about what's been going on back in my old neck of the woods? so many bodies dumped in the dunes along the LI beaches! i know that's getting alot of international press too but i'm sure Fire Island will still be hoppin' this summer! Actually, before I left NY this morning my mom suggested we all plan a family get together on Fire Island this summer...serial killer(s) be damned, i guess!

The L.I. killer appears to be attacking hookers, not your average soccer mom or tourist. They believe it's a cop or someone who was a cop. A friend of mind lives in that area. He found several of his victims on Craigslist. Sarasota has crime like every other big city. You have to know the areas to avoid... not that crime doesn't happen in the safest areas. Utopia doesn't exist so we all have to be careful.

[mr&mrssunshine]

my first reaction (dont forget we are Brits who live here and know how safe it is) was -what were they doing THERE and at that time ?

as someone said if you dont want to get burnt dont out your hand in the fire.

i am presuming that part of Sarasota may be 'less desirable' ?

Regretfully the British gutter press will have a field day on the good old America and guns issue without ever looking into the true picture.

a sad day for the famileis and Sarasota

[Col.W.Deering]

When I read the article, I thought...this has nothing to do with drugs. It's my opinion that those guys were looking to pick someone up, and perhaps they happened to pick up the 16 year old boy and things went haywire.

I mean really, who empties 20 shells unless they were passionate about killing them?

[mr&mrssunshine]

i presume you mean some female 'company' Col ? did cross my mind too

[LondonUSA]

BBC News - British men shot dead on holiday in Sarasota, Florida

[Col.W.Deering]

Originally Posted by mr&mrssunshine

i presume you mean some female 'company' Col ? did cross my mind too

Eh..not female company exactly...more like male. A drug pusher does his shooting on the fly. This 16 year old showed the kind of passion of a scorned lover with 20 empty shell casings.

[gettinoutofjersey]

I mean really, who empties 20 shells unless they were passionate about killing them?

a bad shot?

how many hit is the question.

they had to be up to something to be in that area. we were not here very long before we heard this was an area to avoid. before the brits throw rocks at us, there are plenty of areas to avoid in the "civilized" UK. no matter where you travel there are the badlands. some can sense them, others charge in with no fear.