Margarita Lautin was shot and killed Monday when she was caught in the middle of an apparent assassination at a beachside restaurant in Bat Yam

A woman was shot and killed Monday when she was caught in the middle of an apparent assassination attempt at a beachside restaurant in Bat Yam. Margarita Lautin, 31, and a mother of two, succumbed to the gunshot wounds she sustained in her chest at Holon's Wolfson Hospital.
The victim was dining with a group of friends and family when a motorcyclist opened fire at them. The woman and her relatives were seated next to a group of people known to have criminal records, one of whom was apparently the intended target of the shooting. Police arrested four people suspected of involvement in the shooting, including the attacker and one of his apparent targets, who was also slightly wounded during the shooting. The incident occurred at around 6 P.M. Monday. Lautin sustained critical gunshot wounds to the chest and was evacuated to Wolfson Hospital after resuscitation efforts on the beach had failed. "Someone came along, shot her and destroyed a family ... whoever did that should pay, just like my wife paid," Lautin's husband Alexander said. The investigation was handed over to detectives from the Police's International Crime Squad, which handles investigations into the criminal figures involved in the incident, who apparently belong to the Abergil family crime organization. The suspects were arrested by members of the International Crime Squad who were in the area at the time of the shooting but police spokesmen denied they were there staking out the suspects who then opened fire. The initial investigation indicates that several known crime figures were sitting on a lawn close to the beach at about 6 P.M. when a group of suspects approached them and opened fire. Witnesses recounted that the criminals began chasing their attackers, who then fled. The suspects continued shooting as they ran, hitting Lautin, an innocent bystander. In the ensuing chaos, the suspects got away. However, crime squad detectives combing Bat Yam found them shortly thereafter
The Lautins had come to Bat Yam's Tobago Beach with bathing suits, towels, flotation devices and shovels and pails for five-year-old Sapir and two-year-old Guy.
At about 6 P.M., they asked a passerby to photograph them lying together in the sand. "Twenty minutes later, our family was destroyed," Alexander said in the hospital's lobby last night, gazing at the photos still in his camera. "Suddenly we heard gunshots and saw people running in every direction. It was pretty far away, we were at the end of the beach but people were running toward us. We didn't have time to run. My wife said 'I've been hit' and she fell down. I tried to help her but it was already too late," he said. "She fell right into my arms, next to the children who saw everything, including the failed attempts to resuscitate her." An eyewitness said that many shots had been fired. "I was in my hotel room playing guitar, and suddenly I heard shots. I went to the window and saw lots of people running from the beach," said Michael, a young Israeli staying in a nearby hotel. "The firing went on for several seconds," he said. An employee of a nearby banquet hall said, "It's crazy. It is scary to be here and to walk around with children. We heard a number of gunshots and then saw people fleeing in panic."

23 year-old man has been charged with assault following the fatal drive-by shooting of Waikato man Desmond Arahanga

23 year-old man has been charged with assault following the fatal drive-by shooting of Waikato man Desmond Arahanga. The victim's family is calling for calm after a house in the small community of Waharoa was torched, apparently in retribution for the killing. The accused man appeared in the Hamilton District Court on Monday on assault charges, while Arahanga's family is tying to cope with their loss."The offender appeared in court this morning where we applied for him to be remanded without plea, we're hopeful this arrest will go someway in lessening the tension prevailing in the Waharoa community at this time," says Detective Senior Sergeant Greg Nicholls of Waikato CIB.The 28-year-old victim leaves behind two young children, and another on the way. His life ended in a blaze of gun fire in a drive-by shooting outside this house, where his family was celebrating a birthday.
"(His) children will never ever grow up to see their father," says Ria Kaukau, Arahanga's aunt.He was shot four times, but his family don't want to speculate about why."All I know is this, they didnt have to resort to a gun," says Kaukau.
Earlier on Monday, a firearm was located near a Hedley Street address, which is part of the homicide enquiry.The same Hedley St address, believed to be linked to those responsible for the shooting, was itself torched in a suspicious fire about 9pm on Sunday night. Police have confirmed accelerant was used.
Detective Senior Sergeant Nicholls says a separate team is investigating the fire and their inquiry will run parallel with the homicide investigation.
"What we are dealing with is a single, very serious incident that has cost someone his life and now what appears to be a retaliatory suspicious fire," says Nicholls.
He says there was no-one at the scene when the fire broke out because police and ESR scientists had already completed their scene examination.
Neighbours are reluctant to appear on camera but one has told ONE News that shortly before the fire started he heard the sound of breaking glass then a massive explosion.Meanwhile, Arahanga's family say they don't want to see anymore violence in their boy's name."There has been enough blood shed, and enough hurting, just stop where it is at," says his aunt."To the parents of the children who did it, in time we will heal and we don't hold anything against you as the parents," she says.Police have not ruled out more arrests or laying more serious charges.

Indian Posse gang have taken another life

Hobbema RCMP said they were called to a shooting at about 2:30 a.m. yesterday.
A short time later, a second gun shooting was reported at a separate location in the Samson townsite. Mounties determined that there was an exchange of gunfire between the occupants of two residences. One man suffered a non-life-threatening gunshot wound. Hobbema RCMP have taken two men into custody for questioning.
The teenage victim was pronounced dead at the scene. His name was being withheld pending notification of next of kin.
The teen victim, according to the family friend, was part of a group of older teens that had gotten together to oppose the gangs causing trouble in the community.
"What's happened is a bunch of families, their kids have come together to stand up against the IP (Indian Posse) gang. Some might be gang members and some aren't, but they're standing up against the gangs moreso because they're the ones who have created a lot of trouble in the community, and now they (Indian Posse) have taken another life." The Hobbema band council formed a Safe Community Task Force in the wake of a horrifying drive-by shooting April 13 that left Asia Saddleback, a 23-month-old girl, wounded. A gun amnesty program was announced July 23 and is due to begin Aug. 1. A teen curfew of 10 p.m. was also started three months ago. The family friend said the band council shouldn't be telling the media they're getting a handle on crime in the community.
"I don't know how the chief can go to the media and say we have a healthy community when we really don't," she said. "I know what's happening and it hasn't improved."
An autopsy is slated for tomorrow. The investigation continues.
Meanwhile, Edmonton police homicide detectives continued to probe the unexplained shooting death of a 33-year-old man Saturday in the west end. Police said the man died after someone dropped him off at a city hospital with suspicious life-threatening injuries. Cops believe the shooting took place somewhere near 172 Street and 94 Avenue between 5 and 6 a.m., but figuring out exactly where it happened has been difficult. Police spokesman Jeff Wuite said the original call about the case came from staff at the hospital.

victim suffered multiple gunshot wounds in an incident outside Club Red in Limehouse fatal shooting

Police believe it was the first example of the potentially lethal weapons being used. Around 100 of the Bulgarian-made devices, designed to be used as flare guns, were imported into the UK a few years ago, and some have been converted to fire live 0.25-inch rounds. Police are keen to locate as many as possible, believing they may be even more dangerous than standard handguns since they can be concealedThe man in his 20s, who is not being named until he is formally identified, became the latest in a succession of young people killed in London this year after he attended a house music event at Club Red in Limehouse.Scotland Yard said officers were called to the scene at 3.45am and the victim was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics.Detectives were still trying to establish the precise circumstances of what happened. They initially received conflicting reports about who and how many people were involved.Yesterday a large police cordon was in place in surrounding streets as forensic officers in blue boilersuits worked under a white tent outside the nightclub, which is near Limehouse DLR station.Residents said they were woken by police sirens in the early hours of the morning. Shopworker Gloria Antin, 45, said: "There was a helicopter and people shouting and screaming at about four o'clock. There were huge crowds of people here outside the nightclub."
Police said the victim suffered multiple gunshot wounds in an incident outside the club and was pronounced dead at the scene. A Scotland Yard spokesman said: "We believe that the victim was at Club Red in Cable Street with friends." The shooting is being investigated by officers from Operation Trident, which focuses on gun crime among young black people. No arrests had been made yesterday. Clubbers who may have seen what happened were urged to contact police.While concerns about street violence have recently been focused on the issue of knife use in the capital, shootings continue to pose a threat. Trident has more than 300 officers working full-time on such crimes.Last week, a 17-year-old became the third teenager to be gunned down in Camden, north London, in the past few months, sparking fears of a turf war among local gangs. He was believed to have known Sharmaarke Hassan, also 17, who died in May after being shot in the head on a Camden estate.
An 18-year-old from the area was seriously injured when he was shot in the stomach in nearby Archway the night before Hassan's shooting.Last week it emerged that the latest fad among gun-wielding criminals is a tiny key-fob gun that can fit easily into the palm of the hand.On Friday, Marcus Henry, 27, from Clapham, south London, was jailed for nine years at the Old Bailey for shooting a man with one of the miniature weapons outside a nightclub in December 2007.
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Desmond Francis Paddy Arahanga was fatally shot, an explosion as the fire broke out at a house in the small township of Waharoa near Matamata

The fire came 20 hours after 28-year-old Matamata man Desmond Francis Paddy Arahanga was fatally shot in a drive-by shooting outside a McGowan St address in Waharoa.Witnesses reported an explosion as the fire broke out at a house in the small township of Waharoa near Matamata on Sunday night. They say a car was seen speeding away from the house.The fire's believed to be in retaliation for the fatal shooting of 28-year-old Desmond Arahanga at the property in the early hours of Sunday.Twenty police are involved in the inquiry.Police are telling the public not to panic following the shooting and was not the result of gang tensions.Detective Inspector Peter Devoy says the 28-year-old victim had earlier been involved in a disagreement at another property in the small community and is asking people in the town to remain calm.Three people are currently being questioned by police in relation to the incident.Devoy says most people in the town know each other and he is confident police will get the information they need to make an arrest.rifle has been found close to one of the addresses connected to yesterday's fatal drive-by shooting in the small Waikato community of Waharoa.Detective Senior Sergeant Greg Nicholls said the rifle was found adjacent to the Hedley St address set ablaze by a suspicious fire about 9pm yesterday.Mr Nicholls said the rifle had been taken away for forensic testing.Both the Hedley St and McGowan St properties had been cordoned off during the day for forensic examination, but Mr Nicholls said the property was signed back to its occupants by 4.10pm and no overnight guard was present when the fire started.
He said a separate investigation team had been set up to make inquiries about the fire.Nicholls also said police did not believe Mr Arahanga's death was a result of gang tensions and called for calm from residents.
"What we are dealing with is a single, very serious incident that has cost someone his life and now what appears to be a retaliatory suspicious fire.
"We would ask again that people make the police aware of any information they have on what occurred, not listen to rumours and speculation, and allow the investigation teams to carry out their enquiries."
Detective Inspector Peter Devoy said it appeared the shooting happened after Mr Arahanga had got into a disagreement with some people when at the Hedley St address.
When he left that property a car approached him and a group of other people outside the McGowan St house and someone from the car fired a volley of shots, a "number of which struck" Mr Arahanga."Driving off, the car has then returned to the McGowan St address a very short time later, pulled up and fired a second volley of shots. No one was injured in this second volley."
About 20 police staff are involved in the investigation, assisted by Auckland-based forensic experts

3-year-old boy remained in critical condition Sunday after what appeared to be a drive-by shooting

3-year-old boy remained in critical condition Sunday after what appeared to be a drive-by shooting, police said.The boy was taken to a fire station with a gunshot wound just before 3 p.m. Saturday. Around the same time, a 22-year-old man was also found shot nearby, in front of the All-Star Supermarket at 11022 Cullen. Police could not say Sunday whether the shootings were related.Both the boy and the man were taken to Memorial Hermann Hospital.The man survived the shooting, but police did not know the extent of his injuries on Sunday. Neither victim has been identified.A vehicle that matched witness descriptions from the grocery store shooting was found abandoned in a nearby field, homicide investigators said.

Arthur Odell Sanders charged with assault and battery with intent to kill, pointing and presenting a firearm, trespassing, car breaking

Arthur Odell Sanders arrested just after 6 am Saturday morning on North Church St. in Spartanburg. Sanders, 42, of 251 High St., Spartanburg, was charged with assault and battery with intent to kill, pointing and presenting a firearm, trespassing, car breaking and resisting arrest.
According to an incident report, an undercover Public Safety officer was surveiling Ricky’s Transmission at 780 North Church St. after a recent rash of burglary at the business. According to the incident report, the officer witnessed Sanders climb a fence and attempt to break into a vehicle on the parking lot. The report states that the officer approached Sanders and identified himself. That’s when a struggle ensued and Sanders attempted to climb a fence in an attempt to get away. During the struggle, the officer’s gun was dislodged from its holster and Sanders managed to grab it. Sanders then allegedly grabbed the gun and told the officer not to chase him. Sanders ran to a fence and fired one shot before fleeing the scene.
Thanks to the help of a resident in the area, officers located Sander

Thai court will on Monday begin extradition hearings for alleged Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout.

Thai court will on Monday begin extradition hearings for alleged Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, which could see the man dubbed the "Merchant of Death" face terrorism charges in the United States.Bout, who acquired his macabre nickname for his alleged role in supplying weapons to some of the world's bloodiest conflicts, was arrested in Bangkok in March after a sting operation headed by US agents.Thailand's criminal court must decide whether there is enough evidence to send Bout to the US, where he faces four counts of terrorism for seeking to sell millions of dollars of weapons to Colombia's Marxist FARC rebels.During an elaborate undercover operation, Bout allegedly agreed to supply surface-to-air missiles to US anti-drug agents posing as rebels from FARC, which Washington considers to be a foreign terrorist organisation.
He has also been charged with conspiracy to kill US officers or employees and conspiracy to acquire and use an anti-aircraft missile.US officials including Attorney General Michael Mukasey have said they are optimistic the Thai court will allow the extradition.Bout faces life in prison if convicted by a US court, and has been held at a maximum-security prison outside Bangkok since his arrest on March 6. The former Soviet air force officer has denied the charges against him.
Bout's Thai lawyer Lak Nitiwatvichan said the court was likely on Monday to hear testimonies from US embassy staff and Thai police involved in the case."I don't know how long the hearings will take, but I am confident I can prove the charges are politically motivated," Lak told AFP.
A US indictment accuses Bout of using a fleet of cargo planes to transport weapons and military equipment to Africa, South America and the Middle East.Prosecutors said that as a result of alleged trafficking in Liberia, Bout was in 2004 placed on the US government's Specially Designated Nationals list, prohibiting any transactions between US nationals and Bout.Bout is accused of being a global gun-runner since the 1990s, and is believed to have supplied arms to the Taliban militia, Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda terror network and former Liberian leader Charles Taylor.
The mustachioed Russian's dealings are said to have inspired the Hollywood movie "Lord of War," starring Nicolas Cage as a ruthless arms trader.His apparent downfall came after a 12-month undercover operation in which US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents infiltrated Bout's inner circle posing as Colombian rebels seeking an arsenal of weapons.

police pursued a white pickup truck suspected as the getaway vehicle in the Don's Guns & Galleries burglary

city's most high-profile gun shop was hit by thieves who used a stolen car early Friday to bash through a wall and make off with pistols, at least one assault rifle and ammunition.Late Friday, police pursued a white pickup truck suspected as the getaway vehicle in the Don's Guns & Galleries burglary, leading to the detention of four suspects.The pursuit began about 9 p.m. by Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department officers near 10th Street and German Church Road and ended at Colonywood and Summerwood drives in Cumberland, during which two officers were slightly hurt, according to a police news release.The driver was taken into custody, and at least one firearm was recovered.A short time later, a search warrant was used at a residence in the 800 block of Belhaven Drive, about five blocks from where the pursuit began. Three other suspects were taken into custody there, police said, adding that items found in the residence were linked to gun thefts from Don's Guns, 3807 Lafayette Road.
Names of the suspects, three men and a teenage boy, were not immediately released.
Exactly how many guns were snatched from Don's was uncertain. With an inventory of more than 5,000 weapons, store officials said it will take awhile to get a solid count.Four thieves ran through the store in search of specific types of weapons, said IMPD spokesman Sgt. Paul Thompson. The thieves were in the store for less than a minute, said Don's Guns President Brenda Duety, and were caught on video camera.
The theft comes as police are combating a surge in gun violence that has left more than a dozen people dead so far this month."We're very concerned," Thompson said before Friday night's arrests, "because they had access to some very dangerous, high-capacity, high-powered weapons, just exactly what we don't want to see on the streets."Store owner Don Davis, known for his enthusiastic TV commercials, said this is the latest of many store burglaries he's seen during his 35 years in the business. In 1997, a clerk at Davis' Greenwood store was shot and killed during a burglary.Friday, the men stole a 2009 Mitsubishi Eclipse from the nearby Ray Skillman dealership and crashed it through the side wall of the gun store, Lt. Jeff Duhamell said.Surveillance cameras captured images of three men busting through a wall, climbing out of the car and grabbing guns from the Northwestside store about 5:10 a.m. A fourth man was driving the getaway vehicle, a white Chevrolet dual-axle pickup, Duhamell said.
The burglars partially covered their faces, but they left fingerprints and other evidence, Davis said. At least one burglar suffered a cut breaking through a glass display case, Davis said, and left drops of blood at the scene.
Davis said Friday afternoon he would give anyone who helped catch the thieves free use of a shooting range for a year.
"They're headed for jail," Davis said. "You can't break into a Don's Guns and get away with it."

Godfrey Phahlane,Edward Lesufi accused of beating, shooting and robbing Irish-born priest Father Kieran Creagh

The men accused of beating, shooting and robbing Irish-born priest Father Kieran Creagh have been found guilty in the Atteridgeville magistrate's court.Tuesday's guilty verdict was praised as victory against crime by those who work with Creagh at the Leratong Hospice in Atteridgeville which he founded four years ago.
Godfrey Phahlane, 25, and Edward Lesufi, 28, face a minimum sentence of 15 years behind bars.The men - both from Mamelodi - were arrested while driving in a suspected stolen vehicle three days after the attack. They had with them the gun that was used to shoot Creagh.Phahlane accused the police of "planting" the firearm - this after the two men had shot at the police during a car chase to avoid arrest.