Two British tourists have been shot dead in Florida, the Foreign Office has confirmed.That's pretty straightforward...except no one seems to know where the bodies are. And I'm not sure what the "Miami Homicide Department" is.
The victims, both men, are believed to be victims of a street robbery that went wrong.
Their relatives have been informed, but the men or where they are from have not been revealed. The shootings took place in Miami, Florida, on Saturday night.
Police sources with the Miami Homicide Department said the men died after what was was thought to be a botched robbery.
A Foreign Office spokesman said: 'We can confirm the death of two British nationals in Florida.
Meanwhile, this from the Miami Herald:
Miami and Miami-Dade police officials deny the reports and say that no tourists or British citizens had been killed in either agency’s district this weekend.Can't wait to see how this one ends.
I do know from past experience that the Brits are notoriously lacking in their knowledge of South Florida geography. They tend to think of all South Florida as "Miami." On the other hand, it's unfathomable that two people could be shot and killed without some word of it finding its way into a news report by now.
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UPDATED @ 5pm
from the Miami Herald: Two British tourists, reported by British media to have been murdered in Miami early Saturday moring, actually died in Sarasota, the British Embassy confirmed Sunday afternoon.
from the Sarasota Herald Tribune:
A 16-year-old teen was arrested this weekend in connection with the shooting deaths of two British men.(Looks like the Daily Mail reporter who quoted the "Miami Homicide Department" has some explaining to do.)
Sarasota Police identified the victims as James M. Cooper, 25, and James Thomas Kouzaris, 24, both of England.
Police were notified by an area resident that a man covered in blood was collapsed on the ground in the 1700 block of Gore/Carver Courts about 3:20 p.m. Saturday.
Officers came to that man and while checking the area discovered another body across the street.
Investigators recovered about 20 shell casings from the scene.
Saturday’s killings mark the second fatal shooting in Newtown this year.
The teen was charged with two counts of murder.
UPDATED @ 7:30pm:
At least one British tabloid (click on screenshot above) is still reporting that the two British men were killed in Miami. Much of the information in the story looks like it was lifted from the original erroneous Daily Mail story. So much for British "journalistic standards" and all that.
