WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (CBS12) — Here are the top stories with the most-watched videos from this week.
Police say a fight between mothers ended with gunfire in Boynton Beach
A late-night argument between two women escalated into gunfire inside a Boynton Beach apartment, leaving one woman shot and triggering a multi-agency search for a missing child, according to police.
Justice Taneisha Guyton, 26, surrendered to the Boynton Beach Police Department on Thursday, hours after investigators say she shot 26-year-old La’Shay Lee during a physical altercation.
Guyton is charged with aggravated battery with a firearm and shooting into an occupied dwelling. She is being held at the Palm Beach County Jail on a $100,000 bond and has been ordered to have no contact with the victim.
Court records show her contact with her child is limited to phone calls, pending approval from the Florida Department of Children and Families.
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Two members of PBSO disciplined after losing their guns
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (CBS12) — Two members of the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office have been disciplined after losing their PBSO-issued firearms.
Two recently closed PBSO Internal Affairs investigations reveal that a PBSO undercover agent and a PBSO deputy lost their guns.
PBSO Undercover Agent, whose name is redacted in the IA report, carelessly handled and lost his narcotics undercover wallet and his PBSO-issued Glock 43X MOS handgun.
The wallet contained a secondary driver’s license, a PBSO-issued Wells Fargo debit card, and $300 in investigative funds.
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Beach closures begin as nearly $15M renourishment project underway on Hutchinson Island
HUTCHINSON ISLAND, Fla. (CBS12) — Another multi-million-dollar project beginning in St. Lucie County.
Starting Monday, parts of about 3.3 miles of popular shoreline on Hutchinson Island will face intermittent closures as part of the ‘South St. Lucie County Coastal Storm Risk Management Project.’
It’s a project that first came to fruition in 2018 and was completed in 2022. After escarpment and wind erosion from Category 1 Hurricane Nicole hitting Hutchinson Island head-on in November of that year, another renourishment project was slated for 2026.
St. Lucie County officials say this nearly $15-million renourishment project will not only help protect the beach against future storms, but also create a healthier habitat for sea turtle nesting.
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Billion-dollar cleanup effort underway on Treasure Coast to protect Indian River Lagoon
MARTIN COUNTY, Fla. (CBS12) — A major, long-term cleanup effort is underway on the Treasure Coast aimed at reducing polluted runoff flowing into the Indian River Lagoon and the St. Lucie River, according to state and federal water managers.
The work is part of the Indian River Lagoon–South Restoration Project, led by the South Florida Water Management District in partnership with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
According to SFWMD project documents, the goal is to capture and treat polluted runoff before it reaches the lagoon, using new canals, reservoirs, and stormwater treatment areas designed to clean water upstream rather than allowing it to flow directly into sensitive waterways.
One of the largest components is the C-44 Reservoir and Stormwater Treatment Area, which SFWMD says is designed to store and treat runoff from the C-44 basin and reduce nutrient pollution before water is released downstream into the St. Lucie River and Indian River Lagoon.
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11-foot gator flipped canoe before deadly attack in Florida, FWC details in new report
LAKE WALES, Fla. (CBS12) — A Florida woman was killed in May after an over 11-foot alligator performed a death roll and dragged her underwater when her canoe accidentally passed over its back, according to a newly released report from state wildlife officials.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) says 61-year-old Cynthia Diekema and her husband were canoeing along Tiger Creek near Lake Wales on May 6 when the deadly encounter occurred. The couple had launched their 11-foot canoe from Lake Kissimmee State Park earlier that morning and had already spotted several alligators along their route.
Investigators say the attack happened after the canoe passed over the back of the massive alligator. Startled, the reptile thrashed violently, overturning the canoe and sending both Cynthia and her husband into two feet of water.
“The canoe from my understanding went across the back of the gator,” said Brandon Fisher of Gatorland. “That spooked that alligator because it doesn’t know what’s going on or what just touched it—and when a gator of that size decides to move, it happens fast.”
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