Michaela MulliganBreaking News Reporter
Tampa Bay has been my home since around the time I took my first steps as a toddler. I took a short break away to pursue my passion for storytelling at the University of Florida. But now I’m back and excited to be telling the stories that make my home unique. When I’m not hunched in front of a computer or waiting in line for coffee, you can find me outside enjoying Florida’s beaches. Or when it’s just too hot, snuggled up inside with my two cats, Willow and Gabby, watching the latest home renovation show.
/s3.amazonaws.com/arc-authors/tbt/941900fa-7d06-4d6f-b331-5e87149885aa.png "Michaela Mulligan - Breaking News Reporter")
![The Clearwater Police Department closed Sunset Point Road between Kings Highway and Highland Avenue Tuesday morning to investigate a crash that killed a pedestrian.](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 562 316"/%3E "The Clearwater Police Department closed Sunset Point Road between Kings Highway and Highland Avenue Tuesday morning to investigate a crash that killed a pedestrian.")
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/SDZXQ2WE4ZAKZGUTSET52EGL3Y.jpg "Bullet holes are seen in a door and wall of a boarding home in St. Petersburg after a police sniper shot a man during a standoff.")
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/X7KK4WS77NGG5CLMKKQAD3RSWI.jpg "Tomasz Kosowski, a local plastic surgeon arrested in the death of missing Largo attorney Steven Cozzi, makes his first appearance in court from the Pinellas County Jail on Monday.")
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/JJXUFZNEMRAG5FUKB262JFXAHI.JPG "A man died saving two children who were swept away by a current Sunday at Anclote River Park, according to the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office.")
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/JENJ3NUJO5HGXD6YM57ZZBC5LA.png "A city of Clearwater sanitation worker was taken to Bayfront Health St. Petersburg after he was hit by a car Tuesday morning.")
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/STRPVD6JFRBS5OKSRYRYAXCSWY.jpg "This screenshot from surveillance video released by the Clearwater Police Department shows Johnathan Stanley, 20, at Pier 60 on Clearwater Beach on Tuesday — the day that police say Stanley fatally shot 22-year-old Rodney Sweeney in the nearby Surf Style shop at 315 S Gulfview Blvd. Stanley was arrested on Wednesday on a charge of second-degree murder.")
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/X4HUBCJ56BHWVOEIZ7GJVPMNG4.jpg "The Surf Style surf shop at 311 S Gulfview Blvd. on Clearwater Beach is pictured in a Google photo from August. Clearwater police were investigating after a person was shot inside the store on Tuesday.")
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/XOOYY46FCNE4BPJVA4QWCU3S7E.jpg "Billl Bakaitis, 82, and his partner Claudia Ansorge, 78, enjoy their breakfast as they share a park bench at Lassing Park Tuesday, in St. Petersburg. The couple is visiting St. Petersburg from the Hudson Valley area in New York. “We picked the perfect time to vacate and come down here. They have two feet of snow. Everything up there is shut down,” Bakaitis said. “And St. Pete is open,” Ansorge replied.")
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/BABFIT7UJ5CFTNJSQOI5FG76KU.JPG "La Niña has finally come to an end after three years, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Fishing boats pushed onto land from Hurricane Ian are shown on Dec. 2 in Fort Myers Beach.")
:format(webP)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/XSJJTJYUKFCAXDFAFI3OQTY6KU.jpg "Thomas Sapp of Tampa faces charges of first-degree, premeditated murder, sexual battery causing serious injury and child neglect related to the death of Mekiyana Williams, whose body was found in a Hillsborough apartment Tuesday with an infant, according to the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office. The baby was unharmed.")
:format(webP)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/BO5WRMN4CRETFPIZJHSLNH4BR4.jpg "The Clearwater Police Department arrested Dunkin' employee Khalil Abdul Shakur Shaheed, 22, of St. Petersburg on Monday after authorities say he shot a customer in a Dunkin' parking lot.")
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/22CVK5MU3JFPREKJT7NYERFVNQ.jpg "The National Weather Service is calling for a slight chance of rain and warm temperatures this weekend across Tampa Bay ahead of events like the Florida Strawberry Festival. Jane Harris, The Best Around manager, prepared a Langos elephant ear, at Florida Strawberry Festival on Thursday in Plant City.")
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/CXQZNQ6CERDLDI43CTVLC64TL4.png "The Clearwater Police Department closed Sunset Point Road between Kings Highway and Highland Avenue Tuesday morning to investigate a crash that killed a pedestrian.")
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/23UNBDMOC5BW5EBVMYSJ3MSVHY.png "Roberto Rodriguez, 25, was driving north on U.S. Highway 19 in Pinellas Park on Sunday when he crossed over a median into the southbound lanes, colliding head-on with another vehicle, police said.")
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/2O43RSW6LRFQDCJAX6Q54ADAEM.png "One person was killed early Wednesday in a mobile home fire in Zephyrhills, according to Pasco County Fire Rescue.")
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/3NUNFFFRYEIMVSAZVGPIDYIR3A.png "Tampa police officers were taken to a local hospital after they crashed their vehicles into each other early Monday morning, according to the Tampa Police Department.")
:format(webP)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/UMVWBTRSGVDSXHUET2GQLURQTQ.jpg "Pinellas County Sheriff's Office K-9 Corporal Matthew Aitken, 40, was shot three times Sunday night while following a suspect, later identified as Zion Bostick, according to the St. Petersburg Police Department. Pinellas County Sgt. Jake Viano, 49, who was with Aitken at the time and returned fire, shooting and killing Bostick. Aitken was taken to a local hospital and is in stable condition.")
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/FHQ5MFBQ7NEO7CJVRWDWQARGJA.JPG "Over half a million Tampa Bay school children will be off for spring break, just in time for temperatures to drop across the area. This is a photo taken at Ben T. Davis Beach in March 2022.")