6 people killed in Sarasota and Fort Lauderdale; police say the murders are connected and a suspect also dead

Six people in Sarasota and Fort Lauderdale, Florida, are dead in what police say is a cross-state murder spree by the same suspect Wednesday morning. The suspect was also found dead, authorities said.

Police say the murder spree began in the upscale Victoria Park neighborhood in Fort Lauderdale and ended in a gated community in Sarasota County, about 200 miles northwest of Fort Lauderdale.

The Fort Lauderdale Police Department said it received a call for a well-being check on the 500 block of Northeast 15th Avenue, where they found two adults, identified as Larisa Blyudaya, 46, and Ben Azivov, 18, dead in the home. They were both residents of Fort Lauderdale. 

The property manager for the home spoke with CBS News Miami, confirming Ben Azivov is the son of Larisa Blyudaya.

“She was just a happy, happy woman,” said property manager Joe Askerberg. “Never an ounce of negative energy in all my time dealing with her.

A neighbor told CBS News Miami that he saw someone go into the residence on Tuesday morning. 

“[Y]esterday morning, I was loading my tools in my vehicle, and I saw a guy come running around here, and he went to the driveway and hit the keypad on the garage door, and the door went up, and I just didn’t think anything of it,” Mark Scinna said. “And then I got a call around 3 o’clock … what had happened. I started tying everything together and I was like, ‘Man, I hope that wasn’t the guy that I saw.”

Across the state, Sarasota police were called after they say a man was shot at the front door of a home in a gated community in the Amberlea neighborhood near Proctor and McIntosh roads. There, the bodies of five victims were found, including the suspect, who police identified as Russell Kot, 51, of Fort Lauderdale. Police believe Kot died from self-inflicted gunshot wounds. 

Askerberg said Blyudaya moved to South Florida from Chicago late last year. Her son and Kot lived with her, all residing in separate rooms, according to Askerberg. He said Kot kept to himself.

“He was very quiet. I have been scratching my head, wondering where, how he would go through with this, and then also drive four hours and see red the whole time and commit more,” Askerberg said. 

The other four victims ranged in age from 39 to 66. They were identified as Olga Greinert, 49, Florita Stolyar, 66, Anatoly Ioffe, 61, and Yaroslav Blyudoy, 39. 

Matt Binkley of the Sarasota Sheriff’s Office said police have accounted for “all persons” in the incident and there’s no threat to the public.

Regarding a motive in the Fort Lauderdale shooting, investigators say the gunman had a romantic relationship with one of the victims. The connection between the other victims in Sarasota County is still unknown. Fort Lauderdale police said homicide detectives are investigating.

Sarasota Police said they are not aware of any mental health crises or history of violence related to Kot.