SARASOTA, Fla. (WFLA) — The Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office released more information about the mass shooter who killed five members of one family and their housekeeper on Feb. 10.
Russell Kot, 51, moved from Illinois to Fort Lauderdale in the fall of 2025, where he lived with his girlfriend, 46-year-old Larisa Blyudaya, before they separated at the end of the year. Also living in the home was her teenage son, 18-year-old Ben Azizov.
The bodies of Blyudaya and Azizov were discovered at their Fort Lauderdale home at around 1:30 p.m. on Feb. 10 while police were executing a welfare check. At this point, it’s unclear exactly when Kot shot and killed the mother and son or what his motive was.
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SCSO said an initial review of Kot’s cell phone records did not reveal any triggering events or potential catalysts for the killing spree. However, they did learn that Kot had been to the Sarasota residence, where Blyudaya’s mother, Florita Stolyar, and stepfather, Anatoly Ioffe, lived…