A Florida sheriff said intruders should “expect to be shot” after releasing information about a homeowner who opened fire at two masked men trying to break into his house, killing one.

The deceased suspect was identified as 27-year-old Jorge Nestevan Flores-Toledo, from Mexico, according to Fox 13. 

The second suspect, Michel Soto-Mella, 39, an illegal immigrant from Chile, is charged with armed burglary, with additional charges pending, according to the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office.

Just after 9 p.m. Thursday, the Manatee County homeowner saw the two men entering the back of his house on his video surveillance system, according to authorities.

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“He knew something bad was about to happen and he didn’t stall,” MCSO Sheriff Rick Wells said during a press conference Friday. “He grabbed his firearm [and] told his wife to get into a safe spot.”

The homeowner fired multiple rounds, hitting Flores-Toledo “several times,” while Soto-Mella fled the scene, according to the sheriff’s office. 

“I sat down next to the lanai, the door was open,” John Nuceder, who was visiting a family member in the neighborhood, told Fox 13. “I vividly heard three gunshots.”

Jorge Nestevan Flores-Toledo, also known as Anibal Miller-Valencia, 27, from Mexico, was killed in the shooting, according to Fox 13.

Authorities said Flores-Toledo was initially reported to be in critical condition before being transported to Sarasota Memorial Hospital, where he died Friday morning.

“This is the state of Florida,” Wells said. “If you want to break into someone’s home, you should expect to be shot.”

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Deputies tracked down Soto-Mella, who was in the country illegally after his 90-day visa expired in September, using K9 units and arrested him a few blocks away, according to the sheriff’s office. The scene was secured and everyone involved was accounted for, posing no threat to the community.

Detectives are currently investigating Flores-Toledo’s background and are “seeking to understand” why he and Soto-Mella targeted the home, according to a statement released by the sheriff’s office Friday afternoon.

A Manatee County man opened fire on two potential home invaders Thursday night.

“We’re trying to get everything that we can from the [surviving] suspect,” Wells said. “He’s being somewhat cooperative, but he’s not telling us everything.”

At a court hearing, Fox 13 reported Soto-Mella used a translator to tell the judge he did not have any guns.

Manatee County homicide detectives said they believe there may be other individuals involved in the crime.

Flores-Toledo, who also went by the name of Anibal Miller-Valencia, was arrested in Oak Brook, Illinois in 2023 and served four months in jail for residential burglary before being released on parole in November, according to authorities. He had an active warrant for a parole violation and was considered “armed and dangerous.”

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The Manatee County Sheriff’s Office did not immediately respond to inquires from Fox News about whether the homeowner is facing any charges. His identity has not been released, as of Friday night.

Fox 13 Tampa Bay‘s Chuck Merlis and Ryan Burkett contributed to this story.

Valerie Bertinelli is looking forward to starting fresh in the new year.

In a recent post on her Instagram story, the 64-year-old Food Network star shared a video featuring an inspiring message for her fans. The video showcases a white sign hung on a lamppost with the words “2025 is the perfect year to forget your past, forgive yourself and begin again.”

The “Valerie’s Home Cooking” host has had her share of ups and downs over the past year. Throughout all her struggles, she kept her fans in the know, posting about her dark moments on Instagram.

In November, Bertinelli shared with her fans that she experienced a surprising anxiety attack, telling her followers she chose to share because she was “pretty sure I’m not the only one out here who has experienced this.”

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She said the panic attack left her shaking for hours as she tried her “best to meditate and EMDR my way out of this.”

“Part of me is fascinated by what the human body is capable of when our feelings can get in the way or override any reasonable thought and another part of me is just curious on how all of this happens,” she wrote in the caption. “You know the weird neuropathies in our brain and how it affects our bodies, what feelings (which are just information btw) are and why are they so powerful that they make our body go into overdrive.”

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Not long before sharing she had a panic attack, Bertinelli posted a photo of herself with a large gash on her arm at the end of October.

“I would ask for hazard pay, but it was my own damn fault,” she wrote in the caption. “I’ve been working on a really fun new project that I can’t wait to tell you about and this is what happens when you literally trip over the corner of a stage and fall on your a– in front of the crew. And the whole audience.”

Bertinelli injured her arm when she fell off a stage.  ( David Livingston/Getty Images)

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She jokingly added, “when you’re me,” before calling herself a “klutz” and saying “embarrassing myself is my bailiwick.”

The “Hot In Cleveland” actress also made positive changes in her life this year, giving up alcohol and living a sober lifestyle. After opting to participate in “Dry January” at the beginning of the year, the actress realized the benefits of staying sober, choosing to maintain the lifestyle.

“Even with life struggles and how life can be challenging, I find that it is easier to get myself clearer faster about what I need to do and taking care of my life,” she explained to People in July. “I feel good when I wake up in the morning. I’m not groggy. I’m not tired. I’m not, ‘What did I do last night?’”

She told People in April that alcohol was part of her “toolkit for soothing and ignoring s—” that she should have been facing after her divorce from ex-husband Tom Vitale in 2022. 

“There was so much sadness in my life, and alcohol amplified it,” she said.

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Bertinelli gave up alcohol in 2024. (Unique Nicole)

These realizations inspired her decision to live a sober lifestyle, explaining it would help her live a better life.

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“[It’s] keeping me honest about my emotions and honest about my mental health journey and my work that I want to do there,” she added. “I say all the time, ‘If I’m lucky, I have 20 more years left,’ and I want them to be the best years of my life. And I don’t want to be doing what I’ve been doing the last 64 years.

“I want a better, cleaner, cooler, more exciting way to knock out the last 20.”

Olympic gymnast Simone Biles caught heat before the start of the NFL season for showing up to husband Jonathan Owens’ preseason game with the Chicago Bears in an outfit sporting the safety’s former team.

But on Thursday night, she silenced the critics. 

The decorated Olympian arrived at Soldier Field in Chicago before the Bears’ Week 17 matchup against the Seattle Seahawks wearing an outfit decorated entirely with photographs of her husband’s face. 

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Owens reposted a photo of Biles to his Instagram Stories with the caption, “Ain’t she beautiful.”

Fans received the outfit choice well this time around.

In August, before a preseason game against the Cincinnati Bengals, the gymnast irked some by wearing a jacket depicting Owens when he played for the Green Bay Packers. Unbothered by the criticism, Biles later shared the photos on social media with the message, “Bear down.” 

Gymnast Simone Biles walks on the sidelines before the game between the Chicago Bears and the Seattle Seahawks at Soldier Field in Chicago on Thursday. (Daniel Bartel-Imagn Images)

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Owens signed a two-year contract with the Bears in March after spending one season with the Packers. He was excused from the start of training camp this summer to support his wife as she went on to make history at the 2024 Paris Olympics. 

Biles won four medals, including three gold, to bring her total Olympic medal count to 11 — the most by any American female gymnast. 

Gymnast Simone Biles poses for a photo before the game between the Chicago Bears and the Seattle Seahawks at Soldier Field in Chicago on Thursday. (Daniel Bartel-Imagn Images)

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Her amazing rebound in Paris, following her well-chronicled troubles at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, earned her the runner-up spot for AP Female Athlete of the Year honors, just behind WNBA star Caitlin Clark.

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After one of the most historic seasons in golf in 2024, 2025 will not get off to an ideal start for Scottie Scheffler.

The reigning PGA Player of the Year and No. 1 golfer in the world will miss next week’s Sentry tournament after he underwent hand surgery.

In a statement released Friday, Scheffler’s manager, Blake Smith, said Scheffler “sustained a puncture wound … from broken glass” in his right hand on Christmas Day preparing dinner.

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“Small glass fragments remained in the palm, which required surgery. He has been told that he should be back to 100% in three to four weeks,” Smith said, adding Scheffler has officially withdrawn from The Sentry.

Scheffler’s next scheduled tournament is the American Express, which begins Jan. 16. This year, the Sentry is labeled a signature event, the first of eight.

Scheffler’s injury comes months after he completed one of the greatest seasons the PGA has ever seen. He kicked off his season with four top 10 finishes in his first five tournaments. Then, he kicked into another gear. He had four wins and tied for second in his next five events. He won the Arnold Palmer Invitational, The Players, the RBC Heritage and the Masters.

Scottie Scheffler tees off on the fourth hole during the third round of the Presidents Cup Sept. 28, 2024.  (Eric Bolte/Imagn Images)

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His season took a wild turn in May, though, when he was arrested while headed to the second round of the PGA Championship at Valhalla. He spent time in a jail cell before casually shooting a 66 later in the day. He finished tied for eighth in the tournament.

Scheffler then won the Memorial and Travelers in June and then won Olympic gold in Paris. Including the Olympics, Scheffler posted eight wins, two second-place finishes, 17 top 10 finishes and zero missed cuts in 20 events. His seven victories in PGA events are the most since 2007.

Scottie Scheffler plays a shot from the sixth tee during the third round of the Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands June 22, 2024, in Cromwell, Conn. (Andy Lyons/Getty Images)

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With a $25 million payday from winning the FedEx Cup, Scheffler’s prize money for the 2024 season was over $54 million, by far the most ever won in one season. 

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South Carolina’s attorney general is leading a legal battle over gender pronoun rules in the U.S.’s public school districts. 

AG Alan Wilson appeared on “The Faulkner Focus” on Friday to explain how some gender pronoun rules in school districts threaten free speech. 

The case started with a school district outside Columbus, Ohio, that adopted policies requiring everyone to use a student’s preferred pronouns, which parental rights groups challenged and lost in both the district and appeals courts. Now, Ohio and South Carolina are leading 23 states in a legal battle, claiming the action “reflects the unusually egregious government action here” and, “The First Amendment forbids school officials from coercing students to express messages inconsistent with the student’s values.”

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Wilson, who is co-leading the legal fight, said local school districts across the country, like the one in Ohio, are compelling students “to lie to violate their own personal viewpoints.”

“That is something that we cannot abide in Ohio, South Carolina or any state in this country,” he said. “Yes, the lawsuit has gotten struck down, or we have lost at the district court and the court of appeals level, but this is one of those cases that I think is best served by going to the US Supreme Court.” 

Wilson pointed out that in 1969, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that teachers and students don’t shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate, but argues that the school district in Ohio is trying to force all students to say things that many might not believe in.

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“Parental rights groups are doing what I think groups around the country are all doing, and it’s trying to protect their children from being compelled to not only violate their First Amendment rights inside the schoolhouse, but this policy, the one in Ohio in particular, would do the same thing outside of school,” he said.  

“If you were at a mall on a Saturday or you were texting a friend or putting something on X or Twitter or whatever, you could be penalized when you showed up at school on Monday morning for using the wrong pronoun that someone found offensive,” he added. 

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Saquon Barkley needs 268 yards rushing his final two games to become the NFL’s new single-season rushing champion, and the current record holder is hoping Barkley misses the mark.

Barkley has proven to be the best signing of the offseason after the Philadelphia Eagles inked him to a three-year deal after six seasons with the division rival New York Giants.

Barkley has put himself in the league MVP conversation, averaging 122.5 rushing yards per game and taking the Birds to another level.

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Barkley would need to average 134 yards per game the last two weeks to break the record, a number he has notched six times this season already.

Eric Dickerson set the record of 2,105 yards in 1984, and the Los Angeles Rams legend admits he wants to remain the king.

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“I don’t think he’ll break it. But if he breaks it, he breaks it. Do I want him to break it? Absolutely not,”  Dickerson told the Los Angeles Times this week. “I don’t pull no punches on that.”

Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley walks to the bench during the second half against the Washington Commanders Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024, in Landover, Md.  (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Dickerson set the record in 16 games, so Barkley has one extra contest to break the record. Dickerson doesn’t mind that too much.

“I’m not whining about it. He had 17 games to do it? Hey, football is football. That’s the way I look at it. If he’s fortunate to get over 2,000 yards and get the record, it’s a great record to have,” he continued.

Barkley’s mostly likely chance to break the record will come against his former team, which Dickerson said would be “a true slap in the face.”

Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley (26) runs with the ball against the Carolina Panthers during the first quarter at Lincoln Financial Field. (Bill Streicher/Imagn Images)

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Barkley is on pace to become the ninth player to rush for 2,000 yards in a season. The other eight all did it in 16-game seasons, including the most recent, Derrick Henry, four years ago.

Guatemala may accept more foreign nationals deported from the United States by the incoming Trump administration in an effort to strengthen ties to the U.S., according to a report.

Officials who spoke to Reuters said Guatemala is willing to receive deported citizens of other Central American countries – such as Nicaragua, Venezuela and Haiti – which have strained relationships with the U.S. and have not accepted deportees in the past. 

“There has to be a regional response,” one Guatemalan official told Reuters. “And we want to be part of the solution.”

The expectation is that Trump will keep his campaign promise to begin the largest mass deportation of illegal immigrants in American history, and Guatemala wants to be in the president’s favor throughout that process. The officials are bracing for deportations to increase in the fall, reasoning that it will take time for the Trump administration ramp up its operations, according to Reuters. 

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“We aren’t ready for it, but we know it’s coming,” a second Guatemalan government official told the outlet.

Guatemala currently receives 14 deportation flights per week under President Biden’s administration. 

The Trump transition team did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

Trump’s team has reportedly reached out to other Central and South American countries to gauge their appetite for accepting deportations from the U.S. Several governments, including Mexico and the Bahamas, have said they do not want to take in foreign nationals from third countries.

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A migrant woman speaks with family members as she is processed by staff of the Guatemalan Immigration Institute after arriving on deportation flights from the United States and Mexico, in Guatemala City, Guatemala, on January 23, 2024. (Reuters/Cristina Chiquin/File Photo)

In 2022, more than 40% of illegal immigrants living in the U.S. came from Mexico, amounting to 4.8 million of 11 million overall, according to a U.S. Department of Homeland Security report. That was followed by Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras, which together accounted for over one-fifth of the total.

Guatemala has reportedly been proactive in courting the incoming Trump administration, relative to neighbors El Salvador and Honduras, according to Reuters. Trump transition team members have met with Guatemalan officials, including Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., before he was nominated to serve as secretary of state, along with several employees from the conservative Heritage Foundation think tank who specialize in immigration, border security, drug trafficking and policy towards China.

Guatemala would prioritize Guatemalans for re-integration, the second official said, adding that every country should take responsibility for its citizens, but also highlighting a regional pact among Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua and El Salvador that allows free movement.

The hope is that deportees from the U.S. would put skills learned in the states to work in Guatemala’s private sector.

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A police officer stands guard as Guatemalan migrants walk after arriving at La Aurora Air Force Base on a deportation flight from the U.S., in Guatemala City, Guatemala, November 8, 2024. (Reuters/Josue Decavele/File Photo)

“These are people who have worked in construction, in the service industry, in various sectors, and many speak English. We want to harness that,” the official said.

Officials who spoke to Reuters also noted that more deportations could put pressure on Guatemala’s economy.

Remittances, or money sent home by Guatemalan workers in the U.S., account for about 20% of the country’s GDP. 

In 2023, remittances made up 24% of El Salvador’s gross domestic product and nearly 30% of Honduras’ GDP.

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Officials told Reuters they were not immediately worried about the economic impact of a decline in remittances, but shared concerns over Trump’s proposed tariff hikes or increased taxes on remittances.

“We don’t have a financial plan yet, there are just too many unknowns,” said the second official.

Reuters contributed to this report.