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WTF! 9 people dead, 27 injured, in another mass shooting in Dayton Ohio

WTF! 9 people dead, 27 injured, in another mass shooting in Dayton Ohio

(CNN)Nine people were killed and at least 27 injured Sunday in a shooting in a popular nightclub district of downtown Dayton, Ohio, police say.Officers killed the lone suspect after he fired for less than a minute from a “.223 high-capacity” gun, and he had additional magazines with him, Mayor Nan Whaley said. The .223 caliber is used in rifles like the AR-15 assault rifle used in previous mass shootings.

Witnesses comfort one another at the scene of a mass shooting in Dayton, Ohio.Deb Decker, public information officer for Montgomery County, said the shooter used an assault rifle.The event followed by 13 hours a shooting that left 20 dead in El Paso, Texas.The Dayton shooting took place about 1 a.m. on East Fifth Street in the city’s Oregon District, Dayton Deputy Director and Assistant Chief of Police Lt. Col. Matt Carper said early Sunday morning.FOLLOW LIVE UPDATESThe gunman was identified as Connor Betts, 24, according to local and federal law enforcement sources. The FBI and local law enforcement served a search warrant at his family home in Bellbrook, Ohio.Brad Howard, a friend of Betts’, said he was quiet and kept to himself.”He was a really nice kid,” Howard told CNN affiliate WHIO. The two grew up together, he said, and knew each other for more than 20 years.Betts and Howard would talk music and pop culture, he said.”It’s a kick in the teeth” to the Bellbrook neighborhood, Howard said.

He wore body armor

Carper said the shooter fired multiple rounds from “a very large gun, in technical terms.” The shooting happened as the suspect was making his way toward a bar called Ned Peppers, Decker said.What we know about the shooting in Dayton, OhioSomeone from Ned Peppers grabbed the barrel of the rifle, and the shooter “picked up a handgun and was willing to continue shooting,” Decker said, when police arrived and killed the shooter.The shooter wore body armor, she said.No officers were injured, Carper said.

Authorities work the scene Sunday morning in Dayton.”In less than one minute, Dayton first responders neutralized the shooter,” Whaley said.”I really want to — think about that minute. The shooter was able to kill nine people and injure 26 in less than a minute. And if we did not have police in the Oregon District and the thousands of people in the Oregon District enjoying their Saturday evening, what we could have had in this city,” Whaley said.”The question has to be raised, why does Dayton have to be the 250th mass shooting this year?”Police believe that the suspect acted alone and that there is no remaining threat to the community, but the investigation is ongoing, Carper said, and the FBI is assisting. The motive for the shooting was not immediately clear.

‘Bodies all over the place’

Graham Hunter, 24, of Dayton said he and four friends arrived just as the incident was over and immediately came upon the body of the shooter outside.”Everyone was panicking and running around,” Hunter said. “After the shooter was dead, everyone was just crying and stuff,” and he saw “bodies all over the place.”A police officer told him and his friends to go into Ned Peppers.He said he and his friends consider the area a safe, fun place to hang out on weekends, where many people walk around outdoors and enjoy patios at restaurants and bars.”It’s a nice spot,” he said. “It’s where everyone goes to hang out.”The district will be open Sunday afternoon, the mayor said.A vigil is planned for 8 p.m. at a location to be named.

A deadly end to a deadly week in America

The shooting in Dayton was the fourth similar incident across the country in the past week. At least 34 people were killed in total.Saturday morning In El Paso, 20 people were killed and 26 injured when a gunman opened fire at a shopping center. Authorities are investigating a racist, anti-immigrant scree they believe was posted by the suspect.He has been identified by three sources as Patrick Crusius, a 21-year-old white man from Allen, Texas.

Tuesday in Mississippi, a shooting at a Walmart left two employees dead and a police officer wounded.On July 28, when a 19-year-old man wearing tactical gear opened fire at at the Gilroy Garlic Festival in California, killing three people, including two children.

Hospitals respond to influx of wounded

The mayor said 27 people were treated at hospitals and 15 had been released by about 10 a.m. ET Sunday.Elizabeth Long, spokeswoman at Kettering Health Network, which operates several Dayton-area hospitals including Kettering Medical Center and Grandview Medical Center, said 13 people were taken to three of the network’s hospitals, many with gunshot wounds to the “lower extremities.”At least one person was shot in the abdomen, and at least two people were taken into surgery. She did not give an age range for the injured.Miami Valley Hospital received 14 patients, plus two others across its health system, emergency physician Dr. Randy Marriott said.Twelve had been treated and released by 10 a.m. ET Sunday.Most of the injuries were gunshot wounds, but there were others, like cuts received while people were fleeing the scene.”At this point, we can say we’ve had one critical, four admitted, none have gone to surgery,” Marriott said.Most people arrived via ambulance or police car, but several others arrived on foot or by personal vehicle later, Marriott said.

Congressman’s daughter was in the area

Dayton-based US Rep. Mike Turner tweeted that his daughter and a friend had just entered a bar across the street when the shooting began. “As they ran home, I followed their progress & prayed for them & our community. Thank you to @DaytonPolice for their bravery in stopping this evil.”

My daughter & a family friend had just entered the Tumbleweed Connection when the shooting began across the street. Both reported of the visible @DaytonPolice presence before the shooting and the bravery they witnessed as officers ran toward the gun shots.

— US Rep. Mike Turner (@RepMikeTurner) August 4, 2019

Gov. Mike DeWine said in a statement that he was “absolutely heartbroken” and ordered flags flown at half-staff.US Rep. Marcia Fudge, D-Ohio, tweeted, “It is beyond time for our leaders to do what is necessary to enact laws that keep guns out of the hands of people wishing to do harm. This has to stop. #EnoughIsEnough #EndGunViolence”

My heart is heavy after hearing the news of another shooting, this time in Dayton, Ohio – 13 hours following the El Paso shooting that robbed 20 innocent people of their lives. Sending prayers to the victims, their families, law enforcement and the entire Dayton community.

— Rep. Marcia L. Fudge (@RepMarciaFudge) August 4, 2019

President Donald Trump tweeted, “The FBI, local and state law enforcement are working together in El Paso and in Dayton, Ohio. Information is rapidly being accumulated in Dayton. Much has already be learned in El Paso. Law enforcement was very rapid in both instances. Updates will be given throughout the day!”

The FBI, local and state law enforcement are working together in El Paso and in Dayton, Ohio. Information is rapidly being accumulated in Dayton. Much has already be learned in El Paso. Law enforcement was very rapid in both instances. Updates will be given throughout the day!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 4, 2019

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20 people dead in El Paso shooting, 26 injured Texas governor says!

20 people dead in El Paso shooting, 26 injured Texas governor says!

(CNN)Twenty people were killed and more than two dozen were injured in a mass shooting at an El Paso shopping center on Saturday, according to Texas and local authorities.”Lives were taken who should still be with us today,” Gov. Greg Abbott said at a news conference.Twenty-six people were injured, according to El Paso Police Chief Greg Allen.What we know about the shooting in El Paso, Texas“The ages and genders of all these people injured and killed are numerous in the age groups,” Allen said. “The situation, needless to say, is a horrific one.”A 21-year-old white man from Allen, Texas, is in police custody, Allen said. Authorities are looking at potentially bringing capital murder charges against him.FOLLOW LIVE UPDATESThe case also has a “nexus to a potential hate crime,” he said.”Right now, we have a manifesto from this individual that indicates to some degree a nexus to a potential hate crime,” Allen said.FBI El Paso Special Agent in Charge Emmerson Buie said more investigative work was needed before determining whether there was a possible hate crime.

Authorities on the scene of a shooting at a Walmart near Cielo Vista Mall in El Paso.CNN reported the suspect is 21-year-old Patrick Crusius of Allen, just outside Dallas, according to three sources.Two federal law enforcement sources and one state government source confirmed the suspect’s identity. The federal sources said investigators are reviewing an online writing posted days before the shooting that may speak to a motive.The online posting was believed to be written by Crusius, the sources said, but that has not been confirmed.

‘This was a massacre’

The first call of an active shooter went out at 10:39 a.m. local time, Allen said. The first officer arrived on scene six minutes later.El Paso Police Sgt. Robert Gomez previously told reporters police were initially given multiple possible locations for the shooting, at a Walmart and the Cielo Vista Mall next door.

WalmartCielo Vista Mall

“This is a large crime scene, a large area,” Gomez said of the scene Saturday afternoon.Multiple agencies responded to the scene, including the FBI, the sheriff’s department, the state Department of Public Safety and Border Patrol.The crime scene will “be in play for a long period,” Allen said. “Unfortunately, the deceased will remain at the scene until the scene is processed properly for evidentiary purposes to be gathered for later prosecution.”

El Paso Police Department Sgt. Robert Gomez briefs media on a shooting that occurred at a Walmart.Officials from two local hospitals said they had received at least 23 people.Thirteen people were taken to University Medical Center of El Paso, spokesman Ryan Mielke told CNN, and one of them has died. Two children with non-life-threatening injuries were transferred to a children’s medical facility, Mielke said.Eleven victims were transported to the Del Sol Medical Center, hospital spokesman Victor Guerrero said. Nine are in critical but stable condition, he said.At least two of the patients are in a “life-threatening predicament,” according to Del Sol Medical Center Dr. Stephen Flaherty. He said the patients ranged in age from 25 to 82. Two are in stable condition, he said, and seven required emergency operations.”This was a massacre,” US Rep. Veronica Escobar, who represents the area, told CNN. Escobar has received conflicting reports on the numbers of casualties, she said, but added, “The numbers are shocking.”

Footage shows people lying on the ground outside Walmart

Walmart issued a statement regarding the shooting, saying, “We’re in shock over the tragic events at Cielo Vista Mall in El Paso. … We’re praying for the victims, the community & our associates, as well as the first responders.”Inside the mall, crowds hid inside stores after hearing reports of an active shooter, according to 26-year-old Brandon Chavez, an employee at Forever 21.Chavez had just started his shift when he saw customers and staff members running to the stock room to take shelter.”There were about 20 children and adults, plus employees, hiding, all cramped like sardines,” he told CNN. “Most of us were desperate, some were on their phones. There were girls crying, people trying to talk to each other and women with babies in their arms.”

Shoppers exit with their hands up after a shooting in El Paso, Texas, on Saturday.Store employees had closed the glass doors but he could see police officers walking around the mall and evacuating people from other stores.After police officers knocked on the store’s doors, Chavez said his group had to leave the store, forming a line with their hands up and running.In a shaky Snapchat video aired by CNN, a woman holding the camera frantically runs with a small group of girls or women through a mall department store and into a parking lot.As the group hurries past racks of clothes and cases of merchandise, voices off camera shout, “Hands up!”Once in the parking lot, one member of the group asks, “What happened?””I don’t know,” the woman holding the camera responds. “I don’t know.”Another video, shot from outside the Walmart, showed people lying on the ground, some of them next to a table set up by the store’s entrance.

Authorities respond to an active shooter at a Walmart near Cielo Vista Mall in El Paso.”There’s a man lying down at the stand that a school set up,” the man holding the camera says in Spanish.”Help!” a man screams in English.”We need CPR,” someone else says. “We need CPR.”

‘Our community will heal,’ mayor says

Mayor Dee Margo said Saturday evening that his city would rise above this “senseless and evil act of violence.””We will be defined by the unity and compassion we showed in the wake of this tragedy,” he said. “United, our community will heal.”Nowhere was that spirit more on display than at blood donation centers. Authorities had said donations were urgently needed, and said if local residents wanted to help, they should make appointments to do so.Frances Yepez, waiting in line at one blood donation center, said the center was at max capacity and dozens of people were waiting to make appointments for Sunday or Monday.”It’s easy to make a dollar, but it’s harder to make a difference,” she said. “So I get out there and do whatever I can do to help.”She said the mood there was somber, and she could hear sniffling as the crowd of people learned updates over the television.

White House pledges ‘total support’

President Donald Trump has been briefed on the shooting, and the White House is monitoring the situation, deputy press secretary Steven Groves said in a statement.”Terrible shootings in El Paso, Texas,” the President tweeted Saturday afternoon. “Reports are very bad, many killed. Working with State and Local authorities, and Law Enforcement. Spoke to Governor to pledge total support of Federal Government. God be with you all!”

Terrible shootings in ElPaso, Texas. Reports are very bad, many killed. Working with State and Local authorities, and Law Enforcement. Spoke to Governor to pledge total support of Federal Government. God be with you all!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 3, 2019

Democratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke, who once represented the area in Congress, addressed the shooting while at a speaking event in Las Vegas.”We know there is a lot of injury, a lot of suffering in El Paso right now,” he said. “I am incredibly sad and it is very hard to think about this.””But I’ll tell you, El Paso is the strongest place in the world,” he added. “This community is going to come together.”O’Rourke said he would be cutting short his trip to Las Vegas to return to El Paso.Gov. Abbott tweeted late Saturday afternoon that he had arrived in El Paso.”Texans grieve today for the people of this wonderful place. We united in support of all the victims. We thank First Responders for their swift action,” the governor said. “We ask God to bind up the wounds of all who’ve been harmed.”The scene was unfolding in the same week two employees were fatally shot at a Walmart store in Southaven, Mississippi, and three people were shot and killed at the Gilroy Garlic Festival in California.

CNN’s Josh Campbell, Evan Perez, Ed Lavandera, Theresa Waldrop, Artemis Moshtaghian, Shawn Nottingham and Jay Croft contributed to this report.

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A Louisiana Man Killed 3 ‘Random Victims’ in Two Days, Authorities Say

A Louisiana Man Killed 3 ‘Random Victims’ in Two Days, Authorities Say

A Louisiana Man Killed 3 ‘Random Victims’ in Two Days, Authorities Say. Investigators with the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office at the scene of a double killing in Metairie, La., on Tuesday.CreditMichael Democker/The Times-Picayune, via Associated Press

Investigators with the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office at the scene of a double killing in Metairie, La., on Tuesday.CreditCreditMichael Democker/The Times-Picayune, via Associated Press

A Louisiana man has been accused of fatally shooting three people in a neighborhood just outside New Orleans this week in what appeared to be random attacks, the authorities said Wednesday, adding that he was also a suspect in a killing in the city earlier this month.

The suspect, Sean Barrette, 22, was arrested Tuesday at his home in Metairie, a community just west of New Orleans where the three killings took place, said Joseph P. Lopinto, the sheriff for Jefferson Parish.

“This was a subject that went around and was shooting indiscriminately,” Sheriff Lopinto said at a news conference on Wednesday. “We’re talking about random victims. We’ve not been able to identify any connection between the victims and the suspect himself.”

The killings in Metairie took place on Monday and Tuesday. The police were able to home in on Mr. Barrette after they found his cellphone near the scene of the first shooting, the authorities said.

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On Wednesday, Mr. Barrette was being held at the Jefferson Parish Correctional Center on two counts of first-degree murder, one count of second-degree murder and two counts of obstruction of justice.

“We don’t really have a motive,” Sheriff Lopinto said. He added that Mr. Barrette “has had a history of mental problems. Recently, he had two physician emergency committals, one being in December of 2018 and another one in April of 2019.”

Capt. Jason Rivarde, a spokesman for the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office, said in an email that there was “nothing to indicate race was a motivating factor.” In Metairie, two of the victims were Hispanic and one was white; in New Orleans, the victim was black. Mr. Barrette is white.

The first shooting victim this week, Isai Cadalzo, 22, was found in his car in Metairie on Monday night.

On Tuesday afternoon, reports of another shooting came in. Two men in a vehicle in Metairie had been killed: Manuel Caronia, 45, and Nicky Robeau, 57. Witnesses told the authorities that a tan sport-utility vehicle had been involved.

As the authorities investigated, they found links to a fatal shooting that had taken place in New Orleans on June 6. The victim was identified as Bruce Reed, 61. Witnesses at the time had reported seeing a tan sport-utility vehicle, and the casings found in New Orleans matched the ones found after the Metairie shootings, Sheriff Lopinto said.Sean Barrette, 22, a resident of Metairie, La., is being held in jail in connection with three killings this week. He’s also a suspect in a June 6 killing in New Orleans.CreditJefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office, via Associated Press

A Louisiana Man Killed 3 ‘Random Victims’ in Two Days, Authorities Say

Sean Barrette, 22, a resident of Metairie, La., is being held in jail in connection with three killings this week. He’s also a suspect in a June 6 killing in New Orleans.CreditJefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office, via Associated Press

Calls to the New Orleans Police Department on Wednesday evening were not immediately returned.

As the authorities were surveilling Mr. Barrette’s residence in Metairie on Tuesday, he arrived in a tan sport-utility vehicle.

“Our SWAT team was activated and used to take Barrette into custody without incident,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement. “After obtaining warrants for the vehicle and residence, we were able to recover forensic evidence that links Barrette to both incidents.”

Included in that evidence was a handgun — a .40-caliber Smith & Wesson — that the authorities found at the bottom of Mr. Barrette’s laundry basket.

A lawyer for Mr. Barrette declined to comment but said that a bond and preliminary examination hearing was set for July 10.

Melissa Ann Romero, a daughter of Mr. Robeau, one of the victims, said her father, a truck driver, was a “fun-loving man. Hard-working man. Dedicated to his family. Didn’t do anything wrong.”

She added that she was thankful to the authorities who tracked down Mr. Barrette. “I did think they did a good job at apprehending the suspect and getting him as fast as they did,” she said.

Metairie, which sits on the northeastern edge of Jefferson Parish, is about 15 minutes from downtown New Orleans.

“It basically serves as a business district,” Terrie Birkel, the vice president of the Jefferson Convention and Visitors Bureau, said in an interview on Wednesday. “A lot of commerce. Many corporations are located within the ZIP code of Metairie.”

Ms. Birkel described the area as busy. “It’s a very highly trafficked area,” she said. “That area is a mix of residential, commercial businesses, auto dealerships, as well as schools. Very large, diverse area.”

Homicides in the Jefferson Parish area are on the decline. There were 44 homicides in 2016, 31 in 2017 and 24 in 2018, according to crime statistics from the sheriff’s office. The most recent data shows there were 12 homicides in the first four months of 2019.

Captain Rivarde of the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office said this case — with three killed, apparently randomly, in two days — was rare.

“We’re probably the largest law enforcement agency in Louisiana, and I’ve never seen anything like this,” he said.

A Louisiana Man Killed 3 ‘Random Victims’ in Two Days, Authorities Say

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Woman Was Arrested For Turning In Her Husband’s Guns After He Was Charged With Abusing Her!

Woman Was Arrested For Turning In Her Husband’s Guns After He Was Charged With Abusing Her!

A 33-year-old woman from Lakeland, Florida, was arrested for trying to turn her estranged husband’s firearms in to the police after he’d been charged with domestic violence and attempting to run her over with his car.

Courtney Irby was charged with two counts of grand theft of a firearm and one count of armed burglary last week. She spent five days in jail.

According to an affidavit obtained by BF News, Courtney collected all of her estranged husband Joseph Irby’s firearms at his home while he was under police custody, and brought them into the Lakeland Police Department.

When an officer questioned Courtney about how she obtained the guns, she told him, “Well, he was arrested yesterday for trying to run me over with his car, and he is now in jail. So I went to his apartment since he is in jail and I searched his apartment for the guns I knew he had and I took them.”

The officer, Brent Behrens, stated that he proceeded to question her to confirm that she entered Joseph’s home without his permission. “So you are telling me you committed an armed burglary?” he said.

“Yes I am, but he wasn’t going to turn them in so I am doing it,” she then responded, according to Behrens. Courtney proceeded to tell Behrens that she has a temporary injunction against her ex, and that she knew he would not turn in his firearms himself — as reportedly mandated by a judge’s orders.

According to Joseph’s arrest record from the day prior on June 14, Courtney told an officer of the Bartow Police Department that her husband was repeatedly “ramming” his car into hers, and eventually off the road. She said she was “in fear for her life.” Behrens stated that on June 15, he “determined [Courtney] committed the Act of Armed Burglary” when she admitted to retrieving the guns from her ex’s residence, and charged and booked her at Polk County Jail.

Woman Was Arrested For Turning In Her Husband’s Guns After He Was Charged With Abusing Her!

The affidavit stated that Behrens contacted Joseph following his arrest of his wife. Joseph said he wanted to pursue charges as she “did not have permission to enter his dwelling and remove his firearms.”

Online and across the country, Courtney’s story has drawn confused and contentious reactions from citizens and lawmakers. Specifically, people are angry the Lakeland Police Department chose to arrest Courtney without consideration of other critical factors for her actions.

@LakelandPD Who was supposed to turn in the firearms in the #CourtneyIrby case? Did you expect her abusive husband, with a violent and aggressive record, to go to his apartment alone, get his guns, and bring them to you? I hope you realize this is absurd.

— Salt Mine (@SaltMine10) June 22, 2019

Some are demanding they drop the charges against her.

@LakelandChamber Why would any decent person with a choice spend their hard earned money in a town where the cops value a violent man’s gun stash over a woman’s safety? Tell @LakelandPD to drop the charges against #CourtneyIrby.

— Randy Childs (@RandyMathHippie) June 21, 2019

After hearing about what happened, Florida state Rep. Anna Eskamani (D-Orlando) spoke out in support of Courtney and her decision. “I cannot stress enough the importance of keeping guns out of the hands of domestic abusers, and empowering our survivors to ask for help — not arrest them,” she tweeted on Tuesday.

I cannot stress enough the importance of keeping guns out of the hands of domestic abusers, and empowering our survivors to ask for help — not arrest them. https://t.co/qWyCyIpDdS

— Rep. Anna V. Eskamani 🔨 (@AnnaForFlorida) June 25, 2019

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7 people found killed in 2 homes in Tennessee; suspect captured!

A suspect was taken into custody after seven people were killed in two separate homes over the weekend in Tennessee, authorities said.

Officials with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) responded to a home Saturday night on Charles Brown Road in Sumner County, where initially four people were found dead.

A fifth victim – a woman — was found in another residence on Luvy Daniels Road, authorities said. The woman lived at the home and her car was stolen, Sumner County District Attorney Ray Whitley told ABC News. It is unclear whether she had a connection to the suspect.

Two more bodies were later found at the Charles Brown Road home, authorities announced Sunday afternoon. One of the victims found at that scene was 12 years old, Whitley said.

UPDATE: Our Forensic Scientists, processing the scene on Charles Brown Road, have found a sixth body in the home. This brings the total to seven deaths and one critical injury. Efforts to identify the victims remain ongoing at this time. pic.twitter.com/8LU6cV9MhF— TBI (@TBInvestigation) April 28, 2019

The victims have not been identified. Another person at the initial scene was injured and transported to the hospital.

Police identified a suspect Saturday and launched a manhunt in which as many as 150 law enforcement agents fanned out across the surrounding rural area to search for 25-year-old Michael Cummins. Authorities also warned residents that he may be armed.

PERSON OF INTEREST: We are working to locate Michael Cummins in connection to the multiple homicides we are investigating in Sumner County.  He may be in the woods in the area near the scene and may be armed. If you spot him, call 911 immediately. pic.twitter.com/4MEelTIpyB— TBI (@TBInvestigation) April 28, 2019

Devine said a search plane flying over the region spotted an individual in a wooded area and sent officers to the location.

“He was found in a remote area very close to the scene where these events occurred,” Josh Devine, communications director for TBI, said Saturday night.

Cummins was hiding in a creek bed and drew his weapon as the officers approached, authorities said.

Police opened fire and struck Cummins at least once. He was later taken into custody and transported to a local hospital, police said.

He is expected to survive.

No officers were injured, authorities said.

Cummins is awaiting charges for the alleged shooting, authorities said.

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CA mom who allegedly locked special needs son in closet for 3 years, sedating and starving him until he died, faces key hearing in Los Angeles!

Verónica Aguilar (right) continued her preliminary hearing on whether there’s enough evidence to send her to trial for the murder of her 10-year-old son Yonatan (left).

The disturbing case of the California mom who allegedly sedated her special-needs son and locked him in a closet for three years, causing his death, was back in a Los Angeles courtroom Wednesday.

Verónica Aguilar, 42, continued her preliminary hearing on whether there’s enough evidence to send her to trial for the murder of her 10-year-old son Yonatan.

The boy was found dead Aug. 22, 2016, after his stepfather called police. Authorities say little Yonatan showed signs of severe malnutrition and neglect.

In testimony Tuesday, a detective with the Los Angeles Police Department said Yonatan weighed only 34 pounds at the time of his death.

“I saw a very gaunt, frail-looking child, who at that time to me looked like a 5-, 6- or 7-year-old boy,” LAPD Det. Abel Munoz testified, according to ABC 7.

Aguilar allegedly told the boy’s stepfather she sent Yonatan back to Mexico for treatment and then somehow successfully concealed the boy’s presence in the family’s one-bedroom house in Echo Park.

Sister is questioned about her dead 11 yr old brother Yonatan: “Are you happy that he is dead? “ Answer“No.” “Are you SAD that he is dead?” A – “No.” She recounts troubling behavior. The child eating ants. More ahead about Yonatan being kept in a closet.@ABC7Courts pic.twitter.com/25eNy2eJ8h— Miriam Hernandez (@abc7miriam) June 19, 2019

Stepdad Jose Pinzon testified this week that he had no idea the boy was still in the family home and that his wife would “cry a lot,” ABC 7 reported.

He claimed he never saw any signs of the child because he worked 18 hours a day and slept in an area separate from his wife and the other kids in the house, according to ABC 7.

Pinzon also testified he was shocked and despondent when his wife finally told him the boy was dead in the bedroom closet.

Aguilar allegedly fed Yonatan an alcohol-based cold medicine that made him sleepy and easier to deal with, the news station said.

When the hearing concludes, a judge will decide whether Aguilar should face a jury in the case.

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Pennsylvania nightclub shooting injures 10, police say!

Police look for evidence early Thursday, June 20, 2019, in Allentown, Pa., following a shooting outside a nightclub. The street shooting in eastern Pennsylvania that left 10 people wounded early Thursday is likely to be gang-related, authorities said. (Photo: Rich Rolen,The Morning Call, AP)

At least 10 people were wounded early Thursday in an apparent gang-related shooting as three gunmen opened fire on patrons leaving a nightclub in Allentown, Pennsylvania, according to police.

Allentown police Capt. Bill Lake said all the victims were expected to survive, according to The Morning Call newspaper and WFMZ.

Authorities believe there were three shooters.

“It appears that at least one individual was a target,” Lehigh County District Attorney Jim Martin and Allentown Police Chief Tony Alsleben said in a statement. “Although not confirmed, in our opinion based upon investigative information … it is more likely than not that the outcome of the investigation will reveal a connection to gang violence.”

Tashana Santiago, a witness who lives near the Deja Vu club, told the newspaper that many in the frightened crowd ran to a nearby shopping center as shots rang out just before 2 a.m. EST. After the last few shots were fired, Santiago said, she heard a car speeding away.

“When everything went silent all you could hear is the screaming and panicking,” Santiago told the Morning Call. “All I could think was someone is dying.”

Contributing: Associated Press More to come will be updated soon….

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Man holds women CAPTIVE for two decades! He also impregnated her nine times found guilty by federal jury!

MUSKOGEE, Okla. (KFSM) — A federal jury on Thursday (June 6) convicted an Oklahoma man of kidnapping his step-daughter in 1997 and holding her hostage for the next 20 years while he raped and abused her.

Henri Michele Piette, 63, was found guilty in U.S. District Court of kidnapping and travel with intent to engage in a sexual act with a juvenile.

“The victim endured two decades of horrific abuse by the defendant. Her courage led her to escape and rescue her children and allowed investigators and prosecutors to seek justice on her behalf. Ultimately her courage ended the defendant’s reign of terror,” said U.S. attorney Brian J. Kuester.

“I know this verdict cannot heal the countless wounds inflicted by the defendant. It should prevent him from ever inflicting more.”

Rosalynn Michelle McGinnis, now in her 30s, managed to escape from Piette in 2016 after being held captive by him for two decades in Mexico, according to KFOR.

5NEWS is only identifying McGinnis, a sexual assault survivor because she has spoken publicly about her case.

McGinnis’ mother was in a relationship with Piette in the 1990s when he began sexually abusing McGinnis while she lived in Wagoner County.

Henri Michele Piette

She told authorities that when she was 11, Piette took her to a van to marry her, having his oldest son, who was 15 at the time, perform the ceremony.

Piette’s son confirmed to investigators that his father had asked him to perform the ceremony. He said the “ceremony” consisted of him asking if Piette and McGinnis took each other in marriage.

Despite two attempts to escape, Piette was able to find the family. He kidnapped McGinnis from Poteau, then moved her throughout Oklahoma and eventually to Mexico, according to KFOR.

McGinnis said Piette beat and sexually assaulted her almost daily for years. He fathered eight children with her that span.

McGinnis told People magazine that she took eight of her nine children to the U.S. Embassy and obtained passports so they could enter the United States.

Once she made it to the United States, she immediately started meeting with federal officials and provided them with statements on what happened.

Federal officials interviewed Piette’s older children who confirmed they had witnessed him sexually abuse McGinnis.

Authorities were finally able to track Piette down in September 2017 when he visited the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City attempted to obtain a U.S. Passport.

“The FBI Oklahoma City Division, and the special agents who investigated this crime, hope that the guilty verdict delivered against Henri Piette will bring some sense of closure to those he inflicted immeasurable mental and physical abuse upon for over 20 years,” said Steven D’Antuono, acting special agent in charge of the FBI’s Oklahoma City Division.

“By bringing Mr. Piette to justice, the victims of his heinous acts can now begin the process of healing. The FBI is honored to have been a part of this long-term investigation alongside our federal, state, and local law enforcement partners.”

Piette faces up to live in federal prison. A sentencing hearing hasn’t been set.

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A Former Cop Was Sentenced To 12 And A Half Years In Prison For Fatally Shooting An Unarmed Australian Yoga Teacher

“Uber took my daughter past the point of no return.”

The family of a 12-year-old Florida girl who died by suicide after taking an Uber alone is demanding the ride-hailing company make changes to enforce its policy of not allowing minors to use the service without an adult.

On the morning of Jan. 10 while her parents were sleeping, Benita Diamond downloaded the Uber app on her mother’s phone and requested a ride to a downtown Orlando parking garage, where she killed herself.

“I believe that if the driver had questioned or followed the rules or denied a ride, my daughter would be here today,” the girl’s mother, Lisha Chen, said during a press conference Thursday.

Uber requires all account holders to be at least 18 years old and prohibits children from riding without an adult. Drivers are instructed to decline ride requests if they suspect the person requesting the ride is underage and may request ID to confirm, according to the company.

“If a rider is underage, please do not start the trip or allow them to ride,” Uber’s website states.

But, according to her family, the 12-year-old was able to create an account without her parents knowledge on Jan. 8, using just a name, an email address, and a gift card she received for Christmas. Two days later, an Uber driver picked up the 4-foot-11-inch seventh-grader and drove her to the City Commons Parking Garage.

“At no point was she asked her name, was she asked her age — no questions were asked why a little girl under 5 feet tall dragging a polka-dot backpack was out in the wee hours of the morning by herself,” the family’s attorney, Laura Douglas, said.

An Uber spokesperson said in an email to BuzzFeed News that the incident had not been reported to the company over the last six months and that it was now investigating and planned to “take appropriate action.”

The spokesperson said that when the company receives a report of an underage rider it investigates to determine whether the driver or account holder should lose access to the app.

“Drivers are asked to report situations where a rider is underage to Uber for further review/investigation by our 24/7 customer support team,” the spokesperson said.

Benita’s parents described their daughter as a happy child who excelled in school and at playing the piano and performing jujitsu. They said she did not have a history of behavioral issues or mental illness.

“Everybody was shocked because nobody suspected she had any problems,” Chen said, adding that they still don’t know why she killed herself.

Ronald Diamond, the girl’s father, said their daughter wrote in a suicide note that she thought she would have more difficulty getting an Uber and that she was “basically … past the point of no return now.”

“I think if Uber had followed their policy, without a doubt our daughter would still be here. That would have been the one red flag that we would have caught,” Diamond said. “Uber took my daughter past the point of no return.”

The family is considering filing a lawsuit against the company in the hopes that Uber will better enforce its policies and make changes to prevent minors from creating accounts.

“I want other families not to go through this,” the girl’s grandfather Richard Diamond said. “It’s not just about suicide. It’s about all the other things that horrific happen to young kids when they’re on their own.”

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Florida thief tries to rob ATM with blowtorch, ends up welding it shut

Officials with the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office say video surveillance shows two male suspects entering The Boardwalk on Okaloosa Island last week in the early morning hours of Friday.

One man, who appeared to be a lookout, was armed with a crowbar, while the other took the blowtorch to the ATM.

With the safe sealed shut, the pair left with nothing.

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A 600-pound drug dealer was sentence at court from an ambulance!

A 600lb drug dealer had to be sentenced in an ambulance that was designated as a courtroom because moving him from the vehicle would ‘endanger his health and well-being,’ an Ohio judge said. 

Kirk Lenell Smith, 42, pleaded guilty to cocaine trafficking and being a felon in possession of a gun on Wednesday outside the Hamilton County Courthouse. The sentencing occurred at the loading dock. 

Smith is believed to weigh more than 600 pounds and the decision to hold the proceedings outside were deemed the easiest by Common Pleas Judge Tom Heekin. 

Kirk Lenell Smith, 42, pleaded guilty to cocaine trafficking and being a felon in possession of a gun on Wednesday outside the Hamilton County Courthouse

‘Moving Kirk Smith from the ambulance would endanger his health and well-being,’ Heekin said as he read from a document, Cincinnati.com reports.

He was sentenced to two years in prison (mugshot from 2009)

He was sentenced to two years in prison (mugshot from 2009)

Heekin sentenced Smith – who had a blood oxygen monitor on his left index finger – to two years in prison.

The judge had one foot inside the ambulance as he spoke with Smith, with his court reporter setting up at the edge of the ambulance. 

Smith was only able to give brief answers that consisted of one or two words. And when asked if he wanted to make a statement, the man is said to have attempted to but was unable to speak. 

According to Sgt. Ryan Hudson with the Cincinnati Police Department, police first got information that Smith was selling drugs from his Hartwell residence in April 2018.   

‘We received a Crimestoppers tip and some information from the community that an individual up on Rosewood in Hartwell — the activity was consistent with drug trafficking,’ he explained to Local 12.

The ambulance took Smith from the courthouse to the prison after he was sentenced

The ambulance took Smith from the courthouse to the prison after he was sentenced

Police raided Smith’s home in April 2018 and found surveillance cameras, drugs and a gun that he was not allowed to own

Police raided Smith’s home in April 2018 and found surveillance cameras, drugs and a gun that he was not allowed to own

Police raided Smith’s home and found surveillance cameras, drugs and a gun that he was not allowed to own. They could not physically arrest him but did read him his rights. 

‘It was obvious that there were people running for him because he’s so large, as I mentioned 600 to 700 pounds, he wasn’t able to move around freely,’ said Hudson. ‘It made it kind of tough on us to maneuver or almost get him out of the house that particular day. In fact, it was impossible.’ 

A co-conspirator – named Isaac Collins – was convicted of trafficking in marijuana. 

Smith was taken straight to prison from the courthouse.  

They could not physically arrest him at the home but did read him his rights

They could not physically arrest him at the home but did read him his rights

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A Mississippi officer accused of sexually assaulting a minor has killed himself with another officer’s gun!

A Mississippi law enforcement officer accused of sexually assaulting a minor in his patrol car over a six-month period has killed himself with another officer’s gun, days after he was placed on administrative leave.

His body was discovered in a white Dodge Charger on Interstate 220 at 12.45pm on Monday – the same day a police conference was scheduled to detail the allegations against him. When asked if there was a connection between the two-hour highway closure, the Jackson Police Department spokesperson said at the time that it could not be confirmed.

James Hollins, 29, was removed from his duties this weekend pending an investigation into claims by the mother of a 15-year-old girl that her daughter was the victim of statutory rape. 

James Hollins died by suicide after allegations he sexually assaulted a 15-year-old girl in the back of his patrol car for six months emerged. He served in Afghanistan with the US Army

His body was discovered in a Dodge Charger on the Interstate 220 Monday 12.45pm

‘All matters involving assault we take very seriously. We want the family to understand that if at any point in time, there’s evidence of wrongdoing going on, we will not hesitate to take action,’ Sergeant Roderick Holmes had said in the press conference. 

The department said there would be an internal and criminal investigation into Hollins, who had been with them less than five years.

The body was later confirmed to be Hollins who had served in Afghanistan with the US Army.

He was found dead in his personal vehicle after having shot himself with another officer’s revolver. While officers placed on leave do not always have their weapon confiscated, this may have been the case for Hollins.

‘It’s not known to us now if the officer even knew their weapon had been taken in the moment,’ Mayor Lumumba told WBLT.

The Facebook account of a woman who also appears to be an officer with Jackson Police suggests Hollins is a father and that she has two children with him. 

The Jackson Police Department said there would be an internal and criminal investigation after the mother reported her daughter had been a statutory rape victim over the past six months

According to the lawyer of the victim’s family, the teen was approached by Hollins and he befriended her. The alleged abuse took place several times a week over the course of half a year before the child’s mother found out.

Attorney Lisa Ross said the mother was asked if she had evidence when she made the allegation and she responded yes in regards to the videos obtained.

Police viewed the videos and initial statements were taken from the victim.

Attorney Ross said about the sexually explicit videos on Monday: ‘You wouldn’t find anything worse on Pornhub.’

‘We plan to ask the United States Attorney’s Office and the Department of Justice to take over an investigation of a Jackson Police officer who has repeatedly sexually assaulted a minor,’ Ross said before Hollins’ death was confirmed.

‘What he did to this young girl was unconscionable and there’s no telling how many others are out there… We want people who have seen something to say something.’ 

The Facebook account of a woman who also appears to be an officer with Jackson Police suggests Hollins is a father and that she has two children with him. Hollins worked there less than five years

Ross reported the allegations to police on Saturday but has complained that Chief Davis ‘didn’t jump right out in front of this’. 

Mayor Lumumba said the police chief notified him that he had been presented with videos of the Hollins and his victim. The mayor said Chief Davis asked for permission to place Hollins on leave, which he granted.

Davis then contacted internal affairs and the department sent Hollins a letter, which he signed acknowledging the administrative leave.

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Husband of missing mom Jennifer Dulos, his girlfriend arrive in court

The estranged husband of a missing Connecticut mom and his girlfriend arrived in court Monday to face charges of tampering with evidence and hindering prosecution in what is now being called a homicide case.

Fotis Dulos, 51, was hauled into Norwalk Superior Court, shackled and under police guard, for his arraignment. He wore an orange prison jumpsuit and kept his head down to try to avoid the cameras.

His gal pal, Michelle Troconis, 44, was taken to court separately in a black police car. She was dressed in a blue and white shirt, black pants and sneakers and also kept her head bowed as she was led inside by police.

The pair was arrested Saturday night, more than a week after Dulos’ wife, mom of five Jennifer Dulos, 50, disappeared after dropping their kids off at school near her home in New Canaan.

Jennifer filed for divorce from her wealthy real estate developer hubby in 2017, and the pair have been embroiled in a vicious court and custody battle ever since.

Police sources have said they are treating the case as a homicide and have launched an interstate search for Jennifer’s body.

A large truck from the Connecticut State Police Major Crime Squad pulled up in front of the mansion that Fotis and Tronconis share in Farmington, Conn., on Monday morning, and detectives went inside.

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‘I gotta check on everybody else’: VB shooting witness recalls heroic moment of victim Ryan ‘Keith’ Cox

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) — Before he was known as one of the dozen victims killed in Friday’s mass shooting, Keith Cox was known as a hero.

Christi Dewar was one of the city employees at the Virginia Beach Municipal Center in Building 2 that was spared from the rampage — and she says she owes it to her late friend, Cox.

It began with popping sounds. Dewar says she thought it was the sound of construction. Special Coverage: Virginia Beach Mass Shooting

But then Dewar saw people running down the halls, yelling “active shooter!” She and seven other people began to run too. That’s when they came across Cox.

“He said ‘get in Lori’s office now. Barricade the office. Get in there.’ and I said ‘come on Keith’ and he said ‘I gotta check on everybody else.’ And we closed and locked the door and we pushed the cabinet up against the door and it was not too long after that DeWayne tried to come in and he fired four shots. And I looked out and two of the shots had almost come through the cabinet, the back of the cabinet,” said Christi.

Virginia Beach Police identified the shooting suspect as longtime city employee DeWayne Craddock, 40, who had submitted his resignation earlier that day.

After the gunfire stopped, Dewar says police came to escort them out of the building.

“They took us down the south stairwell. There was a body there and I didn’t know who it was, couldn’t tell. There’s so much blood everywhere and I started just shaking and crying, just heaving,” said Dewar. “The officer said ‘you’re strong, you can do this. You need to step over and come with me.’ I said ‘I can’t.’ He said ‘yes you can.’ I found out later that the person I had to step over was one of my friends Missy.”

After the shooting, Dewar reached out to Cox’s parents. She wanted to let them know how brave their son was.

Dewar said, “If it wasn’t for him there would have been several more people that had perished. He was a hero. A guardian angel that walked this earth that didn’t deserve to leave us so soon.”

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UPDATE: 13 dead, including gunman, in shooting at Virginia Beach Municipal Center

VIRGINIA BEACH

A longtime city employee shot and killed 12 people and injured at least four others after opening fire Friday afternoon in the public works building, making it the country’s deadliest mass shooting this year. 

Police said officers killed the man, whom they did not name, after he fired at them in the city’s scenic Municipal Center in Princess Anne, a campus of about 30 brick Colonial-style buildings.

The four injured were all in surgery Friday, Police Chief James Cervera said during a news conference a couple of hours after the massacre.

One officer was shot during the exchange but was saved by his bulletproof vest, the chief said.

“This is the most devastating day in the history of Virginia Beach,” Mayor Bobby Dyer said in the news conference. “The people involved are our friends, co-workers, neighbors and colleagues.”

Friday’s rampage is believed to be the worst mass killing in Virginia Beach’s history. Prior to this week, a shooting on June 30, 1994, at the Witchduck Inn held that distinction: Four people — the business owner, two employees and a patron — were shot to death at the restaurant. It also came on the heels of a shooting in Chesapeake’s Holly Cove community over Memorial Day weekend that left one dead and nine others injured.

In the U.S., it is the deadliest attack since the November 2018 shooting at Borderline Bar & Grill in California, when 12 people were killed. 

L. Todd Spencer/Staff Police work the scene where 12 people were killed during a mass shooting at the Virginia Beach city public works building on Friday evening, May 31, 2019. The shooter, a current and longtime public utilities employee, also was killed. An officer was shot, but was saved by his bulletproof vest.

The gunfire in Virginia Beach began shortly after 4 p.m. as workers were preparing to leave for the weekend. The shooting occurred in building 2, next to City Hall near the intersection of Nimmo Parkway and Princess Anne Boulevard. The planning, public utilities, public works departments and others are located there. The three-story brick building on Courthouse Drive houses about 400 workers.

Many of the employees work out of small office spaces along long hallways. The doors are typically unlocked and open to the public.

The shooter on Friday was a current employee of the public utilities department, Cervera said. He came armed with a .45-caliber handgun with a sound suppressor on it and shot one victim in a vehicle outside before entering the building. The rest were shot inside.

Cervera said police found victims on every floor of the building.  

Four officers responded, found the gunman almost immediately and then initiated what became a long gunfight with the suspect, Cervera said. After an officer shot the suspect, they administered first aid.

Virginia Beach police are investigating with help from the FBI and state police, he said. They’re still working to identify victims and contact family members. They’re also still working to notify the suspect’s next of kin. Once that is done, Cervera said, his department plans to name the suspect only once out of respect for the victims. 

Cervera said the city offices now resemble a “war zone.”

Megan Banton, an administrative assistant in the public utilities office where the man worked, said her supervisor heard a noise then shouted for everyone to get down.

The supervisor then pulled Banton and others into her office and shoved a desk against the door while Banton called 911.

“It felt like forever,” Banton said. 

Zand Bakhtiari was one of only five people left in the geographic information services department — located on the first floor of the building — at the end of the day Friday when his supervisor, who had left the office, texted to say there was an active shooter and to shelter in place.

Bakhtiari wasn’t nervous until he heard the gunshots — lots of them, one round in quick succession. He said it sounded like an automatic weapon.

“It was repeated, rapid gunfire,” he said. It sounded like it was coming from above or below him on the second floor or the basement, he said.

After a few minutes — Bakhtiari doesn’t know how much time passed — the bullets stopped, but the fire alarm had been set off. And he could smell the gunpowder.

He assumed it was over when he heard the fire alarm, but he and his co-workers didn’t know whether to evacuate or stay put, so they all came out of their individual offices and huddled together.

L. Todd Spencer/StaffA police officer stands out in front of City Hall next to the building where 12 people were killed during a mass shooting at the Virginia Beach city public works building on Friday, May 31, 2019. The shooter, a current and longtime public utilities employee, also was killed.

After about 10 minutes, officers and SWAT team members came in, told them to duck down and keep their hands up as they escorted employees out and checked every room.

Arthur Felton, an 18-year employee in the planning department, was also inside when the shooting started. He evacuated the building after a co-worker heard gunshots. 

“I never thought this would happen in my building,” Felton said. “The people who were shot — I’m sure I know most of them.”

Employees’ family members were sent to Princess Anne Middle School to reunite with loved ones. 

Jonathon Gruenke/Staff Police personnel from various agencies stand outside Princess Anne Middle School in Virginia Beach on Friday evening, May 31, 2019.

Paul Swain’s fiancee sent him a text message at 4:17 p.m. that said, “They are shooting on my floor.” He said he drove to the Municipal Center so fast he was pulled over for speeding. 

The officer let him go when he told him why he was driving fast.

Swain made it to the area but was directed to reunite with his fiancee at Princess Anne Middle School. 

“My heart is just pounding,” he said as he waited to see her again. Swain reunited with her in the parking lot.

Police did not allow media on the school’s property. When he walked into the school, he said, he was greeted by staff who had a checklist of names. People were waiting for their families in the cafeteria, he said.

Vicki Cronis-Nohe/Freelance Emergency vehicles fill the parking lot at the Princess Anne Middle School in Virginia Beach, Va, on Friday, May 31, 2019. A longtime city employee opened fire at a municipal building in Virginia Beach on Friday, killing 11 people before police shot and killed him, authorities said. Six other people were wounded in the shooting, including a police officer whose bulletproof vest saved his life, said Virginia Beach Police Chief James Cervera.

Amy Woody is trying to find her neighbor of 20 years who didn’t come home from her job at the city. She said her neighbor always returns home around 4 p.m. but wasn’t answering her text messages or phone calls. Woody arrived at the school shortly after 8:30 p.m. with her two dogs.

“I just want to make sure she is OK,” she said. “It’s definitely a very solemn feeling right now. It’s hard.”

Cheryl Benn rushed to the school after getting a frantic call from her husband, David, who is a traffic engineer and works in the building. At first all she could hear when he called was sirens.

She said her husband barricaded himself in a room away from the shooter and held the door shut until police told him it was safe to leave. 

“He was definitely a little freaked out,” Benn said.

While her husband gave detectives a statement, Benn waited outside the school with her dog.

“Some of those people could be his co-workers,” she said.  

Public Works spokesman Drew Lankford, who works in the building where the shooting occurred, left the office on Friday afternoon to get a haircut. While he was gone, his daughter called and said there had been a shooter in his work building. 

His daughter, who works in the City Hall building nearby, said security told people to get under their desks. He rushed back to the office and saw police taking cover behind parked cars with their guns drawn.

City Councilwoman Barbara Henley had pulled up to the City Hall building just after 4 p.m. to pick up the agenda as she does every week when she heard sirens and saw police cars.

“I thought it was an accident,” Henley said.

As she parked in the lot between buildings 1 and 2, she noticed city employees standing outside using their cellphones. Someone told her there was a shooting and she should leave. Henley had gotten back in her car when she heard a male voice shout, “Get down!”

People scattered.

“I was scared to death,” said Henley, who quickly drove home.

Henley said she’s never seen a situation like this before at the Municipal Center, adding that security has recently been beefed up in the City Hall building as a result of shooting incidents across the nation. Not all the municipal buildings at the complex take the same security measures, she said.

Late on Friday, Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam, who arrived in Virginia Beach a few hours after the shooting, said the people who died were heading into the summer weekend.

“That they should be taken in this manner is the worst kind of tragedy,” Northam said. “Their families are facing painful loss and grief. They each leave a hole and a family in their neighborhood, in this community and in our Commonwealth.”

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“Ghost” In Student’s Closet is a Man Wearing Her Clothes

Imagine if you were living in your students-only apartment building near to campus and kept noticing that your clothes and other items had gone missing. This happened even when you made sure your door was always locked, and you didn’t see any signs that someone had broken in.

A student at the University of North Carolina had this happen to her for a few weeks. When her clothes kept going missing, and she found mysterious handprints on the bathroom walls, she and her roommate were freaked out and thought they might have a ghost in their apartment.

And One Saturday Afternoon…

One Saturday afternoon the student kept hearing a rustling from her closet that sounded like a raccoon. She was like “Who’s here?” and got a fright when someone answered her.

When she opened the closet door, she found a guy sitting inside wearing her clothes. He was wearing her socks, shoes and even had a book bag filled with her clothes.

The student said the intruder, who called himself “Drew”, tried on her hat, went into the bathroom, looked in the mirror and said, “you’re beautiful, can I give you a hug?” He didn’t end up touching her. It’s possible that he was ‘high’ at the time.

Who was Andrew Swofford?

The police took the guy, Andrew Swofford, to jail and discovered he had a record. His rap sheet included identity theft, breaking, larceny and failing to appear in court on other cases.

Swoffard had probably got into the apartment through an open window. After his arrest, when he went quietly without putting up a fight, the maintenance manager of the complex found a living room window unlocked and a bit open with a damaged screen.

The student and her roommate didn’t feel safe after what happened, and they asked for a different apartment. One student who has lived in the apartment building for three years said it hadn’t changed her mind about staying there and it was the first time anything like this had happened.

The property management company is doing some damage control as the incident made the national news and may cause other students to think twice before renewing their leases.

They are taking steps to ensure that other students don’t find strange men in their closets in the future. Everyone is on window inspection duty to make sure no-one gets into an apartment in this way again.

Source: http://bit.ly/2X78xDI

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Woman Says Online Romeo Scammed Her Out of $80,000 and Proposed After 1 Week and She’s Not Alone!

John Martin Hill, 35, is behind bars after allegedly meeting a woman online, proposing to her after a week and then swindling her out of $80,000.

John Martin Hill, 35 FRANKLIN POLICE DEPARTMENT

Love hurts.

It can also cost a bundle.

Just ask the Georgia woman who met an online Romeo who allegedly swindled her out of more than $80,000 after asking her to marry him just a week after they met.

On Tuesday night, police in Franklin, Tennessee, arrested the man, John Martin Hill, 35, on an outstanding warrant in connection with the alleged theft, the Gwinnett County, Georgia, Police Department says in a news release obtained by PEOPLE.

Hill is being held at the Williamson County Jail in Tennessee on a $500,000 bond and is awaiting extradition to Georgia, where he faces a felony charge of with theft by deception, the Gwinnett County Police Department says in the release.

John Martin Hill, 35 FRANKLIN POLICE DEPARTMENT

“By sharing this story, it is our hope that he is not able to victimize any other women using this scam,” police say in the release. “These types of con men are very good at manipulating their victims. They tend to say everything that a woman wants to hear.”

In this case, the alleged scam came to light when a woman from Alpharetta called the Gwinnett County Police Department to report that she met a man named John Hill on Match.com who bilked her out of more than $80,000.

John Martin Hill, 35 GWINNET COUNTY POLICE DEPARTMENT

Hill allegedly told the victim that he was a millionaire — and promised more.

“During their short romance, he convinced her that they were in love and wanted to buy a house together,” police allege in the release.

They allegedly went house-hunting and selected a home they liked. Within a week of knowing one another, they allegedly agreed to get married.

Preparing for her new life with Hill, the woman allegedly gave the suspect more than $80,000 to use to buy the house and furniture, say police.

She never heard from him again.

As authorities began looking into the case, they discovered that Hill was allegedly living a completely different life than the one he led the woman to believe.

Hill, one of the detectives learned, lives an apartment in Duluth — about 11 miles away from Alpharetta — with another woman and child.

Acting on a tip Tuesday night, police in Tennessee  arrested Hill — considered a fugitive out of Georgia — at the Cool Springs Marriott, Frankllin Police say in a news release.

Before he was ultimately arrested, Hill allegedly “attempted to evade arriving Franklin Police Officers by darting into a hotel conference room and hiding under a table,” the release says.

Suspect Allegedly Wooed Other Women

The Alpharetta woman wasn’t the only woman Hill had allegedly swept off her feet and scammed, police learned.

“Further investigation into John Hill revealed that he has changed his name over five times in the past two and a half years,” police say in the release, adding that women in  Virginia, Delaware, Maryland, and New Jersey have accused him of similar crimes.

It is not known if he has been charged in those cases.

Since authorities first alerted the public to Hill’s alleged scam, they say they’ve heard from other women who allege that they were either in a relationship with Hill or knew someone who was romantically involved with him, the release says.

It is unclear if Hill has retained an attorney who can speak on his behalf. He has not yet entered a plea.

The department cautions people who meet others online to be careful not to share personal information, financial information, or cash with someone in the early stages of a relationship.

Anyone with information on Hill is asked to contact GCPD detectives at 770-513-5300.  To remain anonymous, tipsters should contact Crime Stoppers at 404-577-TIPS (8477) or visit www.stopcrimeATL.com.

Source: http://bit.ly/2W4WudJ

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WATCH: Cop Shoots 14yo Boy multiple times. Through a Fence as He Played With His Friends!

Oklahoma City, OK — Disturbing body camera footage was released this week showing how normal childhood acts can and will lead to children being shot by police. Boys being boys is apparently now a reason for deadly force in the land of the free.

Lorenzo Clerkley, 14, was playing with his friends two months ago when Oklahoma City police officer Kyle Holcomb put two bullets in him. Lorenzo was playing with friends in an abandoned house and he was also playing with toy guns with his other friends, but this was no reason for a cop to open fire—especially when the cop knew the boys were playing with toy guns.

“Everything happened so quick,” Cherelle Lee, Lorenzo’s mother told CNN. “There was no reason he should’ve fired off anyway just because he could’ve ended up taking his life.”

Despite body camera footage showing how fast the officer was to open fire on a child he knew was playing with a “cap gun,” and despite the lack of evidence that Lorenzo was even holding a toy gun when he was shot, Holcomb has returned to full duty after a brief paid vacation.

As the video shows, as the officer walks along the fence, faint pops are heard in the distance. Holcomb then gets on the radio, saying, “I think it’s a cap gun, but they are shooting something off.”

The fact that the kids were heard shooting the toy guns in the house proves they had no idea anyone had called police on them and no idea that police were there.

When Holcomb walks up to a portion of the fence that is missing boards, he points his gun through it for just a few seconds before opening fire.

“Show me your hands! Drop it!” Holcomb says and then immediately begins firing without allowing Lorenzo any time to respond. Lorenzo was shot twice.

Police said in a statement in March that “the suspect did not comply with the orders and Sergeant Holcomb discharged his firearm and struck the suspect.” However, the officer gave Lorenzo exactly 0 seconds to comply with any order.

“Drop the gun!” the officer says. “Shots fired! Shots fired! Black male with a grey hoodie had the gun!”

When backup arrives, Holcomb tells another officer, “He’s the one that had a gun.”

That officer then asks the teen, “You had a gun?”

“I didn’t have a gun,” Lorenzo responds.

“Looks like just a flesh wound.” Another officer says, as Lorenzo lies face down in the grass with his hands cuffed behind his back, bleeding out. “Help me drag this guy.”

“My side,” Lorenzo says in pain as the officers probe him for bullet holes. “No, my other side. It’s, like, my hip,” he says of the bullet that entered his hip bone and exited through his buttocks.

As the video shows, Holcomb looks a the bullet wound and tells Lorenzo “you’re okay.”

It is not clear in the body camera footage whether or not Lorenzo had the toy gun. So, in this case it’s the officer’s word against the boy’s. Since there was a toy gun found nearby, police see this as a “good shoot.”

Naturally, the officer’s attorney and the department are backing the word of Holcomb and not the boy.

“I have not seen any information that shows anything other than the fact that the suspect was armed at the time he was fleeing the house after the police announced their presence,” the officer’s attorney Curt Dewberry said.

“Sergeant Holcomb could see the suspect had a gun in his hand and gave the suspect verbal commands to drop the gun,” a police statement said without showing any video evidence of this. “The suspect did not comply with the orders and Sergeant Holcomb discharged his firearm and struck the suspect.”

An attorney for Lorenzo, Dan Smolen, sees things differently. Smolen pointed out the fact that Holcomb is heard on the body camera footage, admitting that he knew the kids were playing with “cap guns,” yet he shot anyway.

Kids play with realistic toy guns all the time across this country, it’s why they are made. Most of them, however, are never shot.

“That officer heard what was being fired, acknowledged that it was a toy gun and still fired shots anyway,” Smolen said. “We know what his thoughts were just seconds before the shooting took place.”

“Further, Holcomb had the cover and protection of the wooden fence when he encountered Lorenzo, who was a safe distance away. And there is no evidence that Lorenzo verbally threatened anyone, physically threatened anyone, attempted to evade arrest or otherwise resisted arrest,” he added.

Though Lorenzo denies having the toy gun, his mother noted that even if he did have it, Holcomb gave him no time to respond to the commands.

“Even if he had a BB gun,” Lee said, “you still have a protocol to sit there and ask him and command him to do what you need him to do, and once he’s not following that first command, then you take action on what you need to do from there.”

“It traumatizes me, myself, to understand that: Hey, you were this close from taking my baby’s life — for nothing,” she said.

Lorenzo said he never heard the police officers identify themselves and was simply being a boy playing with other boys when he was shot.

“By the time, I went out the window, I heard a voice say, ‘Freeze!’ and I jumped and looked to the right of me, and then he didn’t even give me no time to do anything — put my hands in the air, anything — and he just fired,” Lorenzo said.

In an interview with CNN, Lorenzo said that if he could talk to Holcomb, he’d tell him “that I’m actually a good kid, that I follow directions and stuff like that. He just didn’t give me time to follow his directions.”

Below is a video that shows what playing with your friends looks like in a police state. Spoiler alert—it can be deadly.

Full video below:

Source:http://bit.ly/2YfIcDF

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Two Students Opened Fire On Their Colorado School, Killing One Classmate And Injuring Eight Others

“It was beyond awful and terrifying to be there during it, and several of my friends were shot,” said a student who survived the shooting.

Two students opened fire Tuesday inside a Colorado charter school near Columbine High School, killing one classmate and injuring eight others before being taken into custody, authorities said.

On Wednesday morning, authorities identified the deceased student as Kendrick Castillo, an 18-year-old senior who was due to graduate this week.

Douglas County Sheriff Tony Spurlock said the suspects, identified as 18-year-old Devon Erickson and an unnamed juvenile, were taken into custody without exchanging gunfire with police. Both are students at the STEM School, a K-12 charter in the Denver suburb of Highlands Ranch.

“At the time, the individuals we believed were in custody were two males,” Spurlock said Wednesday morning. It wasn’t until we got to this office that we were able to determine that one of the suspects [the juvenile] was a female.”

One of the shooters was being restrained by a school security officer when sheriff’s deputies arrived. Administrators reported hearing gunshots fired at 1:53 p.m.; deputies arrived on the scene two minutes later.

Spurlock said authorities were still investigating a possible motive.

“We know that two individuals walked into the STEM School, got deep inside the school, and engaged students in two separate locations,” Spurlock told reporters Tuesday night. “There were a number of students that were shot and injured.”

On Wednesday, Spurlock said that at least one student “encountered” the suspects during the shooting, not elaborating on the specifics of exactly what the student did.

“We are going to hear about very heroic things that have taken place at the school,” said Spurlock.

Eight victims, ages 15 and older, were being treated in local hospitals. No employees or teachers were injured in the shooting, Spurlock said.

Littleton Adventist Hospital received five patients. One patient was in a serious condition, while another had their condition downgraded from serious to fair. The three others have been discharged from the hospital.

Linda Watson, a spokesperson for Sky Ridge Medical Center in Lone Tree, Colorado, said the hospital was treating two juvenile victims. One remained in stable condition Tuesday night, while the other was discharged. Another victim was treated at Children’s Hospital of Colorado’s South Campus in Highlands Ranch and later released.

“Quite a few shots were fired, and police officers, sheriff’s officers were on scene almost immediately,” Douglas County Undersheriff Holly Nicholson-Kluth told reporters, adding that deputies could still hear gunshots as they arrived at the scene and entered the school.

Spurlock said he believed the deputies’ quick response to the shooting saved lives.

“I want to think that that is something that helped,” he said.

The school does not have a resource police officer assigned to the campus but does have private security, Spurlock said.

He declined to provide additional information about the suspects but said they were not on the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office’s radar. A car with graffiti on it was later removed from the home of one of the suspects.

A motive for the shooting has not been determined, and Spurlock said officials did not have any information about anyone at the school being specifically targeted.

The FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in Denver were assisting in the investigation. The White House said President Donald Trump has been briefed on the shooting.

“Tragically, this community and those surrounding it know all too well these hateful and horrible acts of violence,” Judd Deere, the White House deputy press secretary, said in a statement. “We offer our full support to local law enforcement and first responders and thank them for their heroism.”

The school was placed on lockdown for several hours, according to the Douglas County School District. All other Highlands Ranch schools were placed on lockout.

“It was beyond awful and terrifying to be there during it, and several of my friends were shot,” Lillian Duarte, a student who survived the shooting, told BuzzFeed News. “This was so horrible to me, and it felt surreal to walk out of the building with our hands up in the same way I saw Parkland kids doing on the news.”

More than 1,800 students in elementary, middle, and high school attend STEM School, according to its website.

Nicholson-Kluth said many students self-evacuated after the shooting began. Parents were later reunited with students at a nearby recreation center. Hyoung Chang / Getty Images

Students are escorted to a school bus in front of STEM School Highlands Ranch after the shooting.

Speaking on air to the Denver ABC affiliate, a sixth-grade boy named Christian said he was in study hall when he saw several students running and yelling, “School shooter, school shooter!”

“I’m like, what … is this real or fake?” he said. “I just ran after them. … I just got out of there.”

Rocco DeChalk, who lives down the street from the Highlands Ranch school, said he was working from home when he looked out his window and saw crowds of kids running down the street.

“At first I thought it was a gym class,” DeChalk, 50, told BuzzFeed News.

But then he saw the kids’ faces. They looked nervous and scared.

When he stepped out onto his patio, a neighbor told him there had been a shooting at the school and alerted him to a young man who was sitting in the grass by his mailbox and appeared to have been shot.

DeChalk said he and the boy’s friend helped him into his house.

He said the boy, who he guessed was between 12 and 15 years old, was conscious and able to walk. He had one gunshot wound in his back near his armpit.

“He was having a hard time breathing, so I didn’t ask him any questions,” DeChalk said.

He then waved down a police officer outside, who summoned an ambulance to transport the boy to a hospital.

“It’s just unbelievably scary,” DeChalk said. David Zalubowski / AP

Parents gather in a circle to pray at a recreation center where students were reunited with their parents.

STEM School is located less than 8 miles from Columbine High School, where 13 people were killed by two students on April 20, 1999. The shooting was, at the time, the deadliest in the nation’s history.

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis said he was monitoring the situation and making all public safety resources available to assist the Sheriff’s Office.

District officials said the school would be closed for the remainder of the week.

“The heart of all Colorado is with the victims and their families,” Polis said on Twitter.

Source: http://bit.ly/2JeuYUn

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