Gun violence, shootings and senseless killings!!

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Gun violence

 

President Joe Biden will address a major gun violence prevention conference in Washington, DC, today, nearly two years after he signed the first major federal gun safety legislation in decades. The appearance comes as the White House and the Biden campaign have sought to promote the president's work to tackle gun violence — an issue his team believes resonates with key blocs of voters, including women, young people and Latino communities. A CNN/SSRS poll conducted in April found that 48% of registered voters said gun policy will be extremely important to their presidential vote in November. A Gallup survey last year found 56% of US adults believe gun laws in the country should be stricter.

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Pamela Smart, serving life, accepts responsibility for her husband’s 1990 killing for the first time

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — Pamela Smart, who is serving life in prison for plotting with her teenage student to have her husband killed in 1990, accepted full responsibility for his death for the first time in a videotaped statement released Tuesday as part of her latest sentence reduction request.

https://apnews.com/article/pamela-smart-husband-killed-prison-video-8f3e0ca7d1a908cdcf2392b0e8f4ee83?

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💐 Bittersweet graduation

Survivors of the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting hold signs during a Junior Newtown Action Alliance rally against gun violence last week. Photo: Bryan Woolston/AP About 60 students who survived the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, one of the deadliest in American history, will graduate from high school today. Those killed — 20 first-graders and six faculty members — will be honored in the ceremony today at Connecticut's Newtown High School. Survivors of the 2012 shooting are pushing for change as they head to college. Several met with Vice President Kamala Harris last week at the White House. "Graduation is a really big milestone in our lives. ... [W]alking across that stage will be a really bittersweet moment," Grace Fischer, 18, told the Hartford Courant. Go deeper.

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Bus hijacking

 

One person is dead after a gunman on Tuesday hijacked a commuter bus in Atlanta with 17 people inside, prompting passengers to frantically text loved ones and call 911 for help, police said. As police arrived on the scene and tried to confront the gunman, the suspect held the bus driver at gunpoint and forced him to speed away. The ensuing rush-hour police chase zig-zagged across highway lanes and suburban streets as the bus led authorities across at least two counties. When the bus finally ground to a halt, passengers streamed out and the 39-year-old gunman was arrested without incident, police said. A passenger found shot aboard the bus was taken to a hospital, where they later died, officials said.

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Orlando nightclub shooting reactions eight years later

Eight years have passed since 49 people were killed and 53 were wounded in a shooting at Pulse, a nightclub in Orlando.

https://floridaphoenix.com/2024/06/12/orlando-nightclub-shooting-reactions-eight-years-later/?

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What makes gun bump stocks so deadly

Why it matters: The plastic devices, which were used extensively in the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history, will now be able to return to the market in states without their own bans, allowing consumers to mimic fully automatic firearms.

https://www.axios.com/2024/06/14/bump-stocks-supreme-court-ban-how-works?

ps:Yeah lets just put these back in play!!!!!

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Shooting in Detroit suburb injures 9, leaving an 8-year-old in critical condition

ROCHESTER HILLS, Mich. (AP) — Nine people were injured, including two young children and their mother, after a shooter opened fire at a splash pad in a Detroit suburb where families gathered to escape the summer heat Saturday. Police tracked the shooter to a home, where the man apparently shot himself to death, authorities said.

https://apnews.com/article/rochester-hills-shooting-splash-pad-7d2700a7efdf003e151917d85deb1a35?

Police identify Michigan splash pad shooter but there’s still no word on a motive

ROCHESTER HILLS, Mich. (AP) — Authorities on Sunday identified the man who opened fire at a splash pad in suburban Detroit before taking his own life, but his motives remained unknown as investigators worked to determine if he left behind any hint of his plans.

https://apnews.com/article/splash-pad-shooting-michigan-gunman-9d9fb4e6dc8f022976bc2bb8f6334d70?

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The US saw another weekend of gun violence in several communities, extending the list of around 220 mass shootings in the country so far this year. Two people were killed and 14 others were injured following a shooting at a Juneteenth celebration in Round Rock, Texas, on Saturday, police said. Round Rock is located about 20 miles north of Austin. Authorities said Sunday evening they were actively searching for a suspect. In Michigan, at least nine people — including two children — were wounded after an apparent "random" shooting at a crowded splash pad in Rochester Hills. The 42-year-old shooter has been identified but his motive remains unclear. 

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Couple shot seven times while shielding daughters as gunman opened fire at Michigan splash pad

A Michigan couple were shot seven times on Saturday as they shielded their daughters from a gunman who had opened fire on Brooklands Plaza Splash Pad in Rochester Hills.

https://local.newsbreak.com/rochester-hills-mi/3494416057625-couple-shot-seven-times-while-shielding-daughters-as-gunman-opened-fire-at-michigan-splash-pad?

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The shooter who killed 5 at a Colorado LGBTQ+ club pleads guilty to 50 federal hate crimes

DENVER (AP) — The shooter who killed five people and injured 19 others at an LGBTQ+ club that was a refuge in the conservative city of Colorado Springs pleaded guilty to federal hate crimes and was sentenced to 55 life terms in prison on Tuesday, but once again declined to apologize or say anything to the victims’ families.

https://apnews.com/article/colorado-springs-lgbtq-bar-shooting-028344ddb7666033311dc67a064fef9f?

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Shooting at grocery store in Arkansas kills 3 and wounds 10 others, police say

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — A shooter who opened fire Friday at a grocery store in Arkansas left the store and parked cars riddled with bullet holes as bystanders ducked for cover both indoors and in the parking lot, killing 3 people and wounding 10 others, authorities said.

https://apnews.com/article/arkansas-grocery-shooting-a4c8496ca2fc60feb1f52e5298cbecc2?

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Video raises questions about how a trooper avoided charges in a Black man’s death Five minutes into a pursuit that began over a broken taillight, a 60-year-old Black man was dead — shot in the forehead by a trooper mere seconds after forcing Julian Lewis to crash into a ditch. An Associated Press report and the never-before-released dashcam video have raised fresh questions about how the trooper avoided prosecution with nothing more than a signed promise never to work in law enforcement again. Read more.

Key points: The footage does not include visuals of the actual shooting, which happened outside the camera’s view. But it shows the crucial final moments in which trooper Jake Thompson uses a police maneuver to send Lewis’ car spinning into a ditch, and a gunshot ringing 1.6 seconds after the patrol cruiser stopped, just before Thompson finishes his verbal warning.   “I had to shoot this man,” Thompson can be heard telling a supervisor on video. “And I’m just scared.” Use-of-force experts who reviewed the footage for AP said the shooting appeared to be unjustified.   Thompson spent more than 100 days in jail but walked free without a trial. A state grand jury in 2021 declined to bring an indictment in the case, and the district attorney overseeing the case closed it. The state of Georgia in 2022 paid Lewis’ family a $4.8 million settlement to avoid a lawsuit.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤ Mass shootings across the US mark the first weekend of summer   A New York county with one of the nation’s largest police forces is deputizing armed residents   Myth of ‘superhuman strength’ in Black people persists in deadly encounters with police

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5 people killed, 13-year-old girl critically injured in Las Vegas shooting

A man who fatally shot five people and critically injured a 13-year-old girl at multiple apartments near Las Vegas has killed himself, authorities said Tuesday.

https://local.newsbreak.com/las-vegas-nv/3505113701431-5-people-killed-13-year-old-girl-critically-injured-in-las-vegas-shooting?

Suspect is dead after shootings near Las Vegas leave 5 people dead, teen injured, police say

LAS VEGAS (AP) — A man who fatally shot five people and critically injured a 13-year-old girl at apartments near Las Vegas has killed himself, authorities said Tuesday.

https://apnews.com/article/nevada-shootings-5-dead-north-las-vegas-1848f6a67f424f79ce043a077bb077c5?

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⚖️ Gun cases skyrocket

Data: Brown, Epstein, and Gulati. Chart: Axios Visuals The number of gun-rights cases in the U.S. has skyrocketed since the Supreme Court decided New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen in 2022, Felix Salmon writes from a new paper. Why it matters: The ruling in Bruen said courts should only uphold restrictions on the Second Amendment if there's a long history of similar regulations. That has given attorneys fresh avenues to challenge a slew of gun laws. 🔬 What they found: Federal courts handed down 865 gun-rights decisions in 2023, up from 121 in 2021, according to the paper from a trio of law professors. Republican appointees are slightly more likely to find in favor of gun rights: They now do so in 14% of decisions, compared to 8% for Democratic appointees. Trump-appointed judges are much more likely to find in favor of gun rights. That's especially true if they're under the age of 55 and deciding cases that will be "reported" — that is, published in a regional or federal book of cases. Judges under 55 are "auditioners" — that is, they're looking to receive promotions. In reported cases, they find in favor of gun rights a whopping 61% of the time. Keep reading.

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Boy, 14, was held down and hacked to death at Wyoming mall while he tried to protect his girlfriend

A teenager was held down and stabbed to death by a pair of ski-mask-wearing attackers as he tried to protect his girlfriend at a Wyoming mall, a court was told.

https://local.newsbreak.com/casper-wy/3507969051917-boy-14-was-held-down-and-hacked-to-death-at-wyoming-mall-while-he-tried-to-protect-his-girlfriend?

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Video shows NY officer fatally shooting 13-year-old on ground. Police say he pointed a replica gun

NEW YORK (AP) — Video released late Saturday shows an officer in upstate New York fatally shooting a 13-year-old boy who had been tackled to the ground after he ran from police and pointed a replica handgun at them.

https://apnews.com/article/utica-new-york-police-shooting-teen-killed-c3cf272ccfaf12d48eaf93d235ace444?

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2 women in Chicago and Cleveland police officer are among those killed in July Fourth shootings

Two women in a home in Chicago, a police officer serving a warrant in Cleveland and an armed person making threats in Yellowstone National Park were among those killed in shootings on the Fourth of July, historically one of the nation’s deadliest days of the year.

https://apnews.com/article/july-fourth-shootings-chicago-cleveland-75c7584896323aeb0f02bd2832e5da0f?

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Violent holiday weekend sees mass shootings in Michigan, Illinois and Kentucky

CHICAGO (AP) — A shooting at a block party in Detroit left two people dead and more than a dozen wounded, capping a violent holiday weekend in the U.S. that also saw mass shootings in Kentucky and Chicago.

https://apnews.com/article/violence-shooting-chicago-detroit-kentucky-victims-0310944f9b396eee2b4c2d68078f4e78?

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MS-13 leader pleads guilty in case involving 8 murders, including deaths of 2 girls on Long Island

CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. (AP) — A leader of an MS-13 gang clique in New York pleaded guilty Wednesday to racketeering in a case involving eight murders, including the 2016 killings of two high school girls who were hacked and beaten as they strolled through their leafy, suburban neighborhood on Long Island.

https://apnews.com/article/ms13-killings-long-island-guilty-plea-649ec397315a27cd1f9c83aa21f93d75?

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🤖 Ammo vending machines

This undated photo provided by American Rounds shows a vending machine that sells ammunition. Similar machines exist across the U.S. Photo: American Rounds via AP Vending machines that sell bullets are now operational in grocery stores in Alabama, Oklahoma and Texas. American Rounds, the Texas-based company that owns the machines, said they use an ID scanner and facial recognition software to verify the buyer's age. Gun-control advocates say making ammunition available in grocery stores will lead to more shootings.   Milk, eggs and now bullets for sale in handful of US grocery stores with ammo vending machines MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — A company has installed computerized vending machines to sell ammunition in grocery stores in Alabama, Oklahoma and Texas, allowing patrons to pick up bullets along with a gallon of milk. https://apnews.com/article/ammunition-vending-machines-ddb2e507213cda8ef46da0d8146253ae?

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'Reached a boiling point': 16-year-old girl allegedly kills mom and mom's younger boyfriend over couple's age gap and teen's gender transition

A teenage Florida girl is being held in juvenile detention but could be charged as an adult after admitting to killing her mother and her mother’s much younger boyfriend earlier this month, police say.

https://local.newsbreak.com/palm-bay-fl/3526190974207-reached-a-boiling-point-16-year-old-girl-allegedly-kills-mom-and-moms-younger-boyfriend-over-couples-age-gap-and-teens-gender-transition?

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2 shootings in Birmingham kill 7 people, including young child, Alabama police say

Four people died in a shooting at a Birmingham nightclub late Saturday, while an earlier shooting outside a home in the city killed three people, including a young child, authorities in Alabama said.

https://apnews.com/article/birmingham-alabama-fatal-shooting-d4f207d93cbfd5c53e05134d2354518f?

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Pennsylvania GOP Fought A Ban On The Gun Used In Trump Shooting

In the months before Saturday’s assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump in Pennsylvania, the state’s legislature blocked a bill banning the sale of the type of assault rifle allegedly used in the attack. 

https://www.levernews.com/pennsylvania-gop-fought-a-ban-on-the-gun-used-in-trump-shooting/?

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‘I can’t breathe': Eric Garner remembered on the 10th anniversary of his chokehold death It has been 10 years since the chokehold death of Eric Garner at the hands of New York City police officers made “I can’t breathe” a rallying cry. On Wednesday, Garner’s mother, Gwen Carr, plans to lead a march honoring her son on Staten Island. That's where Garner died after being restrained by Officer Daniel Pantaleo on July 17, 2014. Read more.

Key points: Six years after Garner’s death, George Floyd was recorded uttering the exact same words as he begged for air while a white Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee into Floyd’s neck, sparking a new wave of mass protests.   Garner’s mother had said previously that even if police abuses hadn’t been talked about in recent years as they were following her son’s 2014 death, that didn’t mean abuses weren’t happening. And after George Floyd, protesters seized the moment in the hopes that change would come.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤ Calls for justice grow in death of D’Vontaye Mitchell   Jury acquits former Indiana officer of trying to cover up another officers’ excessive use of force   AP Investigation: In hundreds of deadly police encounters, officers broke multiple safety guidelines

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Bodycam footage reveals chaotic scene of deputy fatally shooting Sonya Massey, who called 911 for help Sonya Massey ducked and apologized to a white Illinois sheriff’s deputy seconds before he shot the Black woman three times in her home, with one fatal blow to the head, as seen in body camera video released Monday. Read more.

Key points: The video confirmed prosecutors’ earlier account of the tense moment when former Sangamon County Sheriff’s Deputy Sean Grayson yelled from across a counter at Massey to set down a pot of hot water. He then threatened to shoot her, Massey ducked, briefly rose, and Grayson fired his pistol at her.   After Grayson shot Massey, he discouraged his partner from grabbing a medical kit to save her. An Illinois grand jury indicted Grayson last week. He has pleaded not guilty to charges of first-degree murder, aggravated battery with a firearm and official misconduct.   In a statement, President Joe Biden said he and First Lady Jill Biden were praying for Massey’s family. “Sonya’s death at the hands of a responding officer reminds us that all too often Black Americans face fears for their safety in ways many of the rest of us do not,” Biden said. Massey’s death is the latest example of Black people killed in recent years by police in their homes.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤ Honolulu officers who handcuffed 10-year-old can be sued for using excessive force, judges rule   Tennessee sheriff pleads not guilty to using prison labor for personal profit   Killing of an airman by Florida deputy is among cases of Black people being shot in their homes