June 2, 2022 4:48 pm
BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) – The white gunman who killed 10 Black people at a Buffalo supermarket has pleaded not guilty to hate-motivated domestic terrorism and other charges as a prosecutor called the evidence against him overwhelming. A lawyer entered the plea for Payton Gendron on Thursday. The 18-year-old didn’t speak during the brief hearing. Witnesses, police and his own video and writings incriminated him as the shooter who used an AR-15-style assault rifle to target shoppers and employees of a Tops Friendly Market, and he surrendered at the crime scene. All 10 people killed in the May 14 assault were Black. (Photo: ABC News)
June 2, 2022 7:45 am
WASHINGTON COUNTY, Pa. — (WPXI) – Washington City police arrested a man for driving under the influence and hitting an 8-year-old boy on a bicycle. Nolan Thomas was riding his bicycle Friday evening in front of his home when he was hit. The driver, David Garcia, was driving without a license and under the influence, according to the police report. Neighbors say he briefly got out of his car, but then fled the scene. Nolan had to be flown my medical helicopter to Children’s Hospital. Nolan, who is going into third grade next year in Washington, spent the weekend at Children’s Hospital, where doctors kept an eye on his concussion. He has multiple broken bones in his leg and foot. Garcia told police he was driving down the road and the child appeared in front of him, and that he could not stop. He said he did stop to check on him, but saw he was OK and left because he was afraid. Neighbors say Garcia only exited the car for a few moments before speeding away. One neighbor got his license plate, and Nolan’s father chased the car on foot while police arrived from the opposite direction. Garcia was arrested and taken to the Washington County Jail.
June 2, 2022 4:23 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Joe Biden will deliver an address to the nation Thursday night about the latest round of mass shootings. He is attempting to increase the pressure on Congress to pass stricter gun limits after such efforts failed in the wake of past violence. The speech follows recent mass shootings in Tulsa, Oklahoma; Uvalde, Texas and Buffalo, New York. The White House said Biden will speak at 7:30 EDT about the “tragic mass shootings, and the need for Congress to act to pass commonsense laws to combat the epidemic of gun violence that is taking lives every day.”
June 2, 2022 4:23 am
SANTA MONICA, Calif. (AP) – A friend of a woman suing Bill Cosby alleging he sexually abused her as a teen testified that Judy Huth was distraught and in tears at the Playboy Mansion in 1975 after the alleged molestation. Donna Samuelson testified in Los Angeles County court on the first day of a civil trial that Huth told her minutes afterward that Cosby had forced her to commit a sex act in a bedroom next to a game room where the three had been playing pool and arcade games. Cosby’s attorney called the story a “fabrication” based on an attempt to cash in on pictures Samuelson took that day.
June 2, 2022 4:21 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The Biden administration says children under 5 may be able to get their first COVID-19 vaccination doses as soon as June 21, if federal regulators authorize shots for the age group as expected. White House COVID-19 coordinator Ashish Jha outlined the administration’s planning Thursday for the last remaining ineligible age group to get shots. He says the Food and Drug Administration’s outside panel of advisers will meet on June 14-15 to evaluate the Pfizer and Moderna shots for younger kids. Shipments to doctors’ offices and pediatric care facilities would begin soon after FDA authorization, with the first shots possible the following week.
June 2, 2022 4:20 am
(AP) – Police say a man who blamed his surgeon for ongoing pain after a recent back surgery bought an AR-style rifle hours before opening fire at a Tulsa medical office, killing the surgeon and three other people before fatally shooting himself. Tulsa Police Chief Wendell Franklin identified the shooter as 45-year-old Michael Louis. He says the gunman had recently undergone back surgery and had called a clinic repeatedly complaining of pain. Franklin says the doctor who performed the surgery, Dr. Preston Phillips, was killed Wednesday, along with Dr. Stephanie Husen, receptionist Amanda Glenn and patient William Love.
June 2, 2022 4:18 am
PHILADELPHIA (AP) – A suburban Philadelphia man charged in the January 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol after he was turned in by an ex-girlfriend he reportedly insulted has pleaded guilty to a felony count. Richard Michetti, 29, of Ridley Park pleaded guilty Tuesday in federal court in Washington to a charge of aiding and abetting obstruction of an official proceeding. He was originally also charged with trespassing, violent entry and disorderly conduct. FBI authorities said a former romantic partner of Michetti alerted authorities about his presence a day after the riot by supporters of then-President Donald Trump. Officials allege he sent her a text saying several hours after the siege began “If you can’t see the election was stolen you’re a moron.”
June 2, 2022 4:10 am
A Donora woman facing homicide and possession felony charges pleaded guilty on Wednesday. Kisiah Thomas, 25 avoided conviction on the homicide charge and was sentenced on possession with intent to deliver and conspiracy possession felony charges. She and her roommate Bryan Harris were involved in the shooting of Brandon Harrison at their front door in December of 2020. Harris, earlier this year, pleaded guilty to manslaughter and possession felonies and is serving 4-8 years in state prison. Thomas received a sentence of 11 ½ months to 23 months on the drug charges. She was released from the Washington County jail and sentenced to parole for the remainder of her sentence. She will also serve two years probation.
June 2, 2022 2:39 am
The recount has begun in Washington County in the GOP race for an open U.S. Senate Seat in Pennsylvania. As of Friday, in the too-close-to-call Republican primary contest, there were barely 900 votes separating Mehmet Oz and Dave McCormick. Washington County Elections Director Melanie Ostrander says this isn’t exactly an ordinary recount. She says they will be separting the Democrat and Republican ballots and will only be counting Republican ballots. That includes absentee and mail-in ballots as well. For less populated counties, the process could take a day. More heavily populated counties say they will need several days. As for Washington County, Ostrander is ballparking two days to finish. Counties have until June 7th to finish a recount and another day to report results to the state.
June 1, 2022 2:55 pm
BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) – A grand jury has charged the white 18-year-old accused of fatally shooting 10 Black people at a Buffalo supermarket with domestic terrorism motivated by hate and 10 counts of first-degree murder. Payton Gendron, who has been in custody since the May 14 shooting, is scheduled to be arraigned Thursday in Erie County Court. Gendron had previously been charged with first-degree murder in the shooting, which also injured three people. He has pleaded not guilty. Prosecutors told a judge May 20 the grand jury had voted to indict Gendron but was continuing its investigation.
