April 19, 2021 4:18 am
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) – Police say the former employee who shot and killed eight people at a FedEx facility in Indianapolis legally purchased the two rifles used in the attack despite red flag laws designed to prevent that. The Indianapolis police say a trace of the two guns found at the scene revealed that suspect Brandon Scott Hole legally bought the rifles last July and September. Indiana has a “red flag law” intended to prevent people from possessing a firearm if they are found by a judge to present “an imminent risk.” Officials have not said whether a ruling was made in Hole’s case that would have prevented him from purchasing a firearm after police seized a shotgun from his home last year.
April 19, 2021 4:17 am
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – The murder case against former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin in the death of George Floyd has gone to the jury. Twelve jurors are beginning deliberations in a city on edge against another round of unrest. During closing arguments, prosecutors argued that Chauvin squeezed the life out of Floyd by pinning his knee against Floyd’s neck last May, ignoring bystanders and common sense. The defense argued that the now-fired white officer acted reasonably and that the 46-year-old Black man died of an underlying heart condition and illegal drug use.
April 19, 2021 4:14 am
PITTSBURGH — (WPXI) – One person has died after a fatal shooting took place on Moore Avenue in Pittsburgh’s Knoxville Neighborhood, according to police. Police responded to a ShotSpotter alert for 19 rounds being fired at approximately 8:45 p.m. When officers arrived at the home, they found one man dead inside and one man outside with a gunshot in the back. Additionally, one person walked into a local hospital with gunshot injuries. Police explained that there was some form of a party taking place at the home. Police are looking at video surveillance in the neighborhood and talking with people who were at the party, as well as neighbors.
April 19, 2021 4:10 am
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — (WPXI)- West Virginia University Police have confirmed Benjamin Pravecek, a 20-year-old business major from Harpers Ferry, died April 16. Officers are continuing their investigation, but early indications suggest no foul play was involved. “We are grieving today,” Dean of Students Corey Farris said. “This tragedy reminds us how important the love, care and compassion we share with others can be. We have been in touch with Benjamin’s family and friends to offer our support during this difficult time, and we will continue to provide whatever resources and help are necessary.” “I want our students to know that we are here for you,” T. Anne Hawkins, director of the Carruth Center, said. “If you need to talk, if you just want someone to be with you or if you know someone who may need support, please know that you are not alone.” UPD responded to University Place just after 12:30 p.m. Friday after reports that a person either fell or jumped from the parking garage and landed on the sidewalk below. A Community Notice was issued. Anyone with information that may assist in the investigation is asked to contact University Police at 304-293-3136.
April 19, 2021 4:07 am
GLEN ROCK, Pa. (AP) – A school board in southern Pennsylvania voted to keep the name of the Susquehannock High School mascot the “Warriors,” but will drop an image meant to portray a Native American fighter. The York Dispatch reports the school board for the Southern York County School District made the decision in a 7-2 vote on Thursday. It followed a review by the board’s diversity committee, a hearing with testimony from Native American advocates and a petition against removing the mascot that garnered 3,800 signatures. Students will design the new logo. Superintendent Sandra Lemmon said the board will get an update about it next month.
April 18, 2021 7:49 am
PORT FOURCHON, La. (AP) — Divers returned Saturday to the murky, roiling waters of the Gulf of Mexico in search of lost crew members aboard a capsized lift boat off Louisiana, the Coast Guard said. Michelli said an update on the search progress would be released later Saturday. Late Friday, divers recovered two more unresponsive crew members, the Coast Guard said. Commercial divers on the capsized Seacor Power lift boat found them, the Coast Guard statement said. But the Coast Guard said it was not releasing the names of any of those rescued, recovered or still missing out of respect for the privacy of their families.
April 18, 2021 7:47 am
BOSTON (AP) — The sprawling hacking campaign deemed a grave threat to U.S. national security came to be known as SolarWinds, for the company whose software update was seeded by Russian intelligence agents with malware to penetrate sensitive government and private networks. Yet it was Microsoft whose code the cyber spies persistently abused in the campaign’s second stage, rifling through emails and other files of such high-value targets as then-acting Homeland Security chief Chad Wolf — and hopping undetected among victim networks. This has put the world’s third-most valuable company in the hot seat. Because its products are a de facto monoculture in government and industry — with more than 85% market share — federal lawmakers are insisting that Microsoft swiftly upgrade security to what they say it should have provided in the first place, and without fleecing taxpayers. Seeking to assuage concerns, Microsoft this past week offered all federal agencies a year of “advanced” security features at no extra charge. But it also seeks to deflect blame, saying it is customers who do not always make security a priority.
April 18, 2021 7:46 am
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Police in Portland, Oregon, said Saturday they arrested four people after declaring a riot Friday night when protesters smashed windows, burglarized businesses and set multiple fires during demonstrations that started after police fatally shot a man while responding to reports of a person with a gun. Police said they dispersed the crowd so firefighting crews could douse fires before they spread in extreme fire hazard conditions. The vandalism downtown came after the police shooting earlier Friday and also was part of vigils and demonstrations already planned for the night in the name of people killed in police shootings nationwide. They include 13-year-old Adam Toledo of Chicago and Daunte Wright, a Black man in a Minneapolis suburb. Deputy Police Chief Chris Davis told reporters a white man in his 30s had been shot and killed in Portland by police. The man was pronounced dead at the scene in Lents Park, a leafy, residential neighborhood of the city.
April 18, 2021 7:45 am
BROOKLYN CENTER, Minn. (AP) — As protests intensified in the Minneapolis suburb where a police officer fatally shot Daunte Wright, a group of Black men joined the crowd intent on keeping the peace and preventing protests from escalating into violence. Hundreds of people have gathered outside the heavily guarded Brooklyn Center police station every night since Sunday, when former Officer Kim Potter, who is white, shot the 20-year-old Black motorist during a traffic stop. Despite the mayor’s calls for law enforcement and protesters to scale back their tactics, the nights have often ended in objects hurled, tear gas and arrests. The Black men at the edge of the crowd wear yellow patches on protective vests that identify them as members of the Minnesota Freedom Fighters, a group formed to provide security in Minneapolis’ north side neighborhoods during unrest following the death of George Floyd last year. They are not shy about casting a forceful image — the group’s Facebook page features members posing with assault-style weapons and describes itself as an “elite security unit” — but on Friday the Freedom Fighters didn’t appear to be armed and said they intended only to encourage peaceful protesting. As several people began to rattle a fence protecting the Brooklyn Center police department, the Freedom Fighters communicated to each other over walkie-talkies. They declined to say how many are in their group.
April 18, 2021 4:40 am
A growing number of unfilled appointments and low uptake among nursing home workers are early signs that vaccine hesitancy is becoming an issue in Pennsylvania. That prompted state officials to sound the alarm Friday and urge residents to get their COVID-19 shots as quickly as possible. After months of demand outstripping supply, vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna are more readily available. The administration of Gov. Tom Wolf says the challenge now is to assuage the concerns of people who are reluctant to get it.
