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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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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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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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Glaciers are losing billions and billions of tons of ice each year

Glaciers have lost more than 9 trillion tons of ice since 1961. Glaciers lost more than 9 trillion tons (that’s 9,625,000,000,000 tons) of ice between 1961 and 2016, according to new research. The loss led to a 27-millimeter increase in global sea levels over this period, researchers found

Source: http://bit.ly/2Vycmo3

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“Grey’s Anatomy” Star Jesse Williams Revealed What Ellen Pompeo Is Really Like Behind The Scenes

Williams stated he and Pompeo are such close friends, their families take vacations together with their kids.

Jesse Williams, one of the stars of the long-running medical drama Grey’s Anatomy, revealed what his costar Ellen Pompeo is like when she’s not in character as the “dark and twisty” Meredith Grey.

“I mean, she’s really not like that character at all,” Williams said during an interview that is set to air Sunday. “She’s kind of a street chick.”

Williams, who has been a series regular on the show since 2010, when he began playing the character Jackson Avery, said Pompeo has “seen a lot of shit.”

“I don’t want to speak out of turn, but she’s actually surprisingly kind of down,” he said before revealing that Pompeo “almost stabbed [him] once,” though he didn’t provide any additional details.

The two actors are friends in real life, Williams said, revealing to Profile host Ashley Ford that they’ve “taken vacations together with the kids.” He said that their friendship is “really cool, like, it’s not a forced thing.”

Staying on the subject of Grey’s, which is wrapping up its 15th season, Williams briefly discussed the dissolution of his onscreen marriage to April Kepner (Sarah Drew) in Season 12, which broke the hearts of fans who affectionately referred to the two as “Japril.”

With Drew having departed the show this year, Williams talked about how he felt about the two being an item and weighed in on his new love interest, Maggie Pierce, played by Kelly McCreary.

Grey’s is known for “figuring out ways to get you invested in something just to rip you apart,” Williams said. “And I reminded folks that, you know, maybe for different reasons, but that Japril was a hard pill to swallow for fans as well. They didn’t like us.” He said fans weren’t initially thrilled about the two characters as an item — “but then you figure out a rhythm and a chemistry.”

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Williams teased that the last episodes of the current season “are going to be pretty impactful for Jaggie” — a mashup name for his burgeoning romance with Maggie.

But the actor did say he isn’t sure how long he’ll continue at the ABC series.

“Do you think you’re gonna stay on till the ship goes down?” Ford asked.

“I think that ship would have to be steered down,” Williams said with a laugh, “ … ’cause we are staying afloat in an amazing way.

“I work with amazing, amazing, talented people, like, top to bottom,” said Williams, who directed his second episode for the series this year, titled “What I Did for Love.”

“It’s such an example and a pioneering show in so many ways, particularly in inclusion — not as charity,” he said, “but inclusion because it’s the best way to make things work to get shit done.”

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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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Justin Bieber Opens Up About His Past Drug Addiction

Imagine being in your young teens and having the entire world in front of you due to complete and utter pop stardom. Money, fame, and success is all at your fingertips at such an early age. How would you react to all that power? It might easily go to your head or manifest into an addiction of some kind.

Over the decades there have been many stars that fit just that description. Some of them have faded incredibly quickly, others stayed on the straight and narrow path, and others fell only to rise again. There are certainly more horror stories than success stories when it comes to that kind of fame.

One of the kings of pop music over the last decade is someone who fits exactly the description of a young star who put himself on the precipice of utter destruction. That star is Justin Bieber. He came onto the scene when he was just a young boy, and in a recent Vogue interview, he talks about his addiction to Xanax.

Justin Bieber and Hailey Baldwin grace the cover of vogue

In a recent issue of Vogue, two of Hollywood’s youngest stars graced the cover. They are a power couple like no other, Justin Bieber and Hailey Baldwin. The two opened up during an interview with Vogue and pretty much left everything out on the table, including his Xanax addiction.

“I found myself doing things that I was so ashamed of, being super-promiscuous and stuff, and I think I used Xanax because I was so ashamed. My mom always said to treat women with respect. For me that was always in my head while I was doing it, so I could never enjoy it. Drugs put a screen between me and what I was doing. It got pretty dark. I think there were times when my security was coming in late at night to check my pulse and see if I was still breathing.”

Clean since 2014

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According to Justin Bieber, he got clean back in 2014 with the help of his pastor at the time, Carl Lentz. The detox was done at Carl Lent’z house, and was a success. He hasn’t taken drugs in five years since the detox, which his now wife, Hailey Baldwin, is incredibly happy about. Bieber still enjoys the occasional drink during social events, but that is all. That’s not bad for someone who could have easily ruined his career.

Regarding her now husband, Hailey Baldwin had this to say: “I’m really proud of him. To do it without a program, and to stick with it without a sober coach or AA or classes-I think it’s extraordinary. He is, in ways, a walking miracle.” While her comments are meant to be uplifting, this shouldn’t deter anyone from seeking traditional help with their addiction.

Justin also had sex addiction issues

Bieber also opened up about his “legitimate problem with sex.” That problem can’t be made easier by the fact that Justin Bieber is a sex symbol for millions of girls around the world. His sex issues, along with his Xanax addiction, led him to become celibate. He enjoyed a year of focused celibacy when he met Hailey Baldwin.

Justin Bieber went on to explain his intentions for cleaning up his life, and what gifts that has brought him. “I wanted to rededicate myself to God in that way because I really felt it was better for the condition of my soul. And I believe that God blessed me with Hailey as a result. There are perks. You get rewarded for good behavior.” If Hailey Baldwin is the reward for that tough journey, it is a journey well taken.

Source: http://bit.ly/2X0UlMA

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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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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

source

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