19 students killed in a massive gun shooting in Texas
The event was scheduled to include floats, marching bands, and community entertainment as part of the city’s Independence Day celebrations…reports Asian Lite News
The 22-year-old suspect of a mass shooting during a Fourth of July parade in the Chicago suburb of Highland Park has been “taken into custody without incident”, police said.
The police identified the suspect as Robert “Bobby” Crimo III, but gave no indication of the motive for the shooting that killed six and injured 24 others, reports Xinhua news agency.
Highland Park is an affluent neighbourhood 43 km north of Chicago.
The gunman, who was detained after a massive manhunt, used “a high-powered rifle”, and shot from a rooftop, Sergeant Christopher Covelli from the Lake County Major Crime Task Force said at the news briefing late Monday night.
The rifle has been recovered at the scene, he added.
Covelli called the crime “very random, very intentional”.
The gunman opened fire at the parade at around 10.15 a.m. on Monday, just a few minutes after it began, the BBC reported.
The event was scheduled to include floats, marching bands, and community entertainment as part of the city’s Independence Day celebrations.
Following the mass shooting, all events in Highland Park and the surrounding communities were cancelled.
Illinois Governor Jay Robert Pritzker warned that mass shootings were becoming an “American tradition”.
“There are going to be people who are going to say that today is not the day, that now is not the time to talk about guns. I’m telling you there is no better day and no better time then right here and right now,” the BBC quoted the Democratic Governor as saying.
Shocked at the violence, President Joe Biden vowed to keep fighting “the epidemic of gun violence” in the country.
“I’m not going to give up,” he said, speaking outside the White House.
Monday’s mass shooting came a week after Biden signed the first significant federal bill on gun safety in nearly 30 years.
The legislation seeks to expand background check for prospective gun buyers, prevents abusive boyfriends and partners from buying guns and seeks to encourage states to pass laws to allow authorities and relatives to deny gun possession to people who are a danger to themselves and others.
There have been more than 21,800 deaths from gun violence and 296 mass shootings across the country since the beginning of this year, according to the latest data from the Gun Violence Archive.
The allegations could be historical, and the responses did not indicate whether any of the officers were on duty at the time…reports Asian Lite News.
At least 750 sexual misconduct accusations were made against serving police officers across the UK between the year 2016 and 2020, new data has revealed.
According to figures obtained by PA Media’s Radar service from 31 police forces, most complaints, where gender was recorded, were against male police officers, reports Xinhua news agency.
A spokesperson said: “Each case reported represents a serious betrayal of the trust and confidence that individuals should have in the police. It is behaviour which can never be justified or condoned.”
Of the total number logged by forces over the last five years, at least 34 resulted in dismissals.
The allegations could be historical, and the responses did not indicate whether any of the officers were on duty at the time.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct, which oversees the police complaints system, said it was down to forces to “stamp out” any abuse of police powers.
The latest figures came after Home Secretary Priti Patel announced that an inquiry will be launched into “systemic failures” that allowed Wayne Couzens, a Metropolitan Police officer, to remain on his post after kidnapping, raping and murdering a 33-year-old woman.
Couzens, 48, was given a whole-life sentence last month for the killing of Sarah Everard under the guise of an arrest.
Almost 160,000 demonstrators took part in the nationwide rallies against the health passes on Saturday…reports Asian Lite News.
Thirteen law enforcement officers received injuries during protests against the COVID-19 health passes in the French city of Marseille, the Bouches-du-Rhone police said on Saturday.
“Police prefect expresses its support to the 13 injured police officers,” Sputnik reported citing the police department’s tweet, adding that three people had been arrested.
Almost 160,000 demonstrators took part in the nationwide rallies against the health passes on Saturday.
Last weekend, nearly 215,000 opponents of the measure took part in marches across France, according to Sputnik.
In July, French President Emmanuel Macron announced a series of new restrictions to contain the spread of COVID-19, including a special health pass indicating that a person has either been vaccinated or has a negative test result for COVID-19.
At the end of last month, the pass was already required in museums, theaters, movies and all public events attended by over 50 people. Starting August 9, it became mandatory in restaurants, bars, shopping centers, airplanes and long-distance trains, Sputnik reported. (ANI)
Unwilling to take risks — in case she was a police informer — the Maoists coaxed her to show them some spot in the jungle, but when she refused, they grabbed her mobile…reports Quaid Najmi.
In a strange twist of fate, cops who once hunted this dreaded girl are now her jealous and zealous guardian angels — and that same gun-wielding 19-year-old girl, who used to target cops and the security forces once, now aspires to be one of them.
The teenaged tribal girl is Rajula Hidami, barely 13, and studying in Class VII in the village school, when she was unwittingly forced into bloody Maoist activities as a Dalam Member, in 2016.
However, in 2018, while on ‘lookout duty’, she escaped their clutches to officially surrender before the then Superintendent of Gondia, Harish Baijal, and Additional SP, Sandeep Atole, as part of the policy to bring the waywards into the societal mainstream.
Then, she expressed a desire to resume her interrupted studies from Class VIII onwards, which the police wholeheartedly facilitated, and this year, she cleared her SSC exams with 50.80 per cent through the Manoharbhai Patel High School & Junior College, ably guided by the principal K. C. Sahare.
Buoyed by her academic success, Rajula now aspires to be a police-woman to serve the society, said her local guardian (LG), a serving policeman who declined to be identified in view of security concerns for his ward (Rajula).
Hailing from the Gond tribal community in Lavhari village of the Maoist-infested Gadchiroli district, the LG said Rajula’s story of being coerced into the Maoist hellhole and then emerging unscathed is an inspiration.
“One day, when she was barely 13-14, she grabbed her basic mobile phone and went to the jungles to graze her herd of sheep-goats… That afternoon, some killer Maoists lurking there espied her and suddenly confronted her,” the LG said.
Unwilling to take risks — in case she was a police informer — the Maoists coaxed her to show them some spot in the jungle, but when she refused, they grabbed her mobile.
Reluctantly, she guided them for at least 4-5 km into the deep forests, and then demanded her phone back to return home.
However, the rebels gently explained that it would be dark soon, she could be attacked by wild animals and coaxed her to spend the night in their hidden camp.
That was Rajula’s error, she slept in the camp and the next morning, they practically made her captive, deaf to all her cries and pleas for release over the next three years.
“Rajula was studying in Class VII when she suddenly disappeared from sight…Later, the villagers and her family got the shocking news that she had become a gun-toting Maoist,” the LG said.
After her escape and surrender, the police were stunned to find that she had acquired other types of ‘education’ through the Korchi-Khobramenda-Kurkheda Dalam, that operates in the adjoining Gadchiroli district.
“She was a genius at handling the most modern mobile phones, tabs, laptops and communication networks, using any sophisticated weaponry from an AK-47 to pistols and rockets to grenades, planning and executing ambushes for the security forces — skills that people take years to master,” the LG said.
Rajula recounted how, whenever the Maoists killed security forces, there were boisterous celebrations in the jungle camps, free-flowing liquor, singing-dancing, with a sumptuous feast of sweet ‘rava halwa’, ‘pakoras’, stolen domestic animals or wild creatures butchered for a tangy stew, served alongside rice and vegetables.
Luckily, she was spared of any kind of physical torture, but the Maoists seemed to be fond of her and trained Rajula for a long gun-toting career in the wilds.
Post-surrender, Rajula was given a compensation of Rs 3.50 lakh for her rehabilitation, but since her father had passed away and her mother remarried, and her two elder sisters were also settled in marital life, the police department took over her responsibility.
“I feel that the rehab which has been initiated must reach its logical conclusion with cooperation of all to make the huge efforts worthwhile,” Baijal said.
Baijal recalled how, when the Anti Corruption Bureau laid successful traps to catch corrupt officials, the complainants later suffered hugely with the entire department ganging up to block all the works/documents of the poor man who dared to challenge their graft-dom, thus defeating the very purpose of the traps.
“She has been showing good progress…Since she is quite an athlete, she is keen to join the police force, though we would be happy even if she pursues higher studies,” Atole said.
Presently, Rajula lives in Deori, with the LG’s family, learning new tricks of the trade on how to manage the household, kitchen, basic sewing etc.
Occasionally, she travels to visit her mother in a village around 40 km away, but accompanied by “someone responsible” — to ensure she doesn’t get ‘carried away’ by the fuming Maoists, perhaps forever.
“We also continue to support police action across the UK to identify those responsible for the racist and offensive comments posted on social media.”…reports Asian Lite News.
The Metropolitan Police have released the ten images of people sought in connection with violence and disorder at the Euro 2020 final in Wembley Stadium.
North London witnessed ugly scenes which included some ticketless fans storming Wembley in an attempt to watch the game between England and Italy.
London police in a statement said, “Following the match on Sunday, 11 July, officers began the painstaking process of reviewing hundreds of hours of CCTV and body worn video content from Wembley Stadium and other key locations. The meticulous investigation will continue to identify further people of interest or indeed other offences which may have occurred.”
Detective Sergeant Matt Simpson, from the Met’s Public Order Crime Team, said: “Following the scenes of disorder both at Wembley Stadium and in central London, we made a commitment that those responsible would face consequences.”
“Today’s action is being taken to help identify those who we think have questions to answer. If you know who they are, we urge you to get in touch as soon as possible. This investigation is in its very early stages and I am in no doubt that further appeals and arrests will follow,” Simpson said.
“We also continue to support police action across the UK to identify those responsible for the racist and offensive comments posted on social media.”
Earlier on Friday, Met police informed that two men have been arrested on suspicion of theft following allegations that they took items and shared them, for the purpose of allowing people to have unauthorised access to Wembley stadium during the Euro 2020 final. An 18-year-old man from Ilford, London and an 18-year-old man from Newham, London have both been released under police investigation while enquiries continue. (ANI)
The US lawmakers passed a $1.9 billion emergency funding bill aimed to enhance the security of the Capitol on Thursday…reports Asian Lite News
More than 70 Capitol police officers have quit after the events of January 6, when a crowd of supporters of former US President Donald Trump stormed the US Capitol in Washington, D.C., in an attempt to interrupt the vote count, the Politico reported on Saturday, citing the police union.
According to the Capitol Police union chair Gus Papathanasiou, officers are “demoralized” and “looking for a way out” as they face longer working hours for an indefinite period of time and deal with the trauma caused by the recent attacks, the news outlet stated.
“What keeps me awake at night is not the challenge of hiring and training more police officers, but keeping the officers we have right now. We have many officers on the fence about whether to stay with this department,” Papathanasiou was cited as saying by the Politico.
On Thursday, the US lawmakers passed a $1.9 billion emergency funding bill aimed to enhance the security of the Capitol. It provides for overtime pay, hazard pay and retention bonuses, in addition to more equipment and better training for the police officers. However, this measure may not be enough to solve the issue amid the surge in violence, the union chair was quoted as saying by the Politico.
In early April, an unknown person approached the territory of the Capitol by car, shot down two police officers and then crashed into a fence. After that, he got out of the car and, allegedly, rushed at the police brandishing a knife. In response, the officers opened fire. The attacker and one of the wounded police officers died in the hospital.
On January 6, a crowd of supporters of then President Donald Trump ransacked the US Capitol and disrupted the work of Congress counting electoral votes to formalize Joe Biden’s victory. More than 140 people were reportedly injured in the storming, five people died of various causes.
