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Cops detain suspect in July 4 parade mass shooting

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.

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Bloody weekend in Chicago: 37 shot, 7 killed

In a recent incident, a minor child was killed and another was injured in a shooting in Houston when two suspects opened fire at a moving vehicle for unknown reasons, officials said…reports Asian Lite News

The July 4 weekend in Chicago, Illinois, witnessed a series of shooting incidents in which at least 37 people were injured and 7 killed in gun shootings, local media reported.

This is a new string of horrific shootings that took place in the United States where the latest is the killing of a 30-year-old man who was shot dead on Saturday morning (local time) in Chicago, Illinois.

The shooting incident took place in the 9000 block of Escanaba at about 12:19 a.m. when the victim was shot in the head by an unknown person, police said. The victim was taken to an area hospital however he was pronounced dead. No one was in custody as of Saturday afternoon.

On the same day, a 90-year-old man was hospitalized later Saturday after suffering a gunshot wound to the abdomen, with Mount Sinai Hospital listing him in critical condition, reported Fox News.

On Friday (local time) at least seven people were killed and at least 29 others were injured so far in shootings across the city of Chicago, local media citing local authorities.

According to the Chicago Police, a 26-year-old man was shot and killed at approximately 5:43 p.m on Friday in the 6500 block of South Wolcott during the fatal shooting over the weekend.

The incident transpired when the victim was near the sidewalk when an unknown offender approached, produced a handgun and started firing shots. Following the action by the offender, the victim was struck to the arm and head, authorities said.

The victim was taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center however he was later pronounced dead, reported NBC Chicago.

This is not an isolated incident as another fatal shooting took place on the same day at around 10:52 p.m. In this incident, a 24-year-old woman shot in the torso, according to the police. After receiving the information the police responded and the victim was taken to an area hospital where she was pronounced dead.

In the same shooting, a 42-year-old woman was injured when she was shot in the hand and taken to an area hospital, police said. A 38-year-old man, who police said was also an offender, was shot in the buttocks and taken to an area hospital in critical condition.

According to the preliminary investigation into the matter, the police said the man in custody was exchanging gunfire with another man who fled the scene. A weapon was recovered and detectives are now investigating into the incident, as per the media portal.

The shootings came the same day Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot held a press conference, where she expressed appreciation for the city’s police officers.

“We need to remember every single day on every single watch, our brave men and women of the Chicago Police Department are out there literally risking their lives for our safety,” Mayor Lori Lightfoot said during a Friday press conference where she reminded residents to “say thank you” to officers.

With increasing incidents of gun violence in the United States, President Joe Biden had said that the US needs to ban assault weapons for the sake of protecting children and families or raise the age to purchase them from 18 to 21.

In a recent incident, a minor child was killed and another was injured in a shooting in Houston when two suspects opened fire at a moving vehicle for unknown reasons, officials said.

Furthermore, on June 22, a group of US lawmakers reached a much-awaited deal on a bipartisan gun safety bill after recent mass shooting incidents in Uvalde, Buffalo and Texas, that struck a nerve in the country.

The new bill aims to take firearms away from dangerous people and provide billions of dollars in new mental health funding.

The bill does not ban assault-style rifles or significantly expand background-check requirements for gun purchases, but it gives states more resources to take guns away from dangerous individuals.

In the recent incidents, two people were killed and four others including three officers were injured in a shooting in Haltom City of Texas on Saturday. Police said that one woman was found dead inside the home and a man was found fatally shot in the home’s driveway. An elderly woman who called 911 was shot but expected to survive.

On May 24, a mass shooting incident took place at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas in which several people including 19 children were killed. This was the deadliest attack since the 2018 Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Florida, where 17 people were killed, according to CNN.

On June 20, a teenager was shot dead and three others including a police officer were injured in a shooting in the area of 14th and U Street Northwest in Washington, DC.

On June 1, at least four people were killed in a shooting incident at a hospital campus in Oklahoma’s Tulsa city, CNN reported citing police. The shootout incidents in the US have been increasing. (ANI)

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3 dead in Copenhagen shopping mall shooting

The motive for the shooting remains unknown and the suspect will face questioning by a judge on Monday…reports Asian Lite News

Three people were killed and several others injured, three of them critically, during a shooting at a Copenhagen shopping mall, one of the biggest in Denmark, police confirmed on Monday.

“A man in his 40s and two teenagers were killed” in the shooting at Field’s Shopping Center located in the Amager district, Copenhagen Chief Police Inspector Soren Thomassen said at a press conference on Monday.

At around 5.35 p.m. on Sunday evening, police received a call regarding the incident, according to Thomassen.

At 5.48 p.m., a 22-year-old Danish man in possession of a rifle and ammunition was arrested outside the shopping mall, he said.

The motive for the shooting remains unknown and the suspect will face questioning by a judge on Monday.

Thomassen said the police cannot rule out the possibility of a terror attack so far.

On Sunday night, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said Denmark had suffered a cruel attack.

“Denmark was hit by a cruel attack on Sunday night… Several were killed. Even more wounded. Innocent families shopping or eating out. Children, adolescents and adults.

“Our beautiful and usually so safe capital was changed in a split second,” the BBC quoted the Prime Minister as saying.

Denmark’s royal family said their “deepest sympathy” was with “the victims, their relatives and all those who are affected by the tragedy”.

“We do not yet know the full extent of the tragedy, but it is already clear that more people have lost their lives and that even more have been injured,” said the joint statement by Queen Margrethe, Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary.

The Field’s opened in 2004 and is the second largest shopping mall in Denmark.

It has more than 140 shops and restaurants.

The last time Denmark witnessed a major terror incident was in 2015, when two people were killed and six police officers were injured during an attack on a cultural centre and a synagogue in Copenhagen.

The gunman was later killed in a shootout with police.

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India News Sport Sports

Manini Kaushik wins Women’s 50M Rifle 3 Positions T4 trials

In the Junior Women’s 3P T4 trials, Nishchal of Haryana and Ashi Chouksey of Madhya Pradesh fought it out for the gold in a repeat of the Junior T3 trials played on Friday…reports Asian Lite News

Rajasthan’s Manini Kaushik won the Women’s 50M Rifle 3 Positions (3P) T4 National Selection Trial beating Nikita Kundu of Haryana 16-14 in the gold medal match played at the Dr. Karni Singh Shooting Range, here.

Manini also topped the qualification round with a score of 588 out of 600 across 20-shots each in the Kneeling, Prone and Standing positions, as well as the eight-woman semi-final stage where she shot 403.6.

Nikita had finished fifth in the qualifiers with 583 while following Manini into the finals with a second-place semi-final effort of 400.8. Meena Kumari of Haryana won bronze in the event.

In the Junior Women’s 3P T4 trials, Nishchal of Haryana and Ashi Chouksey of Madhya Pradesh fought it out for the gold in a repeat of the Junior T3 trials played on Friday.

Nishchal emerged triumphant yet again, albeit with a much closer 16-14 scoreline this time. Nikita Kundu picked up her second medal of the day with a bronze in the Junior event to add to her silver in the senior event.

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Arab News News World

Israel to increase operations in West Bank after attack in Tel Aviv

Israeli Chief of the General Staff Aviv Kochavi ordered the country’s defence forces to increase operations in the West Bank, after a deadly attack in Tel Aviv…reports Asian Lite News

According to a statement released by Israel Defense Forces (IDF), Kochavi held a meeting on Friday with senior military officers to grasp the country’s current security situation amid the rise of attacks on civilians, reports Xinhua news agency.

Three Israeli civilians died during a gun attack in a crowded bar in the Israeli coastal city on Thursday evening.

The gunmen, a Palestinian from the West Bank city of Jenin, was later killed by Israeli security forces.

This was the fourth deadly attack in Israel in fewer than three weeks, during which a total of 14 people have been killed.

The military will increase operational activity in the northern West Bank, the IDF statement said, adding the Israeli forces will “increase defensive efforts” along the West Bank barrier.

ALSO READ: Palestine urges UN to contain Israeli actions in East Jerusalem

Israel built the West Bank barrier wall in response to the Second Intifada, a popular Palestinian uprising against the Jewish state from 2000 to 2005.

Israel says the wall was meant to stop waves of suicide bombings during the period, while Palestinians call it a racial segregation wall.

“All of these counterterrorism efforts aim to thwart future terrorist attacks,” the IDF said.

Israeli military and police forces have been on high alert since the current wave of attacks began in mid-March.

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-Top News Crime

Six killed including gunman in Plymouth shooting

A third woman was taken to a local hospital, where she later died, police said…reports Asian Lite News.

Six people were killed, including a suspected shooter in Plymouth, England, on Thursday night.

Police responded to a “serious firearms incident” in the Keyham section of the city in southwest England at about 6:10 pm local time, according to Devon and Cornwall police, reported ABC News.

Priti Patel, UK’s Home Secretary, tweeted, “The incident in Plymouth is shocking and my thoughts are with those affected. I have spoken to the Chief Constable and offered my full support.”

When the police arrived at the scene, they found two men and two women dead from gunshot wounds. They also found a man who is believed to be the shooter dead at the scene. All five were pronounced dead from gunshot wounds.

A third woman was taken to a local hospital, where she later died, police said.

Police said the next of kin for all of the deceased have been notified. Police did not say how the suspect died, but he was dead prior to police arriving, reported ABC News.

Names and ages of the victims have not been released yet by the police.

“There have been a number of fatalities at the scene and several other casualties are receiving treatment,” police said in a statement. “A critical incident has been declared. The area has been cordoned off and police believe the situation is contained.”

Meanwhile, Johnny Mercer, a member of Parliament representing the region, said the shooting was not believed to be terror-related.

Devon and Cornwall police reiterated in a statement announcing the deaths that the case was not related to terrorism, reported ABC News.

Police said they are not searching for any further suspects related to the shooting. There was no speculation about a motive and no information on how the victims were connected to the shooter, if at all.

Devon and Cornwall police said an investigation of the incident is ongoing. (ANI)

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Series of shooting incidents reported in US cities

Early Monday, Santa Rosa police officers responded to the incident at an illegal fireworks gathering and found four gunshot victims…reports Asian Lite News.

A series of shooting incidents were reported in three US cities in which 5 persons were reportedly killed and several injured.

Two people are dead and three others injured in a shooting on Sunday (local time) in a park in downtown Cincinnati, a city in the US state of Ohio.

Cincinnati police have identified the two dead as a 16-year-old and 19-year-old. The three injured were taken to hospital. Police have not released any information about a suspect as of Monday morning.

According to a police news release, the shooting happened around 11 p.m. Sunday (0400 GMT Monday) during an “Independence Day” celebration when about 400 teenagers gathered in the park. It was unknown whether the shooting was random or targeted, the police said.

Two people were killed and seven others injured in a shooting in the US state of Nevada, police said. In a report on Monday, KTNV-TV, an ABC-affiliated local television station, the North Las Vegas Police Department received a call of the shooting at around 11:14 p.m. local time.

Upon arrival, they found one person with multiple non-life-threatening gunshot wounds and transported the victim to a nearby hospital. The department was subsequently contacted by two local hospitals that they had multiple shooting victims.

Each of the two hospitals had one victim who died as a result of a shooting, the news outlet reported. Citing police, KTNV-TV said both victims were men in their early 20s and there were multiple scenes.

Meanwhile, one man was killed and three others were injured in a shooting incident in California’s Santa Rosa city. Early Monday, Santa Rosa police officers responded to the incident at an illegal fireworks gathering and found four gunshot victims.

A 35-year-old Santa Rosa man died at the scene and his identification is not yet released. A 29-year-old woman and a 17-year-old girl, both from Santa Rosa, were critically injured in the shooting. A 16-year-old boy was also shot, but his injury was not considered life-threatening, according to the police.

The incident happened as dozens of people participated in a large, illegal fireworks show, police said. According to a report by San Francisco Chronicle, a car drove into the neighbourhood and one or more people from the car started shooting.

A person in the crowd exchanged fire with the car occupants. The car crashed into a parked car and the suspects fled on foot. Investigators searched for the suspects on the spot but failed to find them, the police said.

Gunfire killed more than 8,100 people in the United States in the first five months of 2021, averaging about 54 per day, according to a Washington Post analysis of data from the Gun Violence Archive, a nonprofit research organization.

That’s 14 more deaths per day than the average toll during the same period in the previous six years. (ANI/Xinhua)

ALSO READ-Four Sikhs killed in US shooting

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-Top News Crime USA

Four Sikhs killed in US shooting

President Joe Biden ordered the national flag to be flown at half-mast at all government facilities and US embassies abroad, reports Arul Louis

At least four Sikhs have been killed in a mass shooting at a FedEx company facility in Indianapolis by a 19-year-old former employee, according to the Sikh Coalition.

Officials, who said that a “significant” number of employees at the parcel and courier service company are Sikhs, reported that the gunman killed himself after murdering eight people Thursday night and wounding at least seven, five of whom were hospitalised.

They did not identify the victims as of Friday evening, but the Sikh Coalition said, “We are sad to confirm that at least four of those killed in Thursday night’s attacks are members of the Indianapolis Sikh community.”

It added, “We are in touch with sangat leaders, government and law enforcement officials” and “we expect that the authorities will conduct a full investigation — including the possibility of a bias factor.”

WXIN-TV station quoted Parminder Singh, the uncle of one of the victims, as saying that his niece who worked at the facility near the airport phoned him shortly after the shooting and told him that she was shot while in her car and was being taken to the hospital.

Indiana Police Chief Randal Taylor said that a “significant” number of the FedEx workers at the facility are Sikhs.

Also Read – Biden to curb US gun violence epidemic

President Joe Biden ordered the national flag to be flown at half-mast at all government facilities and US embassies abroad.

Police Deputy Chief Craig McCartt told reporters that shooter has been identified as Brian Hole, who had worked in the FedEx facility but left last year.

He said that Hole began shooting people in the parking lot of the major parcel and courier company facility killing four people, then entered the building and killed four others before apparently committing suicide before police got there.

“There was no confrontation, no disturbance, he just randomly started shooting,” he said.

McCartt said that Hole had previously come to the attention of police and in March last year a gun was seized from him.

The official in charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Indianapolis office, Paul Keenan, said that he had been questioned by the agency after his mother had warned that he might try to commit suicide by provoking police to shoot him.

Hole’s step-sister told WXIN TV that he was “isolated” and “never got the help he needed.”

She told the station that there was a history of mental illness in the family and that their father had committed suicide in 2004.

McCartt said that he could not say what the motive for Hole’s rampage was.

Sikhs have for long been victims of bias attacks in US, often being mistaken for Muslims because of their turbans.

According to the FBI’s 2019 hate crime statistics — the latest available — there were 49 anti-Sikh attacks with 60 victims.

In 2012 a gunman attacked a gurdwara in Oak Creek in Wisconsin State killing seven Sikhs and wounding four.

The perpetrator, Wade Michael Page, an ex-serviceman described as a White supremacist, killed himself after being injured by police.

The Indianapolis police shooting is the latest in a series of mass shootings plaguing the US.

“Gun violence is an epidemic in America,” Biden said in a statement.

Also Read – US House passes two key gun bills

Just last month a White man killed eight people, six of them Asian women, at three massage parlours in Atlanta.

That was followed by the killing of ten people including a police officer by a Syrian immigrant in Boulder, Colorado State.

“What a cruel wait and fate that has become too normal and happens every day somewhere in our nation,” Biden said and urged Congress to “enact commonsense gun violence prevention legislation, like universal background checks and a ban of weapons of war and high-capacity magazines.”

There are no national laws governing gun ownership and regulations vary by states, with some allowing even high caliber automatic weapons with no checks on owners.

Efforts to regulate gun ownership has been stymied mainly by the Republican Party backed by the powerful National Rifle Association, an organisation of gun owners.

According to the Gun Violence Archive, 19,380 people were shot dead last year in the US, an increase of more than 25 per cent over the previous year’s deaths.

Japan’s Prime Minister, who is visiting the US said at the White House before a meeting with Biden, “I would like to express my condolences to the victims, and my sympathies to the families. Innocent citizens must not be exposed to any such violence.”

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Bollywood Lite Blogs

‘Ram Setu’ shoot begins in Ayodhya

Ram Setu will be directed by Abhishek Sharma and is produced by Aruna Bhatia and Vikram Malhotra.

One of the most awaiting movies of Bollywood, ‘Ram Setu’ shoot started in Ayodhya. Actress Jacqueline Fernandez posted a picture on Instagram with “Ram Setu” co-stars Akshay Kumar and Nushratt Bharuccha on Friday, announcing the start of the ambitious film.

“Here we go!!! #ramsetu feeling so grateful and blessed to be a part of this film!!!” Jacqueline wrote as caption.

The actors started off with the Mahurat shot of the Abhishek Sharma directorial on Thursday.

Besides “Ram Setu”, Jacqueline will also be seen in “Bachchan Pandey”, “Bhoot Police”, “Kick 2”, “Cirkus”, and “Attack” in the coming months.

Akshay Reaches Ayodhya

Actor Akshay Kumar, along with his co-actors Jacqueline Fernandez and Nushrrat Bharucha, reached Ayodhya on Thursday for the mahurat of their new film ‘Ram Setu’.

Akshay and his co-actors first went to meet Raja Ayodhya, Bimlendra Mohan Pratap Mishra, where they also met other members of the Shri Ram Teerth Kshetra Trust.

The actors will proceed to the Ram Janmabhoomi temple later in the afternoon where they will perform ‘puja’ and formally start the shooting of ‘Ram Setu’.

In the evening, the actors will return to Lucknow where they are expected to meet Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

Ram Setu will be directed by Abhishek Sharma and is produced by Aruna Bhatia and Vikram Malhotra.

The film will be shot at multiple locations with a major part in Mumbai.

Before leaving for Ayodhya, Akshay shared a photo of himself, Jacqueline Fernandez and Nushrratt Bharuccha having a candid chat outside what appears to be a chartered flight on Thursday morning.

Akshay Kumar wrote: “A special film, a special start…Team #RamSetu off to Ayodhya for the mahurat shot. And so the journey begins. Need special wishes from all you guys.”

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