Tag Archives: Gun Violence

Arizona man found guilty in ‘Draw Mohammed’ event shooting

PHOENIX (Reuters) – An Arizona man was found guilty on Thursday of plotting with others to attack a “Draw Mohammed” cartoon contest in Texas last year and providing material support to the Islamic State group, prosecutors said.

Abdul Malik Abdul Kareem, 44, was convicted on all five charges against him by a federal jury in U.S. District Court in Phoenix stemming from the May 3 attack in the Dallas suburb of Garland that left his two alleged associates dead in a shoot-out with police.

The case against Kareem, also known as Decarus Thomas, was the first Islamic State-related prosecution to reach trial of the dozens brought by the federal government across the nation. It is the second jury verdict in such a case, as U.S. Air Force veteran Tairod Pugh was convicted earlier this month in New York.

“This verdict sends a strong message to those who support terrorists,” acting special agent in charge of the FBI’s Phoenix division, Justin Tolomeo, said in a statement.

Kareem’s attorney could not be immediately reached for comment on Thursday, but Kareem maintained his innocence and denied involvement in the attacks when he took the stand for two days in the federal trial.

Kareem’s roommates, Elton Simpson and Nadir Soofi, of Phoenix were killed by Garland police after they opened fire with assault rifles outside the May 3 cartoon drawing event.

The contest was intended to satirize Islam’s Prophet Mohammed. It came months after gunmen killed 12 people in the Paris offices of French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in what was said to be revenge for its cartoons depicting Mohammed.

Such portrayals are considered offensive by Muslims. None of the approximately 150 people attending the event in Garland in May were hurt.

The original indictment said Kareem supplied the two gunmen with arms and helped them prepare for the attack. He was later charged with showing support for the Islamic State militant group in social media posts, researching travel to the Middle East to train with terrorists and seeking to make explosives that could be used during last year’s Super Bowl in Arizona, the most-watched U.S. sporting event annually.

Prosecutors said Kareem could face a potential sentence of at least 45 years in prison.

(Reporting by David Schwartz in Phoenix; Editing by Curtis Skinner and Sandra Maler)

Maryland police officer slain in ambush, two suspects arrested

LANDOVER, Md. (Reuters) – A gunman opened fire on a police station in the Maryland suburbs of Washington, D.C., on Sunday, killing one officer in what authorities called an unprovoked attack before the assailant and a second suspect were arrested.

The accused gunman was wounded in the ensuing shootout with several officers outside the station but was expected to survive, Prince George’s County Police Chief Henry Stawinski told reporters hours later.

The second suspect, who was believed to have accompanied the shooter but fled the scene when the gunfire began, was taken into custody about 30 minutes later following a search of the area, Stawinski said.

Neither suspect was immediately identified.

The police chief said he could offer no explanation for what might have precipitated the attack on the District 3 police station, which lies adjacent to county police headquarters in Landover, Maryland, about 8 miles east of Washington.

“It wasn’t about anything,” Stawinski told reporters at a news conference outside the hospital where the slain undercover officer, Jacai Colson, 28, was declared dead. Colson, a four-year veteran of the force, had been rushed to the hospital by a fellow officer in the back of a squad car.

“This man launched an attack on a police station and engaged several Prince George’s County police officers in a gunfight, to which they responded heroically,” Stawinski said.

He called the late-afternoon attack unprovoked, adding: “My understanding is he opened fire on the first officer he saw and then continued that conduct as officers became aware of what was going on, and then several officers engaged him.”

One eyewitness was quoted in The Washington Post as saying she heard the sound of what she thought were firecrackers outside, then looked out her window to see a man dressed in black firing a handgun at the police station.

“He fired one shot, and then he started pacing back and forth, then fired another shot,” Lascelles Grant, a nurse who lives nearby, told the newspaper. Grant said she then saw police officers pouring out of the station.

Police said the second suspect was under questioning Sunday night and no other individuals were believed to have been involved in the incident. According to the Post, authorities described the second suspect as the gunman’s brother.

John Teletchea, president of the Fraternal Order of Police union local, called the fallen officer a “cop’s cop.”

(Additional reporting by Brendan O’Brien in Milwaukee and Frank McGurty in New York; Writing and additional reporting by Steve Gorman in Los Angeles; Editing by Jonathan Oatis, Andrew Hay and Peter Cooney)

Suspect in shooting of Idaho pastor arrested

(Reuters) – A man suspected of shooting an Idaho pastor who led a prayer at a rally for U.S. Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz was arrested on Tuesday and was facing attempted murder charges, police said.

Kyle Odom, 30, was taken into custody in Washington D.C. in connection with the Sunday afternoon shooting of Pastor Tim Remington outside the Altar Church, Coeur d’Alene Police Department Chief Lee White said in a late Tuesday news conference.

Odom was apprehended by Secret Service officers after he tossed several items, including flash drives, over the fence of the White House, White said.

The items thrown by Odom were deemed non-hazardous, the U.S. Secret Service said in a statement.

The attack on the pastor is the latest in a spate of highly publicized shootings in the United States that have made gun control an issue in the presidential race.

Remington had led a prayer at a Cruz rally on Saturday and was shot by Odom, an ex-marine, the next day in the church parking lot in a preplanned attack, police said.

The senior pastor was shot six times, including in the skull, after Sunday morning service, John Padula, outreach pastor at the church told Reuters. Remington regained consciousness on Monday evening as a candlelight vigil for his recovery was underway, Padula said.

“He opened one eye and gave me a thumbs up,” Padula said, adding that Remington does not have feeling in his right arm but appears to be improving. “Without God, there is no way he’d be here.”

There is no apparent connection between the shooting and Remington’s appearance at the Cruz rally, Padula noted.

Cruz, an outspoken supporter of gun rights, could not be reached for comment on Tuesday, but a campaign spokeswoman told NBC News on Monday that they were praying for Remington’s recovery.

Odom flew from Boise, Idaho to Washington D.C., on March 7, White said. An investigation into his plans was ongoing.

The police chief, who previously said Odom had a history of mental illness, read a statement from Odom’s family saying they were thankful for his “safe apprehension.”

Local broadcaster KXLY reported that a Facebook page linked with Odom, who police said suffered from mental illness, was updated on Tuesday with a statement claiming that Remington was part of an ancient Martian civilization that ruled Earth.

(Reporting by Curtis Skinner and Victoria Cavaliere; Editing by Sara Catania, G Crosse, Kim Coghill and Michael Perry)

Gunmen kill four nuns, at least 11 others in old people’s home in Yemen

ADEN (Reuters) – Four gunmen attacked an old people’s home in the Yemeni port of Aden on Friday, killing at least 15 people, including four Christian nuns from India, local officials and medical sources said.

The gunmen, who first told the guard they were on a visit to their mother, stormed into the home with rifles and opened fire, one local official said. As well as the nuns, the dead included two Yemeni women working at the facility, eight elderly residents and a guard.

The motive of the gunmen was not immediately known. They fled after the attack, the official said.

The bodies of those killed have been transferred to a clinic supported by medical group Medecins Sans Frontieres, medical sources said.

Yemen’s embattled government is based in Aden but has struggled to impose its authority there since its forces, backed by Gulf Arab troops, expelled Iran-allied Houthi fighters who still control the country’s capital, Sanaa.

Once a cosmopolitan city home to thriving Hindu and Christian communities, Aden has gone from one of the world’s busiest ports as a key hub of the British empire to a largely lawless backwater.

Aden’s small Christian population left long ago. Unknown assailants have previously vandalized a Christian cemetery, torched a church and last year blew up an abandoned Catholic church.

(Reporting By Mohammed Mukhashaf; additional reporting by Mohammed Ghobari in Cairo; Writing By Maha El Dahan; Editing by Gareth Jones)

Brother of Ohio pastor shot dead during service charged with murder

CLEVELAND (Reuters) – The brother of an Ohio pastor shot and killed during a Sunday church service has been charged with aggravated murder and felonious assault, prosecutors said on Tuesday.

Daniel Gregory Schooler, 68, was charged in the death of Reverend William B. Schooler, 70, at St. Peter’s Missionary Baptist Church in Dayton, the Montgomery County prosecutor’s office said. He faces a possible sentence of life without parole if convicted.

Dayton police said they did not know the motive for the shooting, which they said occurred inside a church office during the service.

Schooler was charged with one count of aggravated murder, two counts of murder and felonious assault and with having weapons while under disability, said Greg Flannagan, a spokesman for the prosecutor’s office.

Schooler has previously been convicted twice of felonious assault with a deadly weapon, Flannagan said. He is in custody at the Montgomery County Jail in downtown Dayton.

Flannagan said the case would be presented to the Montgomery County grand jury at a future date.

(Reporting by Kim Palmer, Editing by Ben Klayman)

Four students wounded in shooting at Ohio high school

(Reuters) – Four students were wounded on Monday after a shooting at a high school in southwest Ohio, and one suspect was in custody, according to officials.

Details were not immediately available, but two students at Madison Jr/Sr High School in the city of Middletown were shot and taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries, school district and Butler County sheriff’s officials said on Twitter.

Two more students were hurt, but sheriff’s officials said it was unclear how. Local media reports said they were wounded by shrapnel.

The shooting suspect is a 14-year-old student, who ran from the scene and was caught, sheriff’s officials said. Officials did not identify the student, but local reports said that an eighth grader had brought a gun to school.

“All students are safe at this time,” the district said on its website and on Facebook. Local schools were placed on lockdown and students were dismissed early.

Middletown, Ohio is located about 23 miles southwest of Dayton and 38 miles north of Cincinnati.

(Reporting by Suzannah Gonzales and Justin Madden; Editing by Bernadette Baum)

Ohio pastor fatally shot during church services, brother a suspect

(Reuters) – An Ohio pastor was shot and killed as he was conducting church services on Sunday morning, with the suspected gunman being his brother, police said.

The pastor, identified by the Montgomery County Coroner Office as William Schooler, 70, was leading services when he was shot, said Dayton police Sergeant Mike Williams.

Dispatch reports show the shooter was believed to be Schooler’s brother, Williams said.

Local NBC affiliate WCMH-TV reported that witnesses said Schooler was headed back to the pulpit after stepping aside while the choir sang, when his brother followed him and shot him.

The television station reported that the brother, Daniel Schooler, 68, was arrested at the scene.

Reuters was not immediately able to confirm the arrest of Schooler. Williams said police were not yet releasing additional details of the incident.

The Montgomery County Coroner Office said William Schooler was pronounced dead on Sunday afternoon and that an autopsy would be conducted on Monday.

(Reporting by Sharon Bernstein in Sacramento, Calif.; Editing by Peter Cooney)

Kansas shooting suspect had been served protection order

(Reuters) – The man suspected of killing three people at the Kansas lawnmower factory where he worked had been served a protection order 90 minutes before his shooting spree, which also wounded 14 people, authorities said on Friday.

The suspect, identified as Cedric Ford, 38, was armed with a .223-caliber assault-style rifle and a pistol as he fired randomly at coworkers and others over about 30 minutes on Thursday.

He was killed in an exchange of gunfire with the first police officer to reach the scene, Hesston Police Chief Doug Schroeder, police secretary Jeannine Hoheisel said. Hesston is a town of about 4,000 people about 36 miles north of Wichita, Hoheisel said.

“The man was not going to stop shooting,” Harvey County Sheriff T. Walton said at a news conference on Friday, noting that there were up to 300 people in the Excel Industries factory where the worst of the rampage took place. “The only reason he stopped shooting is because that officer stopped the shooter.”

Ford had been served a protection from abuse order earlier Thursday at the factory, which may have triggered the bloodshed, authorities said. He left the factory after being served but began shooting about 90 minutes later.

The order, posted by the Wichita Eagle on its web site, was sought by an unidentified woman who had been living with Ford and said he had been physically abusive. She wrote in the order that he was alcoholic, violent, depressed and in need of medical and psychological help.

Ford had been jailed a couple of times before, Walton said.

Police identified the victims as Renee Benjamin, 30; Josh Higbee, 31; and Brian Sadowsky, 40, according to the KWCH television station.

The shooting began with Ford firing out of his vehicle as he drove through two cities back to the factory, Walton has said. He stole one victim’s car, went to Excel Industries and shot someone in the parking lot before going inside.

Law enforcement officials were checking to see if the firearms were legally purchased.

All 14 wounded victims remain at hospitals and at least five were initially listed in critical condition.

The attack follows a mass shooting in Michigan last weekend, when a driver for car-hailing service Uber [UBER.UL] killed six people.

President Barack Obama, at an event in Jacksonville, Florida, expressed exasperation with the U.S. Congress’ failure to act on gun violence issues.

“The real tragedy is the degree to which this has become routine,” he said.

The number of mass shootings in the United States has elevated gun control as a campaign issue in the November U.S. presidential election.

(Reporting by Victoria Cavaliere, Suzannah Gonzales, Jeff Mason and Roberta Rampton; Writing by Jon Herskovitz and Mary Wisniewski; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn; Bill Trott and Andrew Hay)

Michigan Uber driver admits role in deadly shooting spree, police say

KALAMAZOO, Mich. (Reuters) – A man working as an Uber driver admitted to the fatal weekend shootings of six people in Kalamazoo, Michigan, a police detective testified on Monday in a case raising questions about how the car service vets its drivers.

Jason Dalton, 45, was denied bail as he made his first court appearance on 16 charges including six of murder that can bring life in prison.

Dalton told detectives “he took people’s lives”, Kalamazoo Public Safety Detective Cory Ghiringhelli testified in a county district court ahead of the suspect’s arraignment.

Dalton appeared via a video link and was seen on a monitor at the Kalamazoo County court wearing glasses and dressed in an orange prison jumpsuit.

When asked if he had anything to say, Dalton, who appeared emotionless through the proceedings, said he preferred to “remain silent”.

The judge denied bail and set March 3 for the next hearing.

After the hearing Kalamazoo County Prosecuting Attorney Jeffrey Getting told reporters Dalton had been cooperative with authorities but possible motives for the shootings were still unclear.

“No one understands why it happened, and that adds to the fear and the sorrow,” Getting said.

Prosecutors alleged Dalton randomly shot multiple times at people during a five-hour period on Saturday at an apartment complex, a car dealership and a Cracker Barrel restaurant in Kalamazoo, about 150 miles (240 km) west of Detroit.

Police were investigating reports Dalton drove customers of the Uber car-hailing service the night of the rampage. Two people were wounded in the shootings, including a teenage girl who was initially thought to have died but was showing signs of improvement on Monday, state police said.

Initial checks with a key federal agency indicate Dalton was unknown to both law enforcement and counterterrorism agencies for having any known connection to extremist groups.

President Barack Obama said on Monday he had spoken to the mayor and top law enforcement in Kalamazoo about the shootings and pledged whatever federal support they need.

“Earlier this year, I took some steps that will make it harder for dangerous people like this individual to buy a gun. But clearly, we’re going to need to do more if we’re going to keep innocent Americans safe,” Obama said in remarks before the National Governors Association at the White House.

Uber said on Monday it would not be changing the way it screened its drivers following the weekend shooting spree. It also said Dalton had received “very favorable” feedback from riders.

“There were no red flags, if you will, that we could anticipate something like this,” said Uber’s chief security officer, Joe Sullivan.

Uber drivers use their personal vehicles to ferry customers at prices generally below those of established taxi companies. Critics contend vetting is inadequate and the company never meets potential drivers in person.

“A background check is just that – a background check. It does not foresee the future,” Ed Davis, of the Uber Safety Advisory Board, told a teleconference with reporters.

The Dalton family said in a statement: “There are no words which can express our shock and disbelief, and we are devastated and saddened for the victims and the families of the victims,” Michigan State Police said the shooting began at about 5:30 p.m. (2230 GMT) on Saturday with a woman wounded outside an apartment building. At about 10 p.m., Richard Smith and his son Tyler were killed at the car dealership.

About 15 minutes later four women identified as Mary Lou Nye, 62, of Baroda, Michigan; and Dorothy Brown, 74; Barbara Hawthorne, 68; and Mary Jo Nye, 60, were fatally shot outside the restaurant.

(Reporting by Brendan O’Brien in Milwaukee, Mark Hosenball and Ayesha Rascoe in Washington, D.C. Curtis Skinner in San Francisco, Barbara Goldberg in New York, Mary Wisniewski in Chicago and Jon Herskovitz in Austin, Texas; Writing by Jon Herskovitz; Editing by Bill Trott and Tom Brown)

Uber driver suspected in Michigan shootings, six dead

(Reuters) – A Michigan man who worked as an Uber driver was under arrest on Sunday in the fatal shooting of six people in Kalamazoo, as police investigated reports he may have driven customers of the car-hailing service the night of the rampage.

Prosecutors alleged that Jason Dalton, 45, opened fire, apparently at random, in parking lots outside an apartment building, a car dealership and at a Cracker Barrel restaurant in Kalamazoo, about 150 miles west of Detroit.

Two other people were wounded, including a teenage girl who was initially thought to have died.

Authorities could not confirm Dalton was working for Uber during the nearly five-hour shooting spree on Saturday evening. He was arrested without incident on Sunday while driving away from the parking lot of an area bar.

An Uber representative confirmed that Dalton was a company driver and had passed background checks. The representative referred questions about whether Dalton was working at the time of the shootings to police.

The victims “appear to be chosen at random, because they were available,” Kalamazoo County Prosecuting Attorney Jeff Getting said. “They were shot multiple times, multiple – nine, 10, 11 shell casings at each of these scenes.”

The carnage in Kalamazoo, a city of about 75,000 people, was the latest in a series of mass shootings that have elevated gun control as a campaign issue in the November U.S. presidential election.

The attack also prompted renewed interest in how Uber vets drivers, who use their personal vehicles to ferry customers at prices that are generally below those of established taxi companies. Critics say the company’s vetting process is flawed because it never meets with potential drivers in person.

Uber says on its website that it has an “extensive” driver screening process that includes collecting detailed information from potential drivers and using the investigation service Checkr to vet them. Other websites and databases such at the Dru Sjodin National Sex Offender Public Website are used as well.

WOOD-TV, a Grand Rapids station, quoted police as saying they were investigating reports Dalton dropped off Uber fares at a hotel and then killed four women and wounded a 14-year-old girl at the nearby Cracker Barrel. The teenager was in critical condition, Michigan State Police said.

In an emailed statement, Uber’s chief security officer, Joe Sullivan, said the company was in contact with police to help with the investigation.

An Uber passenger, Matt Mellen, told CBS TV affiliate WWMT that he had tried to alert the company after a wild ride with Dalton about an hour before the first shooting was reported.

He said Dalton introduced himself using a different name from the one listed as a driver. He then sped through medians and across a lawn, and Mellen jumped out at a stop at about 4:30 p.m.

“He just kind of kept looking at me like, ‘Don’t you want to get to your friend’s house?’ and I’m like, ‘I want to get there alive,'” said Mellen, a brewery worker.

His fiancée posted a Facebook account of the ride that said Dalton had sideswiped a car and run a stop sign. Mellen said he unsuccessfully tried to contact Uber about Dalton after talking to police.

Kalamazoo Police Chief Jeff Hadley told Reuters that investigators were still looking into reports of Dalton picking up Uber fares around the time of the shootings. He confirmed that a man did call police with a report of an erratic Uber driver and the report was relayed to patrol officers.

Hadley said it was not unusual for police to receive such reports and that he was not sure whether investigators had contacted the passenger who made the report.

An Uber spokesman could not be immediately reached for comment on Mellen’s account.

Michigan State Police said the carnage began at about 5:30 p.m. ET with the report of a woman wounded outside an apartment building. At about 10 p.m., a father and son were killed at the car dealership.

Dalton allegedly opened fire outside the restaurant about 15 minutes later. The four slain women were identified as Mary Lou Nye, 62, of Baroda, Michigan; and Dorothy Brown, 74; Barbara Hawthorne, 68; and Mary Jo Nye, 60, all of Battle Creek, Michigan, state police said.

Earlier, authorities reported seven deaths. Hadley said he understood that the wounded teenage girl was initially believed to have died and was being prepped for organ harvesting when she grasped the hand of one of her parents.

Getting said Dalton was thought to have been in contact with more than one person via cellphone during the shooting spree. Hadley said authorities have contacted Dalton’s wife, who is safe and cooperating with investigators.

Dalton is expected to be arraigned on Monday on charges of murder, assault and firearms violations, the prosecutor said. Getting said a semiautomatic pistol was found in Dalton’s car. Police said he had no known criminal record.

The Detroit Free Press newspaper said neighbors described Dalton as a father of two who “loved guns” and who worked on cars and had a day job as an insurance salesman.

The Kalamazoo shootings come as Uber is facing a range of regulatory and safety issues. The company agreed last month to pay $28.5 million to settle federal litigation brought by customers who alleged the service misrepresented the quality of its safety practices and fees.

(Reporting by Chris Michaud and Ian Simpson in Washington, and Curtis Skinner in San Francisco; Editing by Alan Crosby, Jonathan Oatis and Chris Reese)