Tag Archives: Police

Shooting at Umpqua Community College, 13 Dead and over 20 Wounded

A shooter opened fire at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon Thursday morning killing 13 people and wounding more than 20.

The unidentified suspect was killed in a gunfight with Douglas County Sheriff’s deputies.

At about 10:38 AM, the 911 center received a report of a shooting at Umpqua Community College. Police immediately responded.

Governor Kate Brown said the shooter was “a 20-year-old male.” She expressed her “profound dismay and unimaginable heartbreak. Our top priority now is the medical treatment of the victims and the security of the campus.”

Umpqua is a two-year school with about 3,300 full-time students and 16,000 part-time students. It started offering classes in 1961.
In audio of the emergency call, a dispatcher is heard saying that at the college’s Snyder Hall: “Somebody is outside one of the doors shooting through the door. A female is inside the computer lab. We do have one female that has been shot at this time.”

Our prayers are with the families of the victims in this horrible tragedy.

Gunman Opens Fire at Ferguson Protest

A gunman hidden within a group of black protesters shot at St. Louis County police officers on Sunday night following a protest about the death of Michael Brown one year ago.

One of the protesters was shot by police after he fired “a remarkable amount of gunfire” using a stolen handgun according to St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar.  

“We cannot continue, we cannot talk about the good things that we have been talking about, if we are prevented from moving forward with this kind of violence,” he said.

Belmar insisted the people conducting the violence were not protesters.

“They were criminals; they weren’t protesters,” Chief Belmar said of the groups exchanging gunfire. “Protesters are the people out there talking about a way to effect change. We can’t afford to have this kind of violence, not only on a night like this, but any point in time if we’re going to move forward in the right direction.”

The gunfire began as Ferguson’s acting police chief, Andre Anderson, was speaking to reporters.  The gunman fired at police who pursued him following the initial volley of shots.

“The weekend’s events were peaceful and promoted a message of reconciliation and healing,” Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch said in a statement. “But incidents of violence, such as we saw last night, are contrary to both that message, along with everything that all of us, including this group, have worked to achieve over the past year.”

Gunman Killed in Nashville Area Movie Theater

A gunman has been killed after opening fire inside a Nashville, Tennessee area movie theater.

A spokesman for the Nashville Metro P.D., Don Aaron, told reporters on the scene that man came to a showing of the movie “Mad Max” at the Carmike Hickory 8 theater in Antioch with a gun and a hatchet.  The gunman wounded one person with the hatchet and people stormed out of the theater.

A police officer entered the theater from the projection booth.  As the officer was clearing the theater, the gunman opened fire on the police officer.  The officer returned fire as he backed out of the room and held the gunman in place until a SWAT team arrived on the scene.

When the SWAT team arrived and engaged the shooter, he returned fire and then was shot dead by the police.

Aaron told the press conference that two backpacks were found at the scene that belonged to the shooter and the bomb squad was dealing with the bags.

The incident is the second theater shooting at a movie theatre in two weeks.  On July 23rd, a shooter killed 2 and wounded 8 before killing himself inside a theater in Lafayette, Louisiana.

Police See Wheelchair Bound Man Trying To Mow Lawn; Take Over The Job

Three police officers in Kalamazoo, Michigan took a break from enforcing the law this week to mow the lawn.

And no one in the community is complaining about it.

Officer Joe Hutson discovered a man in a wheelchair trying to mow his lawn.  Officer Hutson radioed his partner, officer John Khillah, asking him to bring a second mower and weed trimmer and then took over the mowing job from the wheelchair bound man.

Officer Khillah brought the mower, trimmer and a leaf blower from the nearby Public Safety Station #2 along with Sgt. Ken Skibbe.  The three men then mowed, trimmed and took care of the lawn trimmings for the homeowner.

“We are showing people our officers are committed to a service-oriented style of policing,” Capt. Jim Mallery said in an interview with the Kalamazoo Gazette last month.

The KPD reported the man’s lawn was “manicured to perfection” on the department’s Facebook page.

Italian Police Seize $2 Billion From Mafia

Italian police announced a huge step forward in their fight against organized crime in their nation.

A police sting against the ‘Ndrangheta mafia, the crime syndicate which controls much of the cocaine trade across Europe, seized assets worth over 2 billion euros or over $2.2 billion American dollars.

“[This is] a serious blow to the ‘Ndrangheta,” Italy’s interior minister Angelino Alfrano told the BBC.

Police seized at least 1,500 betting parlors, 82 gambling websites, 45 Italian companies and 11 foreign companies under the mafia’s control.  Six of those companies were in Malta according to investigators.

“[The suspects] recycled an enormous amount of ‘dirty’ money through the use of gaming accounts assigned to willing or unwitting people,” a police statement read.  “They bypassed the laws governing this sector, accumulating significant profits that were then reinvested in the acquisition of new companies and licences to further expand their activities.”

It’s the second major seizure by police in the last two weeks.  Two weeks prior, they seized more than 1.6 billion euros in assets from five men suspected of links to the mafia.

Officer Buys Diapers, Shoes for Mom of 6 Caught Shoplifting

When Sarah Robinson of Kansas City, Kanasa was caught shoplifting at a Walmart store after running out of diapers for her 2-year-old daughter, she feared going to jail and the loss of her family.

“My heart just dropped. I didn’t know what to say or do. It was horrible. I thought I was going to jail,” said Robinson.

Instead, she ran into an angel wearing a badge.

Officer Mark Engravalle of the Roeland Park Police Department arrived at the Walmart after answering the shoplifting call.  As he spoke to Robinson, the officer noticed that some of her children were not wearing shoes.  It led him to ask about her situation rather than what she was doing inside the store.

“He noticed [what she stole] were necessities like diapers, shoes for the kids, some clothing,” John Demoss, Roeland Park public information officer, told ABC News. “He asked her what the situation was, and she broke down crying.”

Officer Engravalle had to do his job but instead of arresting and taking Robinson to the station, he gave her a citation for misdemeanor threat.  Then he walked back into the Walmart.  He bought diapers, baby wipes and clothes for the children.

“The officer had two children of his own, and he thought of his two kids,” Demoss said. “He thought it was the right thing to do.”

“He couldn’t have been nicer to my girls,” Robinson said. “And then I got a call the next day saying they wanted to help us further and help us get a place to live.”

Two local radio stations then stepped up to raise items for the family.  One station collected over $6,000 in items for the family.

Boston Police Shoot Terror Suspect

Boston police fatally shot a man Tuesday that was part of a terrorism investigation.

An official with the U.S. Joint Terrorism Task Force says the slain man was part of a terror investigation involving Islamist extremists who were under surveillance and tracking.  The man was shot after coming toward police and federal agents with a military-style knife.

Boston Police Commissioner William Evans said the man was specifically under investigation for threats against police officers.  Details on those threats were not released to the media.

“Unfortunately, he came at the officers and, you know, they do what they were trained to do and, unfortunately, they had to take a life,” Evans said.

The suspect died at an area hospital.

Two officers who were involved in the incident were examined for stress at the hospital but did not suffer any physical injuries.

The shooting is still under official investigation.

Baltimore Police Undergoes Federal Investigation

On the heels of riots in Baltimore and the arrest and charges against six police officers in the death of Freddie Gray, the mayor has asked the federal government to carry out an investigation of the police department.

Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said that the police had a “fractured” relationship with the community.  The declaration comes after the Obama administration’s new attorney general visited the city and held a private meeting with Blake.

“The attorney general is actively considering that option in light of what she heard from law enforcement, city officials, and community, faith and youth leaders in Baltimore yesterday,” Justice Department spokeswoman Dena Iverson said.

A spokesman for Baltimore City Council President Jack Young said that Mr. Young has been calling for an investigation since October.  The requested investigation is similar to the one in Ferguson, Missouri after the Michael Brown incident.

In the first five years of their term, the Justice Department has started investigations into over 20 police departments, more than double the amount of the previous term.

Five law enforcement agencies were found to have had no violations.  Cities that have faced similar investigations include New Orleans and Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Rioters Attack Baltimore Police

Violent black youths stormed out of a funeral for Freddie Gray, the man who died while in Baltimore police custody, and launched a series of violent attacks on police.

The attacks involved throwing rocks and bricks at officers and setting several police vehicles on fire.

Police spokesman Capt. Eric Kowalczyk said that seven officers were injured as a result of attacks from protesters including one who is unresponsive and in critical condition.  Several of the wounded officers are suffering from broken bones due to the projectiles thrown at them.

WMAR Baltimore is reporting that many of the rioters appear to be youths between 14 and 18 years old.  Religious leaders in the region are calling on their followers to find out where their children are and to take them home, especially if they are part of the protests.

Rev. Jamal H. Bryant, who delivered the eulogy for Gray, told CNN that the city was in a “code red crisis.”  He said that men from the Nation of Islam are planning to build a “human wall” to stop the bomb from coming downtown in an attempt to stem the violence.

City Council President Jack Young posted on Facebook pleading with the community to stop their actions.

“The World is watching us to see if we do what took place in 1968,” he said, referring to riots that crippled the city. “We literally destroyed our neighborhood and business. We never really recovered from that.”

Downtown businesses closed early and evacuated their staff after reports indicated the rioters were attempting to head downtown with their violence.

A CVS Pharmacy on W. North Avenue was overrun by protesters who completely looted and destroyed the store.  WMAR-TV showed men sitting in the street going through bags of prescription drugs and a van that was loaded with stolen personal hygiene products.

The family of Freddie Gray had asked at the funeral for no protests following the service.

Ferguson Protesters Shoot Two Police Officers

Two police officers were shot early Thursday morning outside the Ferguson, Missouri police department.

Police described the attack as “an ambush” and that either officer could have been easily killed in the attack.  One officer was hit in the face below the right eye and the other officer was hit in the shoulder.  Both are expected to recover with any long-term damage.

However, St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar focused on the fact the officers could have been killed.

“We could have buried two police officers next week over this,” he said.

Belmar said the shots came from about 120 yards away and were clearly aimed at the police.

“This is really an ambush,” he said. “You are basically defenseless. It is hard to guard against.”

Witnesses say there was no warning before the attack.

“I saw the officer go down and the other police officers drew their guns while other officers dragged the injured officer away,” protester Marciay Pitchford said. “All of a sudden everybody started running or dropping to the ground.”

The crowd was protesting following the announcement that the police chief of Ferguson was resigning after a Justice Department report regarding problems within the Ferguson P.D.