News – Page 2679 – 105.7 WDNY

Arrest warrants issued for two suspects in Philadelphia mass shooting: Prosecutor

June 6, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(PHILADELPHIA) — Arrest warrants were issued Monday for two suspects in a mass shooting Saturday night in Philadelphia as police continue to work to identify other gunmen in the rampage that left three people dead and 11 injured, according to prosecutors.

Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner said at a news conference that he approved charges against two suspects “in connection to what we anticipate are non-fatal shootings.”

Assistant District Attorney Joanne Pescatore said warrants were issued for Quran Garner, who was shot by a police officer during the incident and is in custody, and a second individual, whose name was not released, and who remains at large.

Pescatore said Garner, who was undergoing surgery Monday on an injured hand, is charged with two counts of aggravated assault and two counts of aggravated assault on law enforcement officers.

The unnamed individual is charged with attempted murder, aggravated assault, simple assault, recklessly endangering another person, conspiracy, violating the uniform firearms act, possession of an instrument of crime, tampering with evidence and obstruction of justice.

Citing security video, Pescatore said the shooting erupted after one of the victims she identified as Micah Towns got into a physical confrontation with Gregory Jackson, a 34-year-old man who was killed in the shooting.

Pescatore said Towns and Jackson were passing each other on the same side of South Street when words were exchanged, setting off a melee.

“Jackson takes a swing at Micah Towns, striking him in the face,” Pescatore said.

She said the unnamed wanted suspect, who was with Jackson at the time, gets involved in the fight.

“Micah Towns is thrown against a window while they are beating on him,” Pescatore said.

She said Jackson, who had a valid permit to carry a concealed firearm, is seen on video pulling out a gun and holding it to his side. She said, Towns, who also had a concealed firearm permit, drew his gun and fired at Jackson in self-defense, killing him.

Pescatore said the unnamed suspect then shot Towns, who remains in a hospital in serious condition.

She said Garner, who was with Towns at the time, then allegedly drew a weapon and fired in the direction of where the melee occurred as police converged on the scene.

She said Garner then allegedly aimed his weapon at officers, who fired at him, striking him in the hand.

Pescatore said Garner ran from the area yelling “he shot my hand off” and police lost him in the crowd. She said Garner later approached other officers dealing with a separate shooting on Second Street, claimed he had been shot in the incident and was taken to a hospital.

Pescatore said Garner allegedly fired a Ghost gun, a non-traceable weapon, in the shooting and that it remains unclear if he hit anyone. The gun also had an extended magazine.

The unnamed suspect remained at the scene rendering medical aid to Jackson, Pescatore said.

She said the suspect gave his name and address to police and was allowed to leave the scene. It was only after investigators reviewed the video did they realize the man was involved in the shooting and was caught on video picking up Jackson’s gun and giving it to an unidentified man in a blue hooded sweatshirt who fled with the weapon.

Pescatore said at least four guns — three 9mm weapons and a .40-caliber handgun — were involved in the shooting on Second Street, a popular nightlife area full of bars and restaurants that was crowded with hundreds of people when the shooting erupted.

She said the crime scene encompassed about a two block area.

Philadelphia police officials said officers recovered two guns from the scene, including one with an extended magazine, authorities said.

“Hour by hour we are finding out more information,” Krasner said.

Krasner described witnessing a “chilling” scene when he visited the site of the shooting just hours after it occurred.

“It is no less chilling that it happened in no less than 10 places around the country in a space of a few days,” said Krasner, referring to mass shootings that occurred over the weekend in nine different states that left a total of at least 17 people dead and 62 injured.

The Philadelphia shooting erupted just before midnight Saturday at the busy intersection of Third and South streets.

Inspector D.F. Pace of the Philadelphia Police Department said hundreds of people were milling about the area when the shooting caused a panic and sent people running in all directions, some diving behind cars for cover.

Investigators are combing through security video to identify other suspects and determine a motive for the shooting, Pescatore said.

She urged anyone with information about the shooting to contact homicide investigators.

Philadelphia Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw said at a news conference on Sunday that two of the slain victims were innocent bystanders as well as many of those who were wounded.

One of those killed was identified as Kris Minners, a resident adviser at Girard College in Philadelphia, the Girard College Federation of Teachers union said in a statement. Two more victims were identified by the Philadelphia Police Department Sunday afternoon as Jackson and 27-year-old Alexis Quinn.

“The loss of Kris reminds us that gun violence can and will touch everyone in our nation as long as our elected officials allow it to continue,” the teachers’ union statement read.

Sacramento City Unified School District reimposes mask mandate as COVID cases rise

June 6, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(SACRAMENTO, Calif.) — The Sacramento City Unified School District reinstated its mask mandate Monday just two months after making face coverings optional.

School officials said the decision came after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention designated the county as having high levels of COVID-19 in the community.

When counties enter this category, the federal health agency recommends masking in indoor, public spaces and on public transportation.

“Sacramento is a community that has been devastated due to COVID,” SCUSD Superintendent Jorge Aguilar told ABC News. “Our district has been really committed in the overall safety of our students and staff … so we established the CDC threshold would be the drivers for our decision-making.”

According to the CDC, the county is currently recording 283.49 new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 people every week.

Data from the district shows the case rate is currently more than seven times higher than when the mask mandate was lifted.

Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, an infectious diseases specialist at the University of California, San Francisco, told ABC News that cases in Northern California are rising for several reasons, the main being the spread of new omicron subvariants.

“The new generations of subvariants are looking so different from the original variants from Wuhan that the antibodies don’t recognize them as easily,” he said.

He described immunity from vaccination against the new subvariants as two levels of defense.

“I think of the antibodies as guards at the front gate that are a little bit sleepy that let the virus in,” Chin-Hong said. “But you have B-cells and T-cells so, once the virus is in, they’re like the guard dog that attacks. So, you get infected, but you won’t go to the hospital.”

SCUSD’s decision comes as several school districts have reimposed mask mandates amid increasing COVID-19 cases in recent weeks.

These include Philadelphia; Brookline, Massachusetts; and Providence, Rhode Island, as well as universities such as the University of Delaware and the University of Hawaii.

“I know that April to June is not a very long time and people were just getting used to” not having a mask mandate, Aguilar said. “I do recognize that this is a very divisive topic but we’ve been very fortunate that the vast majority of our community has stood firm and in support of the kinds of measures that we’ve put in place.”

Chin-Hong said SCUSD’s decision to reimpose mask mandates is an example of what health officials mean when they discuss ramping up mitigation measures when cases rise and easing them when cases fall.

“This is a good example of what turning on and off the switch of protection looks like,” he said. “I think we’ll have to get used to it to keep hospitals intact and keep people healthy.”

New indictment of Proud Boys leader charging Jan. 6 seditious conspiracy

June 6, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — The Justice Department on Monday announced a new indictment charging Enrique Tarrio, the chairman of the extremist far-right group the Proud Boys, and four other members with seditious conspiracy — marking the second such indictment alleging coordination leading up to the Jan. 6 riot by individuals allegedly pledging to use violence to disrupt the peaceful transition of power.

All the individuals named in the 32-page indictment, including Tarrio, had previously faced conspiracy charges related to their involvement in planning to disrupt Congress’ certification of Joe Biden’s victory.

The other members charged include Ethan Nordean, who assumed leadership of the Proud Boys on Jan. 6 as Tarrio was ordered to stay out of Washington, Joseph Biggs, Zachary Rehl and Dominic Pezzola — whois accused of initiating the first breach of the Capitol by smashing windows with a stolen police riot shield.

The indictment follows news from last April that another senior member of the Proud Boys, Charles Donohoe, reached a plea agreement and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors against the group.

The Justice Department previously charged 11 members of the Oath Keepers militia group with seditious conspiracy in January, including the group’s founder Stewart Rhodes.

Three senior members of the group have pleaded guilty in the case since the indictment was returned and agreed to cooperate with DOJ’s investigation — the remaining members have all pleaded not guilty.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson wins ‘no-confidence’ vote

June 6, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(LONDON) — U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson won a “no-confidence” vote on Monday evening, with Conservative lawmakers voting in favor of his leadership by a margin of 211-148.

The vote could have forced his resignation after the prime minister became embroiled in a series of scandals.

Held by Johnson’s Conservative Party, the vote was the latest challenge aimed at ending the political career of the United Kingdom’s controversial leader.

“Conservative MPs made their choice tonight,” Keir Starmer, leader of the opposing Labour Party, said in a speech following the results. “They have ignored the British public and hitched themselves and their party firmly to Boris Johnson, and everything that he represents.”

Graham Brady, a Conservative MP, announced the vote on Monday morning, saying it had been triggered on Sunday when a 15% threshold of Conservative lawmakers in the House of Commons had decided they no longer trusted Johnson to lead.

“The PM welcomes the opportunity to make his case to MPs and will remind them that when they’re united and focused on the issues that matter to voters there is no more formidable political force,” No. 10 Downing St., Johnson’s office, said in a statement.

Brady told BBC News that he had informed Johnson on Sunday. Members who filed no-confidence letters with Brady had dated them to coincide with the end of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee on Sunday, so as not to interrupt the celebration, he said.

The prime minister required a simple majority to survive. The Conservative Party holds 359 seats in the U.K. Parliament, meaning he required 180 MPs to back him in order to stay in office.

Despite living to fight another day, the scale of victory could still prove to be a problem. With a close vote, observers say, he could still be pressured to resign at a later date. Under the current rules, however, he will be immune from a similar challenge to his leadership for a year.

Theresa May, Johnson’s predecessor, won a confidence vote 200-117 in December 2018, but would still resign five months later. Johnson received an even lower percentage of support.

The no-confidence vote comes after months of pressure building on Johnson’s leadership, and this is the first vote of its kind since Johnson became prime minister in July 2019.

A much publicized investigation by a top civil servant, Sue Gray, into over a dozen gatherings held at key government residences attending by Downing Street staff concluded in May.

The prime minister himself was personally issued a fine by the Metropolitan Police in April for attending an illegal gathering during COVID-19 lockdowns in 2020, becoming the first sitting prime minister in British history to receive a sanction for breaking the law.

Johnson apologized, but has since faced a chorus of calls to resign from opposition lawmakers and, now, members of his own party.

The report included a photo of the prime minister making a toast at a gathering held in No. 10 to mark the departure of one of his special advisers, at a time when the nation was under a strict lockdown. There were also a number of damning details in the report, including “multiple examples of a lack of respect and poor treatment of security and cleaning staff” and instances of “excessive alcohol consumption.”

“Many will be dismayed that behaviour of this kind took place on this scale at the heart of Government,” Gray wrote in the conclusion of the report. “The public have a right to expect the very highest standards of behaviour in such places and clearly what happened fell well short of this.”

While the government has received praise at home and abroad for their support for Ukraine, the scandal over “Partygate” and growing concern about the cost of living has overshadowed Johnson’s recent premiership.

On Friday, Johnson was booed by spectators at St. Paul’s Cathedral as he arrived for the National Service of Thanksgiving.

He has received public backing from several key lawmakers ahead of the no-confidence vote, which is a secret ballot, and Johnson will reportedly address his own MPs in order to make the case for his leadership ahead of the final vote on Monday evening.

2 suspects in Philadelphia mass shooting expected to be charged as police search for others: Prosecutor

June 6, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(PHILADELPHIA) — At least two suspects in a mass shooting Saturday night in Philadelphia are expected to be charged as early as Monday afternoon as police continue to work to identify other gunmen in the rampage that left three people dead and 11 injured, according to prosecutors.

Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner said at a news conference Monday morning that he expects to approve charges soon against two suspects “in connection to what we anticipate are non-fatal shootings.”

Krasner, who did not name the suspects, said he expects to sign off on the charges stemming from the gun violence by the end of Monday.

He said that based on the caliber of shell casings found at the crime scene, at least four guns were involved in the shooting on Second Street, a popular nightlife area full of bars and restaurants.

Philadelphia police officials said officers recovered two guns from the scene, including one with an extended magazine, authorities said.

“Hour by hour we are finding out more information,” Kramer said.

Krasner described witnessing a “chilling” scene when he visited the site of the shooting just hours after it occurred.

The Philadelphia shooting erupted just before midnight Saturday at the busy intersection of Third and South streets.

Philadelphia Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw said at a press conference Sunday afternoon that a police officer responding to gunshots in the area witnessed a man firing a gun into a crowd and attempted to detain him. Outlaw said the officer fired at the armed man three times before losing the assailant in the crowd.

Outlaw said investigators believe the officer shot the gunman, who is still being sought.

Investigators are combing through security video to identify the suspects and determine a motive for the shooting.

Outlaw said the shooting possibly started during a physical confrontation between two people, including one of the people killed in the incident.

“These individuals eventually began firing at one another with both being struck, one fatally,” Outlaw said.

Outlaw said two of the slain victims were innocent bystanders as well as many of those who were wounded.

“The loss of Kris reminds us that gun violence can and will touch everyone in our nation as long as our elected officials allow it to continue,” the teachers’ union statement read.

11-year-old girl shot and killed while sleeping over at grandmother’s

June 6, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(DETROIT) — An 11-year-old girl was sleeping over at her grandmother’s home when gunfire erupted outside, shooting and killing her, authorities said.

The young girl “was murdered while attending a sleepover with her grandmother in our community,” Detroit Police Chief James White told reporters. “Making TikTok videos and laughing one minute and being shot in the back … the next.”

Two people are in custody — one adult and one minor — following Saturday’s shooting, which took place around 10:15 p.m., Detroit police said.

No one besides the 11-year-old was struck when the shots rang out, police said.

Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan told reporters, “When you can have an 11-year-old girl in a home with her grandmother and five other children as young as the age of 7, dancing joyously in the house, and have a bullet come through and kill her — it hits you very hard.”

The police chief blamed “irresponsible gun ownership” and “irresponsible use of a weapon.”

“It is of epidemic proportions right now in our country and in our city,” he told reporters.

The 11-year-old’s name has not been released.

“Our deepest condolences go out to the victim’s family and friends at this unimaginable time,” the Detroit Police Department tweeted.

The little girl’s death came amid another weekend of mass shootings in the U.S. Three people were killed and many others injured when multiple people opened fire on a Philadelphia street, and at least three people were killed with others injured in a mass shooting outside a Chattanooga, Tennessee, nightclub.

Melatonin overdoses in kids increase 530% over past decade: What parents should know

June 6, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Over the past decade, the number of children overdosing on melatonin, a sleep aid, has increased by 530%, according to a new study published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The largest increase, a 38% jump, came in the first year of the coronavirus pandemic, which the study’s authors say was likely because more children were spending more time at home.

In 2021 alone, more than 50,000 calls were placed to poison control centers in the United States about melatonin ingestion by kids, the study found.

“Most were unintentional exposure, meaning the parent did not give the child melatonin,” said ABC News chief medical correspondent Dr. Jennifer Ashton, also a board-certified OBGYN. “So the implication is the child got into it themselves.”

Here are four things for parents to know to help keep kids safe:

1. Melatonin is a widely-accessible supplement.

Melatonin is a hormone that plays a role in sleep, according to the National Institutes of Health.

In the U.S., melatonin supplements are considered dietary supplements, which means they are accessible to the public without the regulations of a prescription drug.

Melatonin supplements come in the form of tablets, capsules, liquid and even gummies, which may make them more attractive to kids.

According to the study’s authors, “Increased sales, availability, and widespread use have likely resulted in increased access and exposure risk among children in the home.”

2. Melatonin has not been widely studied in kids.

There have not yet been enough studies on melatonin and kids to know the full impact of the supplement, according to the NIH.

Even in adults, according to the NIH, the long-term impacts of melatonin are not well-known, even if the supplement does appear to be mostly safe with short-term use.

With kids, because melatonin is a hormone, there is a possibility that taking it by supplement could impact hormonal development like puberty and menstruation, according to the NIH.

3. Melatonin ingestion by a child is a medical emergency.

According to Ashton, when a child ingests melatonin without adult supervision, it is a medical emergency that requires immediate action.

“You either want to bring them to an emergency room or contact a poison control center,” she said.

The phone number to reach a poison control center is 800-222-1222.

Symptoms of melatonin ingestion in kids includes abdominal pain, nausea or vomiting, excessive tiredness and labored breathing.

4. Parents should store melatonin out of kids’ reach.

Ashton said parents should keep all medications and supplements, including melatonin, out of the reach of kids, even young teenagers.

Bottle tops should also be kept securely closed, according to Ashton, who encouraged parents to talk to their kids about medication safety.

“You always want to use any medication exposure as an opportunity to really teach that child about medication, that it should only be given by an adult, is not candy and can have consequences both good and bad,” she said.

The CDC also has additional tips HERE for keeping medication safely away from kids.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg tests positive for COVID-19

June 6, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said Monday that he’s tested positive for COVID-19 and is “experiencing mild symptoms.”

“I plan to work remotely while isolating according to CDC guidelines, and look forward to when I can safely return to the office and the road,” Buttigieg, 40, tweeted.

I have tested positive for COVID-19 and am experiencing mild symptoms. I plan to work remotely while isolating according to CDC guidelines, and look forward to when I can safely return to the office and the road.

— Secretary Pete Buttigieg (@SecretaryPete) June 6, 2022

Trial for two former cops charged in George Floyd’s death delayed until 2023

June 6, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(MINNEAPOLIS) — The state trial for two former Minneapolis police officers charged in George Floyd’s death was delayed until next year by a judge, who said a recent plea deal accepted by a third officer charged in the fatal arrest of the 46-year-old Black man could create the “reasonable likelihood of an unfair trial.”

Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill ordered that the trial for Tou Thao and J. Alexander Kueng will be delayed until Jan. 5, 2023.

Thao and Kueng were expected to go on trial together beginning on June 13.

Both men are charged with aiding and abetting in murder and aiding and abetting in manslaughter.

Cahill denied a motion from defense attorneys for a change of venue, but cited two recent events in his decision to postpone the trial.

The judge noted that pretrial publicity over the plea deal struck with a third defendant, former Minneapolis police officer Thomas Lane, and the convictions in February of Lane, Thao and Kueng on federal civil rights charges, could make it difficult at this time to select an impartial jury.

“These two recent events and the publicity surrounding them are significant in [that] it could make it more difficult for jurors to presume Thao and Kueng innocent of the state charges,” Cahill wrote in his ruling.

The judge added that postponing the trial should “diminish the impact of this publicity on the defendants’ right and ability to receive a fair trial from an impartial and unbiased jury.”

Lane pleaded guilty in May to aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter. In exchange for the plea, state prosecutors agreed to dismiss the top charge against him of aiding and abetting second-degree unintentional murder.

Under the agreement, prosecutors and Lane’s attorneys will jointly recommend a sentence of 36 months in prison. Had he gone to trial and been convicted on all charges, he faced a maximum sentence of 40 years in prison, according to the plea agreement.

Russia-Ukraine live updates: Russia beefs up air defense on Snake Island

June 6, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “special military operation” into neighboring Ukraine began on Feb. 24, with Russian forces invading from Belarus, to the north, and Russia, to the east. Ukrainian troops have offered “stiff resistance,” according to U.S. officials.

The Russian military has since launched a full-scale ground offensive in eastern Ukraine’s disputed Donbas region, capturing the strategic port city of Mariupol and securing a coastal corridor to the Moscow-annexed Crimean Peninsula.

Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:

Jun 06, 9:05 am
Russia beefs up air defense on Snake Island

Russia has likely moved multiple air defense assets, including SA-15 and SA-22 missile systems, to Snake Island in the western Black Sea, the U.K. Ministry of Defense said Monday in an intelligence update.

The move follows the loss of the Russian warship Moskva, the flagship of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet.

“It is likely these weapons are intended to provide air defence for Russian naval vessels operating around Snake Island,” the ministry added. “Russia’s activity on Snake Island contributes to its blockade of the Ukrainian coast and hinders the resumption of maritime trade, including exports of Ukrainian grain.”

Russian forces captured Ukraine’s Snake Island in the early days of the invasion, memorably when Ukrainian soldiers defending the tiny islet told an attacking Russian warship to “go f— yourself.” Ukrainian troops have failed in their attempts to retake the previously inconsequential territory.

Meanwhile, in eastern Ukraine’s contested Donbas region, heavy fighting continues in the war-torn city of Sieverodonetsk, according to the ministry.

“Russian forces continue to push towards Sloviansk as part of their attempted encirclement of Ukrainian force,” the ministry said.

And in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, Russian air-launched cruise missiles struck rail infrastructure Sunday in the early morning hours, “likely in an attempt [to] disrupt the supply of Western military equipment to frontline Ukrainian units,” according to the ministry.

Jun 05, 3:39 pm
Russian missiles target Kyiv

After five weeks of relative calm in Kyiv, Russian rockets hit Ukraine’s capital city on Sunday as Russian President Vladimir Putin warned of strikes on “new targets” if the United States goes through with plans to supply Ukraine with longer-range missiles.

Ukrainian Deputy Minister of Defense Hanna Maliar said the war is still in its “hot phase” and “capturing Kyiv is still Russia’s main goal.”

An ABC News crew visited Kyiv’s Darnytskyy district, where several Russian cruise missiles slammed into a railway repair plant. One building was still on fire when the ABC News crew arrived. Nearby, another missile strike left a creater on a cement path.

It took hours before Ukrainian authorities permitted media access to the site, saying the area needed to be cleared for safety first.

The Russians claimed the attack in Darnystskyy destroyed military vehicles and armaments. Ukrainian officials said the missiles hit a railway repair plant where no tanks were stored.

Speaking on Russian TV on Sunday, Putin issued a warning to the West on supplying the Ukrainians with high-powered rocket systems. He said if the West carried through with it, Russia would hit “new targets they had not attacked before.”

Jun 05, 7:05 am
Putin warns of strikes if West supplies longer-range missiles

President Vladimir Putin warned that Russian forces would strike new targets if the West began supplying Ukraine with longer-range missiles.

“But if they [missiles] are actually delivered, we will draw appropriate conclusions and apply our own weapons, which we have in sufficient quantities to carry out strikes on targets we aren’t striking yet,” Putin told Rossyia 1 TV Channel in an interview on Sunday.

-ABC News’ Tanya Stukalova and Tomek Rolski

+ More