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Weekend of mass shootings highlights rise in gun deaths

April 19, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Over the holiday weekend, 12 people were shot at a Columbia, South Carolina, mall. In nearby Hampton County, nine people were shot outside a nightclub. And in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, two juveniles were killed and eight were injured after a shooting at a birthday party.

The recent incidents are just the latest examples of mass shootings that have been occurring at a sustained pace across the United States for the past two years and counting and which coincide with an increase in fatal shootings overall. Fatal shootings, not including suicides, jumped by more than 4,000 from 2019 to 2020 — a 26% increase in one year, according to statistics compiled by the Gun Violence Archive, a nonprofit which identifies mass shootings as cases in which four or more people are shot and tracks them through public data, news reports and other sources.

“These two devastating shootings will leave permanent scars on survivors and entire communities, and unfortunately, they represent only a fraction of the gun violence that impacts South Carolinians on a daily basis,” said the advocacy group Everytown for Gun Safety in a statement responding to the South Carolina shootings. “Just weeks ago, a twelve-year old was killed in a shooting at Greenville’s Tanglewood Middle School. Days after that, five people were wounded in a shooting along a rural road in Colleton County.”

While the rate of increase in fatal shootings slowed last year, the total number of fatal shootings still grew — to nearly 21,000, according to the GVA. And as the overall number of fatal shootings has increased, there has also been a rise in mass shootings. In 2019, there were 417 mass shootings, and just two years later, there were 693. Through April 17, the pace of mass shootings has slowed, but there have already been 139 such incidents (compared to 148 by the same date last year). Meanwhile, the number of non-mass shootings is on the rise from 5,445 through April 17 last year to 5,451 for the same period this year.

In an effort to address gun violence, President Joe Biden announced earlier this month an initiative to combat ghost guns — a firearm that comes packaged in parts, can be bought online and assembled without much of a trace.

“Anyone could order it in the mail, anyone … Terrorists and domestic abusers can go from a gun kit to a gun in as little as 30 minutes. Buyers aren’t required to pass background checks because guns have no serial numbers,” Biden said.

The new rule essentially expands the definition of a “firearm,” as established by the Gun Control Act, to cover “buy build shoot” kits that people can purchase online or from a firearm dealer and assemble themselves. It will make these kits subject to the same federal laws that currently apply to other firearms.

The goal, officials said, is to keep untraceable guns off the streets and out of the hands of those prohibited from possession.

Biden also nominated former U.S. Attorney Steve Dettelbach to become the next director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives — a role that includes enforcing and implementing gun laws.

The White House and gun control advocates, however, have argued that substantive gun control measures will require legislative action through Congress, but that is unlikely given Republican opposition.

“The United States is not the only country with mental illness, domestic violence, video games, or hate-fueled ideologies, but our gun homicide rate is 25 times higher than our peer countries. The difference is easy access to guns,” according Everytown for Gun Safety, which applauded and had called for the recent moves by the Biden administration.

Mom stabbed to death, dumped in duffel bag; suspect at large

April 19, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — The New York City Police Department is searching for the person who stabbed a New York City mother to death and dumped her body in a large rollable duffel bag, police sources told ABC News.

Just after 8 a.m. Saturday, authorities responded to a 911 call reporting a suspicious duffel bag with blood on it on a Queens, New York, street corner, the NYPD said.

Officers found 51-year-old Orsolya Gaal inside the bag, police said.

Gaal was stabbed dozens of times, according to police sources. The medical examiner’s office said she died from “sharp force injuries” to the neck.

A trail of blood from the duffel bag led to Gaal’s Queens home, police said.

According to police sources, Gaal may have known her killer.

It’s believed she went out for the night while her husband was out of town and it appeared she was killed in her basement, sources said.

Detectives are looking to speak with three men whose numbers were found in Gaal’s phone, sources said.

Vice President Kamala Harris announces US ban on anti-satellite missile tests

April 19, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — Vice President Kamala Harris announced Monday night that the Biden administration is setting a self-imposed ban on anti-satellite missile testing with the goal of making it an “international norm for responsible behavior in space.”

The U.S., China, India and Russia have all carried out such tests, which generate dangerous space debris. The U.S. is the first to impose such a ban.

“Simply put, these tests are dangerous, and we will not conduct them,” Harris said during remarks at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.

The vice president said the U.S. hopes other nations will follow suit.

The U.S. has identified and tracks over 1,600 pieces of debris that Russia created when it used a missile to destroy a satellite in November and more than 2,800 that China generated when it carried out its own test in 2007, Harris said. Russia’s direct-ascent anti-satellite missile test created a field of debris that threatened the International Space Station.

“This debris presents a risk to the safety of our astronauts, our satellites and our growing commercial presence,” she said. “A piece of space debris the size of a basketball, which travels at thousands of miles per hour, would destroy a satellite. Even a piece of debris as small as a grain of sand could cause serious damage.”

“These weapons are intended to deny the United States our ability to use our space capabilities by destructing, destroying our satellites, satellites which are critical to our national security,” Harris said. “These tests, to be sure, are reckless, and they are irresponsible. These tests also put in danger so much of what we do in space.”

Ahead of her remarks, the vice president met with members of the United States Space Force and United States Space Command, receiving briefings on their work advancing U.S. national security.

Russia-Ukraine updates: Russia begins long-awaited offensive in eastern Ukraine

April 19, 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.

Russian forces have since retreated from northern Ukraine, leaving behind a trail of death and destruction. The United States and many European countries accused Russia of committing war crimes after graphic images emerged of dead civilians in the town of Bucha, near Kyiv. Moscow is now said to be refocusing its offensive on the eastern Donbas region, as it attempts to capture the besieged port city of Mariupol.

Latest headlines:
-Combat in eastern Ukraine part of Russia’s ‘shaping operations’ for future offensive
-US still assessing Russian strike in Lviv: Kirby
-Thousands more Russian troops back in Ukraine
-Russian forces seize town in war-torn Luhansk region

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

Apr 18, 7:55 pm
Zelenskyy: Russian forces have begun offensive in Donbas region

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russian forces have begun their offensive in the eastern part of the country after a week of building up troops.

“It can now be stated that Russian troops have begun the battle for Donbas, for which they have been preparing for a long time,” the president said in his nightly address. “A very large part of the entire Russian army is now focused on this offensive.”

Ukrainian and U.S. officials have said Russian troops exiting the Kyiv region over the last week were moving to eastern Ukraine as part of a new effort to take over land partially controlled by the self-proclaimed Republics of Donetsk and Luhansk. Those two breakaway regions were already aligned with Russia following a war that began in 2014.

Zelenskyy, however, warned that Russian forces would not be successful in taking all of the land in the southeastern region of Ukraine.

“No matter how many Russian soldiers are driven there, we will fight,” he said. “We will defend ourselves. We will do it daily. We will not give up anything Ukrainian, and we do not need what’s not ours.”

Apr 18, 4:54 pm
Combat in eastern Ukraine part of Russia’s ‘shaping operations’ for future offensive

Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said Monday that while there has been combat in the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine for some weeks, it is part of Russia’s ongoing “shaping” operations for a future offensive, and not the offensive itself.

“We’re not disputing that there’s not combat going on in the Donbas,” Kirby said. “What we’re saying is that we still consider that what we’re seeing to be a piece of shaping operations.”

“That the Russians are continuing to set conditions for what they believe will be eventual success on the ground by using, by putting, in more forces, putting in more enablers, putting in more command and control capability for operations yet to come,” he said.

Asked to clarify his answer, Kirby replied: “We believe that the Russians are shaping and setting the conditions for future offensive operations. We also see … that there is active combat going on right now in the Donbas as there has been for the last several weeks.”

Kirby described the fighting in the besieged port city of Mariupol as part of that since the Russians are “trying to set the conditions for more aggressive, more overt and larger ground maneuvers in the Donbas.”

He added that the Russians have also continued to flow in artillery, helicopters, enabling troops and more command and control units as part of the groundwork for that upcoming operation.

Kirby said that the U.S. believes that Russia has reinforced the number of battalion tactical groups in eastern and southern Ukraine as part of their preparations for a large operation in the Donbas region.

ABC News’ Conor Finnegan, Luis Martinez

Apr 18, 4:45 pm
US still assessing Russian strike in Lviv: Kirby

The U.S. is still assessing what the Russians were attempting to strike in Lviv in western Ukraine on Monday, according to Pentagon spokesman John Kirby.

Kirby said he would not describe Monday’s airstrike as a “bombardment” and said he did not know Russia’s intent.

“We don’t have a clear sense of battle damage assessment about what they were targeting and what they hit. At this time, we don’t have any indication that Western aid was targeted and/or hit or destroyed,” Kirby said.

ABC News’ Luis Martinez

Apr 18, 3:23 pm
US offering temporary protected status to Ukrainians in US as of April 11

The U.S. will offer temporary protected status to Ukrainians already in the country as of April 11, according to a new notice from the Department of Homeland Security in the Federal Register.

The Biden administration announced last month that it would offer Ukrainians this legal basis to stay in the U.S. if they had arrived before March 1. This new notice means that Ukrainians who have been in the U.S. as of April 11 can apply for the legal status, which will remain in effect for 18 months — until Oct. 19, 2023.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services estimates that about 59,000 Ukrainians could be eligible, according to the Federal Register notice.

Andriy Yermak, head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, has tweeted about the change, which he said was made at the Ukrainian government’s request.

ABC News’ Conor Finnegan

Mom warns of COVID-19 misinformation after she says she became anti-vaccine influencer

April 19, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — As experts warn about the spread of COVID-19 misinformation in online parent groups, one mom is speaking out about how she inadvertently became an anti-vaccine influencer.

Heather Simpson of Dallas, Texas, said she turned to wellness groups and became an online influencer almost overnight when she posted anti-vaccine beliefs on Facebook after watching an anti-vaccine documentary.

“I was convinced that if I vaccinated my child, she would die that night,” Simpson told ABC News’ Good Morning America. “That kind of led me into the entire wellness community as a whole.”

“At the time, I was a stay at home mom. I was lonely. I didn’t have family or friends close by,” Simpson continued. “It was so nice to be welcomed into this community. They were listening to your health concerns. They were supportive.”

According to a recent study by The George Washington University, parents like Simpson were especially vulnerable to online misinformation campaigns early on during the COVID-19 pandemic. They were exposed to thousands of alternative health and anti-vaccination communities on networking sites like Facebook.

Both the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Academy of Pediatrics recommend that children ages 5 and older receive vaccinations to protect against COVID-19. CDC data shows that more than nine million children between the ages of 5 and 11 in the U.S. have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and nearly eight million have received two doses as of April 13.

When Simpson started sharing her own anti-vaccine beliefs online, her posts took off and people shared them hundreds of times.

“People saw me as a health authority,” Simpson said. “I could post anything and they’re going to share it and take it as fact.”

Renee DiResta, a research manager at Stanford University’s Internet Observatory who studies disinformation, the deliberate spreading of false information, and social networks online, says it’s not hard to end up in so-called wellness groups and they can feel welcoming and supportive.

“You have to know which medical websites to trust. If you’re using whatever search engine, you don’t necessarily know if you’re getting reputable information there,” DiResta told GMA.

“You feel like you’re hearing from your friends. You’re getting social feedback. Oftentimes, people who are the most passionate about sharing information are not necessarily sharing the right information,” DiResta added.

The federal government has warned consumers about disinformation, including taking action against fraudulent products that claim to treat COVID-19. In March, the Department of Justice, Federal Trade Commission and the Food and Drug Administration, sued a marketer of an herbal tea, called Earth Tea, for false advertising.

The company told GMA it never promoted Earth Tea as a clinically proven COVID-19 prevention method, treatment or cure, and has stopped advertising and selling products in the U.S.

Simpson said ultimately, it was her concern for her 4-year-old daughter’s well-being that led her to change her stance and come to support vaccinations.

“I realized, ‘What if she got the measles? What if she did die from the measles and I could have stopped that?'” she recalled.

Now, Simpson has co-founded a vaccine advocacy site, called “Back to the Vax,” as well as a podcast and support group.

“I feel like there is a responsibility to listen to the anti-vaxxers and the wellness community and try to bridge the gap,” she said.

For credible online sources for medical advice, start with the websites for the CDC and National Institutes of Health (NIH), and ask your health care provider if you’re curious or have any questions about wellness products.

Russia-Ukraine live updates: Russian military calls on Ukrainian troops in Mariupol to surrender

April 19, 2022 by WDNY Radio

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

Apr 19, 5:33 am
Russian military calls on Ukrainian troops in Mariupol to surrender

The Russian military is calling on Ukrainian troops in besieged Mariupol to surrender by midday on Tuesday.

Russian forces have been trying to seize the strategic port city in eastern Ukraine’s war-torn Donetsk Oblast since the start of the invasion on Feb. 24. The Russian Ministry of Defense said it is ready to declare a temporary ceasefire in Mariupol on Tuesday from 1:30 p.m. local time.

Ukrainian troops holed up on the grounds of the Azovstal iron and steelworks plant in Mariupol have until then to stop all fighting and lay down their arms, according to Col. Gen. Mikhail Mizintsev, head of Russia’s National Defense Control Center. Moscow has proposed this plan “given the catastrophic situation in the Azovstal Iron and Steel Works, as well as for purely humanitarian considerations,” Mizintsev said in a statement Tuesday.

“All those who will lay down arms are guaranteed that their lives will be spared,” he added. “The actual start of the temporary ceasefire shall be marked by both sides by raising flags — red flags by the Russian side and white flags by the Ukrainian side along the entire perimeter of Azovstal. Furthermore, their readiness to put the temporary ceasefire into effect shall be confirmed by the sides via all communication channels.”

According to Mizintsev, “absolutely all” Ukrainian troops and foreign mercenaries will be allowed to leave the plant without any weapons or ammunition from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. local time. Moscow guarantees to each Ukrainian soldier who surrenders that their life will be spared and their rights as prisoners of war will be respected, Mizintsev said.

Critics slam UK plan to send migrants arriving by illegal routes to Rwanda

April 19, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(LONDON) — Church leaders, politicians and aid groups condemned the U.K. Home Office’s new plan to tackle illegal migration and clamp down on human-trafficking gangs by sending migrants to Rwanda.

The scheme announced on Thursday includes deporting single adult asylum seekers 4,000 miles away to Rwanda, east Africa, where they would be able to apply for asylum. If their cases are approved, they will be allowed to stay in the African country, and, if rejected, they will be deported to their countries.

Under the Migration and Economic Development Partnership (MEDP) with Rwanda, the U.K. aims “to break the business model of people smuggling gangs,” as the Home Office and Secretary of State Priti Patel said in a statement announcing the “world-first” partnership on Thursday.

On Twitter, Patel listed the benefits of the plan, including helping to “deter dangerous and illegal journeys to the UK,” “give migrants the chance of a new life,” and “set a new standard on asylum and resettlement.”

Members of the U.K. Bond network, along with more than 160 charities and campaign groups of non-governmental organizations, criticized the country’s track record on human rights in an open letter to Prime Minister Boris Johnson. They called on the government to scrap the scheme, describing it as “shamefully cruel” and “immoral.”

The organizations said the government’s plan would result in “more, not fewer, dangerous journeys — leaving more people at risk of being trafficked.”

“I would take this path again and again regardless of the Rwanda deportation threat,” Hami, a 42-year-old single father, told ABC News after his six-month journey from Tehran, Iran, to seek asylum in the U.K.

He was arrested four times in different countries on his way, but was determined to get into the U.K., he said. He asked to use a pseudonym, Hami, for security concerns.

Reverend Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury, seized the Easter Sunday sermon as a chance to address the government scheme, saying it is “ungodly.”

Johnson said 28,526 people arrived in the U.K. by small boats last year, up from 8,404 in 2020. The daily figure could reach 1,000 people a day in the coming weeks, he added.

Johnson said the £120 million Rwanda scheme would “save countless lives” from human trafficking, and that an “unlimited” number of people could be relocated. He added that the African country has the “capacity to resettle tens of thousands of people in the years ahead.”

“I know the traffickers are absolute lairs. All they know is the money,” Hami said when asked if he had any trust in the traffickers during his journey. “Just in the last part of my path, the trafficker told me there won’t be more than 30 people on the boat, which was its maximum capacity indeed. But in the last minute, they put 50 people, including nine children and a pregnant woman on it. But what were my other options?”

“Appalled” by the government’s decision to send asylum seekers to Rwanda, Enver Solomon, CEO of the Refugee Council, described the plan as “cruel and nasty.”

Solomon said it was a policy that stood “in stark contrast” to what every conservative prime minister since Winston Churchill has sought to do by providing a fair hearing on British soil for those who claim asylum.

“The government’s own data shows that two-thirds of men, women and children arriving in small boats across the Channel come from countries where war and persecution has forced them from their homes,” Solomon said.

The plan would “do little to deter them from coming to this country, but only lead to more human suffering and chaos — at a huge expense of an estimated £1.4 billion a year,” he added.

Patel, who stood fully by the scheme, accused its critics of not coming up with an alternative solution. But there are doubts inside the Home Office about whether the budget allocated is justified by quantified evidence of its deterrence effect.

“Evidence of a deterrent effect is highly uncertain and cannot be quantified with sufficient certainty,” Matthew Rycroft, permanent secretary to the Home Office, wrote to Patel.

Hami knew about the risks of being sent to Rwanda, but he said he did whatever he could to get onto U.K. soil, keeping up his hopes that he would not be sent to Rwanda.

“I did all I could for my daughter. I want a bright future for her and would do all I did again if needed, despite all the risks,” he said.

His 11-year daughter is back home in Tehran staying with his old mother.

15-year-old girl stabbed to death by intruder at California high school

April 18, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(LOS ANGELES) — A 15-year-old girl was fatally stabbed by an intruder at a high school in Stockton, California, on Monday, according to officials.

The student was killed when a man in his 40s entered Stagg High School and stabbed her multiple times. Responders immediately began lifesaving measures, but she was pronounced dead at a local hospital, Stockton police said.

“A trespasser entered the front of our school today, stabbed one of our students multiple times,” Stockton Unified School District Superintendent John Ramirez Jr. said at a press conference. “Unfortunately, she did not make it. The assailant was taken, was detained, and taken into custody immediately.”

“The school was also put on lockdown to assure the safety of the rest of our students,” he added. “We began to work with local law enforcement immediately and they’ve taken over the investigation.”

Officials said they do not have a motive for the attack, but said the man was not a parent.

Ramirez praised the school’s resource officer for acting quickly to apprehend the suspect, saying it helped to prevent the stabbing from continuing.

“When the incident happened, there were staff immediately there,” he said. “It had been so quick that they weren’t able to stop it, but they were there immediately.”

Stockton Police Department Deputy Chief Eric Kane said they are still investigating the relationship between the girl and the unidentified attacker.

ABC News’ Matthew Fuhrman contributed to this report.

Russia-Ukraine live updates: Russia begins long-awaited offensive in eastern Ukraine

April 18, 2022 by WDNY Radio

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

Apr 18, 7:55 pm
Zelenskyy: Russian forces have begun offensive in Donbas region

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russian forces have begun their offensive in the eastern part of the country after a week of building up troops.

Zelenskyy, however, warned that Russian forces would not be successful in taking all of the land in the southeastern region of Ukraine.

Apr 18, 4:54 pm
Combat in eastern Ukraine part of Russia’s ‘shaping operations’ for future offensive

He added that the Russians have also continued to flow in artillery, helicopters, enabling troops and more command and control units as part of the groundwork for that upcoming operation.

ABC News’ Conor Finnegan, Luis Martinez

Apr 18, 4:45 pm
US still assessing Russian strike in Lviv: Kirby

The U.S. is still assessing what the Russians were attempting to strike in Lviv in western Ukraine on Monday, according to Pentagon spokesman John Kirby.

Kirby said he would not describe Monday’s airstrike as a “bombardment” and said he did not know Russia’s intent.

ABC News’ Luis Martinez

Apr 18, 3:23 pm
US offering temporary protected status to Ukrainians in US as of April 11

The U.S. will offer temporary protected status to Ukrainians already in the country as of April 11, according to a new notice from the Department of Homeland Security in the Federal Register.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services estimates that about 59,000 Ukrainians could be eligible, according to the Federal Register notice.

Andriy Yermak, head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, has tweeted about the change, which he said was made at the Ukrainian government’s request.

ABC News’ Conor Finnegan

Colorado River is America’s most endangered; ranchers work to combat climate change

April 18, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — The Colorado River, a major freshwater source for over 40 million people in seven southwestern states and parts of northern Mexico, has lost 20% of its water levels over the past 22 years and environmentalists forecast it’s going to get worse.

Farmers and other agriculture workers have been especially hit by the water loss as the fields have dried up, making it harder to cultivate crops and cattle.

“We’ve really been working on some of this for two decades. You know, we’ve kind of seen this coming,” Paul Bruchez, a fifth-generation Colorado rancher, told ABC News.

Now Bruchez, his family, other ranchers and farmers are teaming up with conservationists to adapt to the changing environment and try to repair some of the damage, and they hope that they can encourage others to step up before it’s too late.

Twenty-three years of drought conditions in the West and Southwest have resulted in the lowest water levels at the Hoover and Glen Canyon Dam reservoirs since they were filled. The Colorado River is now at the top of the country’s most endangered rivers list, according to the non-profit American Rivers.

“We’re faced with this, this new reality where we have to learn to live with less water,” Matt Rice, the southwest regional director for American Rivers, told ABC News.

Bruchez said ranchers have been hit hard, because without the freshwater supply, the forage isn’t fertile enough for livestock to feed on. He said his family had to sell half of their livestock due to poor land conditions.

“Mother Nature is key for our business,” he said.

Bruchez, who sits on the Colorado Water Conservation Board, however, isn’t taking the climate crisis lying down and has implemented ecological projects to mitigate the damage and restore the river.

Working with conservationists, Bruchez installed five artificial riffles along a 12-mile stretch of the river. The riffles use cobbles at parts of the river that cascades down and promotes irrigation and invertebrate growth at low water level areas.

“It is this region’s adaptation to climate change,” he said.

Bruchez’s family has also worked on restoring the soil so that it can make use of what little water it does get.

Doug Bruchez has worked with his brother to bring in specialized plants and forages that are better suited to the fields around the river.

“We are looking for drought-resistant plants, we are looking for plants that will use less water,” Doug Bruchez told ABC News.

Paul Bruchez said since his family rebuilt a meadow using this drought-resistant flora, the livestock has been liking their feeds “significantly better.”

“The nutrition value of the feed is higher, and we use them as a tool to assist us in managing the soil,” he said.

Rice said these Colorado River restoration projects have “quantifiably improved the habitat and the environmental health of the river.”

“We’re actually implementing them kind of in real-time right now. If we weren’t doing that, not only would it have a tremendous impact on the communities upstream of here, the agricultural communities, it [would have] a tremendous impact on the environment,” Rice said.

Bruchez said he is looking to expand these programs throughout the Colorado River basin and improve the water and soil conditions throughout the southwest.

Bruchez said of his efforts and outreach that “it is both an honor and terrifying,” but in the end he hopes that they can make a difference.

“These are tough conversations when people realize that survival will require adaptation,” he said. “Without adaptation, we wouldn’t be here for our generation [and] the generation after us.”

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