Luke Combs certainly had a happy Father’s Day: He became a father for the first time.
On Twitter, Luke posted a photo of himself and wife Nicole, cradling their newborn. He wrote, “Welp he decided that Fathers Day would be a good time to show up. I couldn’t agree more. Me and Nicole are over the moon in love with this little guy. Mama and baby are healthy and we’re back home now with family. Life is good. Everyone welcome Tex Lawrence Combs to the world!“
Nicole posted the same photo, and wrote, “It’s going to be hard to top this past Father’s Day. Welcome to the world, Tex Lawrence Combs. You are the best chillest angel boy and I’m so happy I was chosen to be your mom. These are the days.”
Prior to Tex’s arrival, Nicole said on her Instagram Stories, “Picking a boy name was EXTREMELY difficult for us,” adding, “It’s a family name but also pretty unique, I think.”
Luke, meanwhile, told the Tennesseanthat he’s totally down to change Tex’s diapers, explaining, “She had to grow him for nine months, so I figure I can at least do something at this point.”
Luke’s next impending arrival is his new album, Growin’ Up, out this Friday.
(MIAMI) — The Miami Heat partnered with the City of Miami Police Department and nonprofit organization Dedication to Community (D2C) in April to try and mend the relationship between the Miami community, and their officers.
The program’s training includes workshops with instruction and discussions between community members and police officers led by founder and CEO of D2C M. Quentin Williams and Co-facilitator Kim Varner Sr. With individual, one-on-one, and large group exercises, and solutions-based conversations the program aims to create a safe space for both parties to openly communicate and relate to one another.
ABC News contributor Darrell Blocker, retired CIA operative and current board member of Peace 4 Kids, a foster youth advocacy group, says that the work of bridging the gap between the community and police officers through programs like this is a grassroots effort.
“Trust was not lost overnight,” Blocker told ABC News. “It all boils down to opening up channels of communication.”
Williams, a federal prosecutor and former FBI agent, is the common thread between communities and law enforcement. He grew up in what he called a challenging time in Yonkers, New York, during the late 80s when the crack epidemic was already ripping through New York City.
“I didn’t want to be a cop,” Williams said to ABC News. “I saw my friends being taken to jail by cops.”
Ultimately, it was that “disparity and treatment” that drove Williams to later become an FBI agent. Even as an officer, he says his badge did not shield him from the discriminatory experience of being profiled by a fellow officer. In the summer of 1994, he says he found himself “in the back of a cruiser being arrested for fitting the description of somebody else earlier in the day.”
Williams says that experience coupled with his background have informed the way in which he approaches the training of law enforcement.
“I’m not just talking about cops and community, I’m talking about human beings,” Williams said. “Dignity costs nothing to give.”
Officers like Tim Shaw, chief of police in Stamford, Connecticut, say they connected with Williams’ training. Shaw met Williams at the Fairfield County police chiefs quarterly meeting back in 2020. Following a mandate issued by the state of Connecticut requiring all officers to undergo implicit bias training, Shaw called on Williams to come down to train all 275 of his officers. For him, Williams and his storytelling represented “the right person in the room that can relate to the officers and to his staff.”
Previously, officers and community members would participate in training separately, but the program has since evolved to encourage engagement between both groups. According to Williams, the more comprehensive training stresses compliance of the community and professionalism of officers.
“Not every officer is as open to this topic as others,” Shaw said to ABC News.
Studies have long revealed the disproportionately unfair treatment of Black and Brown people by law enforcement in the United States that has been going on for centuries.
“We are utilizing our very unique position in our own city to act as a bridge between the community and the police,” Lorrie-Ann Diaz, Vice President of Business Communications and Social Responsibility for Miami Heat, told ABC News.
(WASHINGTON) — An airman was arrested in the U.S. on Thursday in connection with an April attack at a base in Syria that injured four other U.S. service members, according to a new statement from an Air Force official.
“After reviewing the information in the investigation, the Airman’s commander made the decision to place him in pretrial confinement,” the official said.
The Air Force will not release the airman’s name unless charges are preferred.
“It is too early in the process for a charge sheet. It will be available if charges are preferred,” the official said.
Earlier this month, military officials said an American service member had been identified as a “possible suspect” in the April 7 attack at the Green Village base.
Four other U.S. service members were evaluated for minor wounds and possible traumatic brain injuries after what the military originally reported to be two indirect-fire rounds hitting the site. Further investigation showed the explosions were the result of “deliberate placement of explosive charges” at an ammunition storage area and shower facility on base, according to military officials.
The Army Criminal Investigation Division (CID) and the Air Force Office of Special Investigations (OSI) have been conducting a joint investigation into the incident.
An Army CID official previously emphasized that “at this point, these are just allegations” and that any suspects were presumed innocent.
“The investigation is ongoing, which may or may not, develop sufficient evidence to identify a perpetrator(s) and have enough evidence to ensure a conviction in a court of law,” that official said.
(AUSTIN, Texas) — A top law enforcement official in Texas testified Tuesday that efforts by law enforcement to end the Robb Elementary School mass shooting sooner were an “abject failure,” laying much of the blame at the feet of a local police chief who waited well over an hour to breach a classroom door and kill the gunman.
Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steven McCraw appeared before the Texas state Senate panel investigating the May 24 shooting in Uvalde, where a gunman killed 19 students and two teachers in one of the deadliest school shootings in U.S. history.
McCraw’s testimony, supported by an updated timeline of events that he said was based on police body camera and surveillance videos, and a transcript of police communications during the rampage, appeared to offer the most complete version of events to date — and heightened scrutiny of Pete Arredondo, the embattled school district police chief in who was the on-scene commander during the shooting.
Here are five key takeaways from Tuesday’s hearing.
Officers could have ‘neutralized’ shooter within minutes
In a striking rebuke of the responding authorities, McCraw claimed that enough officers and equipment had arrived on the scene within three minutes to “neutralize” the shooter, who had by then entered the classroom and begun firing on students and teachers.
“The only thing stopping a hallway of dedicated officers from entering room 111 and 112 was the on-scene commander,” McCraw said, referring to Arredondo, who McCraw said “decided to place the lives of officers before the lives of children.”
McCraw’s testimony shattered previous claims that officers who responded immediately lacked the necessary equipment and weapons to breach the doorway, instead opting to wait as more resources arrived.
“One hour, 14 minutes and eight seconds. That’s how long the children waited and the teachers waited in rooms 111 and 112 to be rescued,” McCraw said. “And while they waited, the on-scene commander waited for radios and rifles. Then he waited for shields. Then he waited for SWAT.”
“Lastly, he waited for key that was never needed,” said McCraw.
The door to the classroom may not have been locked
McCraw sought to clarify some confusion over whether the exterior and interior doors used by the gunman to enter Robb Elementary School were locked — and whether officers even needed keys to breach the classroom where the gunman had barricaded himself.
According to McCraw, the door to the classroom containing the gunman could not be locked from inside, meaning it was likely unlocked for the duration of the shooting.
“I have great reasons to believe [the door] was never secured,” he said.
McCraw later said it appears that officers on the scene never checked whether the door to the classroom was unlocked, even as they waited for additional equipment to breach it and worked to secure a set of keys.
“How about trying the door and seeing if it’s locked?” McCraw said he would ask the officers who responded first.
Communication failures crippled law enforcement response
A staggering series of communications failures plagued the police response at Robb Elementary, McCraw said Tuesday, including problematic radio reception inside the school building.
McCraw confirmed previous reporting that Arredondo arrived at the school without a radio. Later, according to McCraw, local police and Border Patrol lost radio communication signals inside the school.
Those circumstances ultimately led Arredondo and others to communicate with dispatchers on their cell phones, McCraw said.
“Cell phones did work, obviously, inside the school,” he said. “It’s just the portable radio devices that first responders had didn’t.”
State police ‘don’t have authority’ to overrule on-site commander
Multiple state senators challenged McCraw to explain why arriving officers from larger law enforcement agencies did not take over command from Arredondo when they saw he was waiting to breach the classroom.
“I don’t see why y’all didn’t take command once you had DPS agents inside the hall pushing to breach the door,” one state senator asked McCraw. “Lives would have been saved.”
“They don’t have authority by law,” McCraw shot back.
McCraw explained the normal procedure is that the agency with the most direct order of expertise should take command — and that the school district police chief, in this circumstance, was the best person to deliver orders.
“I’m reluctant to encourage — or even think of any situation — where you’d want some level of hierarchy, where a larger police department gets to come in and take over that type of thing,” McCraw said.
Arredondo is under growing pressure to provide his account
New revelations from the Senate hearing put an additional spotlight on Arredondo. The embattled school district police chief spent Tuesday in the neighboring Texas House chamber, where he testified behind closed doors for nearly five hours.
A lawmaker on the state Senate panel called on Arredondo to appear before their committee in a public setting.
“I challenge this chief to come testify in public as to what happened here,” said Sen. Brian Birdwell, a Republican on the state Senate committee. “Don’t go hide in the House and talk privately — come to the Senate, where the public … can ask these questions.”
Arredondo has largely remained silent in the four weeks since the shooting, save for an interview with The Texas Tribune earlier this month.
“Not a single responding officer ever hesitated, even for a moment, to put themselves at risk to save the children,” Arredondo told the paper. “Our objective was to save as many lives as we could, and the extraction of the students from the classrooms by all that were involved saved over 500 of our Uvalde students and teachers before we gained access to the shooter and eliminated the threat.”
Arredondo, the Texas Department of Public Safety, and other law enforcement agencies that responded to the shooting have declined a long list of media requests and requests from families to release underlying records.
(SHEFFIELD LAKE, Ohio) — A second Sheffield Lake police officer has filed a charge of discrimination with the Ohio Civil Rights Commission against former police chief Anthony Campo.
A.J. Torres, the police department’s only Latino officer, spoke publicly about the race and religion-based harassment he alleged he experienced by Campo for the first time Tuesday in a news conference.
Last fall, Keith Pool — the only Black officer in the department at the time — filed a discrimination charge over an incident caught on video showing Campo placing a “Ku Klux Klan” sign on Pool’s jacket and then wearing a makeshift KKK hat. Pool also spoke at the conference.
In his charge, Torres alleged that Campo mocked his Latino heritage and Catholic faith, including his observance of the Sabbath and Lent.
Torres also wrote that Campo posted offensive images of him on the police department bulletin board, such as a photoshopped image of Torres on a jar of salsa with a sombrero and of Torres’ face superimposed onto a priest’s body.
Campo also allegedly posted a photo from one of Torres’ annual mission trips to El Salvador, in which he is pictured with two children, and added a speech bubble implying that Torres is a pedophile, in reference to the Catholic Church’s sexual abuse scandal.
When Campo’s alleged mistreatment of Torres first began, Torres said he attempted to keep his head down and “stay quiet.”
“I would try to have faith, calm down,” Torres said at the conference. “But then the icing on the cake is when Pool’s situation came up, and I said, ‘He’s not alone.’ I had to step forward.”
Following the release of the KKK video, Campo retired in June 2021 after 32 years in the department and eight years as chief. Campo could not be reached for comment by ABC News.
At the time, Sheffield Lake Mayor Dennis Bring called the incident the “the most egregious and offensive thing you could possibly do.”
However, in both Pool and Torres’ cases, the city has denied that Campo’s conduct was “severe or pervasive,” characterizing it as merely “banter,” according to Ashlie Case Sletvold — partner at Peiffer Wolf, the law firm representing Torres and Pool.
“I don’t put away my ethnicity and heritage when I come to work, and I shouldn’t have to hide my religion, either,” Torres said. “My faith and my humanitarian work on my personal time make me a better police officer. I am disappointed that the city I serve is not taking what former Chief Campo did to me more seriously.”
Bring and Sheffield Lake Law Director David Graves did not respond to ABC News’ requests for comment.
In addition to the claims filed by Pool and Torres, the Ohio Civil Rights Commission is currently investigating a third charge against Campo alleging sexual harassment.
Pool also filed a petition with the Supreme Court of Ohio last July to force the department to produce public records, including images Campo created and posted mocking employees based on race, gender, religion, and sexual orientation.
The city has yet to provide the records, Sletvold said at the conference.
The police department has also yet to mandate any diversity training for its employees and has rejected offers for people to come in and provide such training for free, Sletvold said.
Sheffield Lake Police Department declined to comment to ABC News.
“There’s no change,” Pool said. “We haven’t moved forward as a department to make sure this doesn’t happen again.”
(VESTAVIA HILLS, Ala.) — The alleged shooter who killed three people in an Alabama church last week had multiple firearms violations against his federal firearms business in 2018, according to Bureau of Alcohol Firearms and Tobacco documents obtained by ABC News.
Robert Findley Smith allegedly failed to keep receipts of firearms he sold at his business.
“The Licensee failed to record the disposition of [redacted] firearms, of which [redacted] were reconciled and [redacted] was reported as missing inventory,” the report from ATF said. Additionally, he was a repeat offender for this offense, according to the ATF.
Following its investigation into Smith’s business, ATF issued him a warning letter in February 2018, which is the “least severe action the ATF can take against a licensee with compliance issues,” according to a joint report by The Trace and USA TODAY.
Smith, 70, is facing capital murder charges after allegedly walking into a potluck dinner on June 16 at Saint Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Vestavia Hills, killing three parishioners: an 84-year-old man who died at the scene, a 75-year-old woman and an 84-year-old woman who later died at a hospital.
A church member reportedly restrained Smith at the scene until authorities arrived. He’s being held at the Jefferson County Jail on no bond.
According to reports, 25 people were in the church at the time of the shooting.
Ann Carpenter, the reverend’s wife, said Smith attended service almost every Sunday but described him as a loner to ABC News, saying he “sat in the back” and “didn’t have much interaction with anybody.” Right before the shooting, he reportedly drinking liquor alone.
“My wife says he looked like he didn’t take very good care of himself,” the founder of the church, Rev. Douglas Carpenter, told ABC News. “And he had a hard time communicating with people.”
ATF documents showed that Smith bought guns for local dealers, fixed and then sold the weapons at “gun shows, auctions or through the website Gun Broker.”
Evanescence‘s Amy Lee and Dave Stewart of Eurythmics have premiered a video for their collaborative cover of The Everly Brothers‘ “Love Hurts.”
The black-and-white clip features close-ups of the two artists as they dig into the emotion of song, which was first recorded by The Everly Brothers in 1960 and was later covered by “Hair of the Dog” rockers Nazareth in the ’70s.
Lee and Steward first debuted the “Love Hurts” cover during a virtual Everly Brothers tribute concert last weekend. The single will be officially released on digital outlets this Friday, June 24.
“A few weeks back Dave Stewart called and asked if I wanted to collaborate on the iconic Everly Brothers song, ‘Love Hurts,'” Lee says. “We clicked like magic and obsessed over it until it became this crazy new thing. I’m beyond excited about our new friendship and our new track.”
“My collaboration with Amy happened by chance, but turned into a magical adventure,” Stewart adds. “She’s a creative force and we work so well together. We quickly realized our version sounded nothing like the original but once we started, we couldn’t stop!”
A new book that tells the story of the making of Pink Floyd‘s 1977 concept album Animals and the tours in support of the record will be released on August 1 and can be preordered now at MusicGlue.com.
Pink Floyd: The Animals Tour – A Visual History is available in three versions — a standard hardcover edition, a hardcover version signed by author Glenn Povey, and a Deluxe Edition that’s packaged in a box and features memorabilia reproductions, and a signed and numbered certificate.
Released in January 1977, Animals was Pink Floyd’s 10th studio effort. The album, which was loosely based on George Orwell‘s dystopian novel Animal Farm, included three extended themed pieces titled “Pigs (Three Different Ones),” “Dogs” and “Sheep” that represented humanity as three different classes — subservient sheep, despotic pigs and predatory dogs.
The album’s cover famously featured a giant inflatable pig tied by ropes to the smokestacks of London’s Battersea Power Station. Animals peaked at #3 on the Billboard 200 and has gone on to sell over 4 million copies in the U.S.
Pink Floyd’s tour in support of the album featured a multimedia show that incorporated inflatable structures, film projected on large screens, special effects and state-of-the-art audio.
During the final concert of the tour, which took place at Montreal’s Olympic Stadium in July ’77, singer/bassist Roger Waters‘ disillusionment over the band’s growing stature as rock stars and fans’ rowdy behavior led to an infamous confrontation with an audience member that ended up serving as an inspiration for Pink Floyd’s classic 1979 album The Wall.
Eurythmics‘ Dave Stewart and Evanescence frontwoman Amy Lee have premiered a video for their collaborative cover of The Everly Brothers‘ “Love Hurts.”
The black-and-white clip features close-ups of the two artists as they dig into the emotion of song, which was first recorded by The Everly Brothers in 1960 and later was a hit by Scottish rockers Nazareth in 1974.
You can watch the video streaming now on Lee’s YouTube channel.
Stewart and Lee first debuted the “Love Hurts” cover during a star-studded virtual Everly Brothers tribute concert that streamed at the late sibling duo’s YouTube channel this past Sunday. The single will be officially released via digital outlets this Friday, June 24.
“A few weeks back Dave Stewart called and asked if I wanted to collaborate on the iconic Everly Brothers song, ‘Love Hurts,'” Lee says. “We clicked like magic and obsessed over it until it became this crazy new thing. I’m beyond excited about our new friendship and our new track.”
Adds Stewart, “My collaboration with Amy happened by chance, but turned into a magical adventure. She’s a creative force and we work so well together. We quickly realized our version sounded nothing like the original but once we started, we couldn’t stop!”
(WASHINGTON) — After weeks of negotiation, a bipartisan group of senators released their anti-gun violence bill on Tuesday evening — setting up a vote in the upper chamber as early as this week.
The key four senators on the deal were Republicans John Cornyn of Texas and Thom Tillis of North Carolina and Democrats Chris Murphy of Connecticut and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona. The group came together after a mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas, last month killed 19 elementary school students and two teachers.
“Today, we finalized bipartisan, commonsense legislation to protect America’s children, keep our schools safe, and reduce the threat of violence across our country. Our legislation will save lives and will not infringe on any law-abiding American’s Second Amendment rights,” the four lawmakers said in a statement. “We look forward to earning broad, bipartisan support and passing our commonsense legislation into law.”
Led by Cornyn and Murphy, a group of 20 senators had announced last week that they agreed upon the broad outline of a bill, which they then focused on drafting more specifically. Now that the legislative text is complete, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer could begin the process of teeing up a vote as soon as this week. He’s previously vowed to move the bill expeditiously.
“Once the text of this agreement is finalized, and I hope it will be as soon as possible, I will put this bill on the floor quickly so the Senate can move quickly to make gun safety reform a reality,” Schumer said in a floor speech the day after the bipartisan framework was introduced on June 12.
The bill marks a step forward in advancing that agreement, which was supported by 10 Democrats and 10 Republicans, enough to overcome a filibuster. That framework had outlined plans for a law that would include expanded background checks for those ages 18-21 as well as funding for school safety and mental health programs, funds to incentivize violence prevention programs in states and the closure of the so-called “boyfriend loophole” regarding which convicted domestic abusers can possess firearms.
If the draft text becomes law, it will be the first major gun legislation in nearly 30 years. But the Senate will need to work quickly if lawmakers want to see a floor vote before they depart for a two-week recess at the end of the week. Waiting until the end of that recess could prove a serious blow to the bill’s momentum, given resistance in some conservative circles.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
