Category Archives: Gun crime

Swedish police call for ban on civilians wearing bulletproof vests

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Growing numbers buying protective gear as gangs recruit young people amid surge in violence across country

Police in southern Sweden have called for a ban on civilians wearing bulletproof vests, which they say do not have a place outside war zones because they cause fear in communities.

Increasing numbers of children and young people, including those under 15, are wearing protective vests in towns and cities, they said, as gang crime continues to pull in the younger generation in Sweden.

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Police seek vehicle after masked men kill four at California party

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Shooting on Sunday evening at outdoor gathering in King City left four dead and seven others injured, police say

Police are offering a $20,000 reward for information on a shooting that took place on Sunday evening when a group of masked men pulled up to an outdoor birthday party in central California and opened fire, killing at least four.

Officers responded to a reported shooting at about 6pm in King City, California, about 106 miles south of San Jose, and found three men with gunshot wounds who were pronounced dead in a front yard, the King City police department said. A total of 11 people were hit by gunfire.

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Patrick Mahomes visits sisters injured in Super Bowl parade shooting

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Champion quarterback makes hospital visit to Madison and Melia Reyes, who were hit by gunfire in Kansas City mass shooting

Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and his wife, Brittany, visited two young sisters who were both shot in the legs during Wednesday’s parade for the reigning Super Bowl champions.

The Mahomeses on Thursday paid a call to 10-year-old Madison Reyes and Melia Reyes, age eight, at Children’s Mercy hospital in Kansas City, Missouri, where they were recovering from surgeries.

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Boy injured in Osteen church shooting lost ‘portion of his frontal lobe’

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Samuel Moreno-Carranza’s grandmother posted about boy’s condition, who was injured when police killed the shooter – his mother

A boy who was shot in the head at celebrity Joel Osteen’s Houston megachurch on 11 February has lost “a portion of his frontal lobe” while recovering at the hospital, according to his grandmother.

In a Facebook post three days after the shooting, Walli Carranza said her seven-year-old grandson – Samuel Moreno-Carranza – “has lost a major part of what makes us who we are” after “half of his right skull [had] to be surgically removed during two surgeries done in less than 24 hours”. Samuel had endured “cardiac arrest multiple times, and no one can determine whether he has significant brain activity because his scalp tissue is too friable” to let doctors attach electroencephalogram wires to him, Carranza added in a post that doubled as a criticism of the US’s lack of meaningful gun control.

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At least one killed and 21 injured in Kansas City Chiefs parade shooting

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Three suspects have been arrested in connection to the shooting as the Super Bowl victory celebrations were wrapping up

At least one person was killed and 21 others injured, including multiple children, in Wednesday afternoon’s shooting that turned a Super Bowl victory parade for the Kansas City Chiefs into a scene of tragedy and chaos.

Authorities in Kansas City, Missouri, have said that three people were arrested in connection with the shooting near Union station, which took place as the celebration was wrapping up.

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Kansas City Chiefs denounce ‘senseless aviolence’ at Super Bowl victory parade

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Mayor Quinton Lucas, who attended the parade, said it ‘seems like almost nothing is safe’ as NFL said it was ‘deeply saddened’

The NFL and the Kansas City Chiefs have denounced the mass shooting that killed one and injured nearly two dozen people, including at least eight children, during Wednesday’s Super Bowl parade celebrating the team’s victory as a “senseless act of violence”.

“We are truly saddened by the senseless act of violence that occurred outside of Union Station at the conclusion of today’s parade and rally,” the Chiefs said in a statement.

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Chicago scraps gunshot detection system accused of racial bias

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Community groups say ShotSpotter system sends police to Black and Latino neighborhoods for unnecessary and hostile encounters

Chicago will not renew its ShotSpotter contract and plans to stop using the controversial gunshot detection system later this year, Mayor Brandon Johnson’s office announced on Tuesday.

The system, which relies on an artificial intelligence algorithm and network of microphones to identify gunshots, has been criticized for inaccuracy, racial bias and law enforcement misuse. An Associated Press investigation of the technology detailed how police and prosecutors used ShotSpotter data as evidence in charging a Chicago grandfather with murder before a judge dismissed the case due to insufficient evidence.

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Houston: suspect killed and two injured in shooting at Joel Osteen megachurch

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Police chief Troy Finner says unclear whether five-year-old boy wounded in incident was struck by officers who shot at attacker

A shooter with a rifle was killed by two off-duty police officers and a child was critically wounded at a Houston megachurch run by the prominent evangelical Christian pastor Joel Osteen, the city’s police chief said.

Troy Finner said it was not clear whether the boy, five, was struck by the officers who returned fire after the shooter, wearing a trenchcoat, entered Osteen’s Lakewood church with the boy shortly before 2pm and began shooting.

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New Orleans man found guilty of manslaughter for 2016 killing of former NFL player

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Cardell Hayes faces up to 40 years in prison for the shooting after a traffic altercation that left Will Smith dead

A jury found a New Orleans man guilty of manslaughter after he shot and killed former NFL player Will Smith in 2016.

Cardell Hayes, 36, could face up to 40 years in prison after the guilty conviction. Hayes’ lawyers tried to argue that he shot Smith out of self-defense following a traffic accident that escalated to an altercation in April 2016. But prosecutors for the Orleans parish district attorney’s office said that Hayes had fired needlessly, according to ESPN.

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Convicted serial killer confesses to 1980 Florida spring break murder, police say

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Police in Jacksonville draw confession from Billy Mansfield, sentenced to life in prison for five other murders decades ago

After confessing to the murder of an Ohio high schooler on her spring break outside Jacksonville, Florida, in 1980, a jailed serial killer is continuing to talk to detectives investigating other homicides whose clue trails have gone cold, according to authorities.

Billy Mansfield’s confession of the killing of 18-year-old Carol Ann Barrett of Zanesville, Ohio, means officials have now confirmed that he has committed at least six murders. He had previously been handed life sentences in five of the killings, four of which were in California and one of which was in Florida, though officials investigating Barrett’s death made clear in a statement on Thursday that those numbers could grow.

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Chicago police search for suspect in fatal shootings of eight people

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Authorities are not aware of a motive for the killings, but warn that Romeo Nance, 23, should be considered armed and dangerous

A man shot and killed eight people at three locations since Sunday in the Chicago suburbs and remains loose, authorities said Monday.

Police in Will county and the city of Joliet said they did not know of a motive for the killings, but said the man knew the victims. The FBI’s fugitive task force was assisting local police in the search for the suspect, the Joliet police chief, William Evans, said.

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‘Selfless and heroic’: Iowa principal who was wounded in school shooting dies

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Dan Marburger was injured in shooting at Perry high school on 4 January, during which an 11-year-old student was killed

An Iowa high school principal who was wounded in a school shooting has died, the state’s governor said.

Dan Marburger was injured during a mass shooting at Perry high school on 4 January. One person, an 11-year-old student, was killed, and six others injured. The suspect, a 17-year-old pupil at the school, was found dead with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.

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Former LA sheriff’s deputy gets 30 days in jail for 2019 killing of Ryan Twyman

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Andrew Lyons and another sheriff’s deputy shot at Twyman 34 times while he was inside his car in south Los Angeles

A former Los Angeles sheriff’s deputy who fatally shot an unarmed 24-year-old man in his car in 2019 was sentenced to 30 days in jail on Friday.

Andrew Lyons, one of two deputies who fired a barrage of bullets at Ryan Twyman in a parking lot in south Los Angeles, pleaded no contest to assault with a firearm and assault under color of authority, said the district attorney, George Gascón.

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Trump tells Iowans to ‘get over’ school shooting at campaign event

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Former president made the comment 36 hours after one student was killed and seven people wounded during the first day of school

Donald Trump told an audience at a campaign event on Friday in Iowa to “get over” a deadly shooting at a high school in the state a day earlier.

After offering sympathy and emotional support for the victims of the shooting in Perry, Iowa, and their families, Trump said at the event in Sioux Center: “It’s just horrible – so surprising to see it here. But we have to get over it. We have to move forward.”

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Man charged over triple shooting in Liverpool

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Leslie Garrett was arrested by armed response officers after a stun gun was deployed and remains in custody

A man has been charged after shots were fired at three locations in Liverpool on Wednesday night, the Crown Prosecution Service has said.

Leslie Garrett, 49, has been charged with one count of possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life, two of possession of a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence and one count of attempted robbery.

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Sixth-grader killed and five people wounded in Iowa high school shooting

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Investigators believe suspect died of self-inflicted gunshot wound, and at least one of the victims is a school administrator

Police said that a 17-year-old suspect killed a sixth grader and wounded five others in a shooting early Thursday at a high school in the small town of Perry, Iowa.

The suspect was identified as Dylan Butler, a 17-year-old student at Perry high school, officials said at a news briefing on Thursday afternoon. He was found dead with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound by responding officers.

Reuters and the Associated Press contributed reporting

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New Jersey imam fatally shot outside mosque as shooter remains at large

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Cleric was attacked outside Masjid-Muhammad-Newark on Wednesday morning in Newark

A New Jersey imam was shot and killed on Wednesday outside a mosque in the state’s largest city, authorities said as officers worked to identify and arrest the shooter.

The cleric, Imam Hassan Sharif, was shot after 6am outside the Masjid-Muhammad-Newark mosque, Newark’s public safety director, Fritz Fragé, said in an emailed statement. Sharif was taken to nearby University hospital and was in critical condition, authorities said. He later succumbed to his injuries.

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Florida teen allegedly shoots and kills sister over Christmas gift spat

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The 14-year-old was then allegedly shot and wounded by his 15-year-old brother in retaliation; both are now in custody

A Florida woman holding her 11-month-old son in a baby carrier was fatally shot by her 14-year-old brother while trying to defuse an argument over Christmas gifts he was having with a 15-year-old brother who also was armed, authorities said.

The 15-year-old brother then shot his 14-year-old brother, though not fatally, for killing their sister on Sunday in Largo, Florida, which is located in the Tampa metro area, the Pinellas county sheriff’s office said in a news release.

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‘She lifted our spirits’: Czechs remember victims of mass shooting as nation holds day of mourning

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This Christmas most people’s thoughts are with the victims of the Prague gunman

Just one day before the Czech Republic was due to begin its Christmas celebrations, it held a national day of mourning for the victims of the worst mass shooting in its history.

Flags flew at half mast and a minute’s silence was held at noon for the 14 people killed by a lone shooter on 21 December in the arts faculty at Prague’s Charles University. Images of students hiding from the killer on narrow ledges high above the street horrified the peaceful central European country, where mass violence is extremely rare.

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Czech Republic holds day of mourning for Prague shooting victims

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Flags fly at half mast and minute’s silence observed two days after Charles University student killed 14 people

Bells rang out and flags flew at half mast on Saturday as the Czech Republic mourned the 14 victims of the country’s worst mass shooting.

The archbishop, Jan Graubner, said mass at the main St Vitus cathedral at Prague Castle and a minute of silence was observed at midday, with people stopping in streets amid heavy rain and snow, and in malls while Christmas shopping.

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