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ANDREW PEERY: Deputy, woman killed in El Paso County shooting

ANDREW PEERY: Deputy, woman killed in El Paso County shooting

EL PASO COUNTY, Colo. (KDVR) — The El Paso County Sheriff’s Office says a deputy, woman and suspect are dead after a shooting Sunday.

The incident started around 5:30 pm when a shooting was reported near Ponderosa Drive and Grand Boulevard. The El Paso County Sheriff’s Office issued a shelter-in-place for the neighborhood in Security-Widefield.

Two deputies with EPSO and one officer from the Fountain Police Department responded to the area. When they arrived, they said they encountered gunfire from John Paz, 33.

Deputy Andrew Peery, 39, was shot while the other deputy and an FPD officer returned gunfire until additional officers and deputies arrived on scene. They immediately tried to save Peery’s life, EPSO said.

Around 8 pm, EPSO said that Peery had been killed in the line of duty.

EPSO said a woman was found dead in the front yard of a home in the area.

Detectives from the Colorado Springs Police Department arrived at the home and obtained a search warrant.

Once they were inside the home, they found the suspect, Paz, dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

The coroner’s office will release the cause of death for the deputy, victim and suspect.

EPSO said they believe that Paz killed deputy Peery and the woman found in the front yard of the home, then took his own life.

CSPD will lead the investigation into the shooting.

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Matthew DePerno: Trump-backed GOP candidate for Michigan AG under criminal investigation for possibly tampering with voting machines, docs say

Matthew DePerno: Trump-backed GOP candidate for Michigan AG under criminal investigation for possibly tampering with voting machines, docs say



CNN
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Michigan’s Democratic attorney general is calling for a special prosecutor to investigate her Donald Trump-backed challenger after finding evidence linking him to a potentially criminal plot to seize and tamper with voting machines used in the 2020 election, according to a letter obtained by CNN and documents released Monday by the attorney general’s office.

For months, the Michigan State Police and the attorney general’s office have been investigating a series of voting machine breaches that took place in several counties around the state last year. According to the documents released Monday, that probe has led investigators to Kalamazoo-based lawyer Matthew DePerno, a Republican candidate running against incumbent Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel.

Trump has thrown his support behind DePerno, and he picked up an endorsement earlier this year from Michigan Republican Party activists, paving the way for him to officially become the GOP nominee for attorney general at the party convention later this month. He is one of several Trump-backed election deniers who are currently running to become the top law enforcement officer or the top election official in their states.

Nessel is now asking for a special prosecutor to be appointed to avoid a potential conflict of interest. The investigation into voting machine breaches has unearthed facts that indicate DePerno and two other associates may have broken the law when they “orchestrated a coordinated plan to gain access to voting tabulators,” according to Nessel’s office.

“When this investigation began there was not a conflict of interest. However, during the course of the investigation, facts were developed that DePerno was one of the prime instigators of the conspiracy,” Nessel’s office wrote in an August 5 petition for the Prosecuting Attorneys Coordinating Counsel to appoint a special prosecutor.

The DePerno campaign tweeted a statement late Sunday saying he has reviewed the petition for a special prosecutor and “denied the allegations presented.” The statement also says, “the claims presented by Nessel show a completely unwarranted and erroneous attack based on political prosecution.”

The request from Nessel’s office alleges that DePerno was present in a hotel room in early 2021 when a group of individuals performed unauthorized “tests” on voting tabulators they had seized from multiple Michigan counties – suggesting investigators have evidence that directly links him to the potentially illegal breaches.

“We have requested the appointment of a Special Prosecuting Attorney to review the case for the issue of possible criminal charges against several of the individuals involved. We view the actions of these individuals to be very serious,” Nessel’s office wrote in a letter to Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, a fellow Democrat, summarizing the investigation’s findings.

Reuters first reported DePerno’s alleged role in the voting machine breaches. The Detroit News first reported Nessel’s request for a special prosecutor.

In May, CNN reported that Michigan State Police had expanded its investigation into whether third parties gained unauthorized access to voting machine data after the 2020 election, and that the probe was looking into potential breaches in multiple counties. The investigation began in February after Benson’s office uncovered a breach of vote tabulator components in Roscommon County, in rural northern Michigan.

The probe in Michigan reflects a growing number of uncovered incidents around the country where Trump supporters attempted to gain access to voting systems, as part of efforts to overturn or undermine the outcome of the 2020 presidential election. It also comes as several Trump-endorsed candidates have won the Republican nomination for roles that could position them to oversee future elections in key battleground states going forward.

They succeeded in at least one instance in late November 2020, when a team of pro-Trump operatives traveled to Antrim County, Michigan, and conducted an audit of voting systems there, according to court documents released as part of a failed lawsuit filed by attorneys working on behalf of the former President at the time.

The lawsuit was led by DePerno and led to a since-debunked report issued by a team of analysts from a Texas-based company, Allied Security Operations Group, alleging irregularities in Dominion Voting Systems that was consistently cited as evidence in multiple failed legal challenges in Michigan and other swing states. (There is no evidence to support GOP claims of wrongdoing by Dominion.)

Among the evidence investigators in Michigan say they have uncovered as part of their probe into voting machine breaches are digital IDs that DePerno had used as evidence in the failed suit.

“There must be consequences for those who broke the law to undermine our elections in order to advance their own political agendas,” Benson told CNN in a statement.

She added, “The Republican, Democratic and nonpartisan election clerks of this state do their jobs with professionalism and integrity, and we will continue to ensure they are equipped with a full understanding of the legal protections in place to block bad actors from pressing them to gain access to secure election systems.”

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Dry lightning has sparked some of California’s most destructive fires. Scientists say it could happen more often

Dry lightning has sparked some of California's most destructive fires. Scientists say it could happen more often

Researchers found that over the past few decades, nearly half of the lightning strikes that hit the ground during spring and summer had been dry — there was no rain falling nearby. Dry lightning tends to happen in storms over areas of extreme drought, like the one California has been in for the past several years. The air is so dry that the rain evaporates before it hits the ground.

And the conditions that favor dry lightning are becoming more widespread and more frequent as the climate crisis fuel’s the West’s megadrought.

Dmitri Kalashnikov, lead author of the paper and a doctoral student at Washington State University, pointed to the wildfires that scorched California in 2020 — particularly the August Complex Fire, the largest wildfire in the state’s history — as the motivation for the research.

The August Complex Fire was originally more than three dozen fires that were sparked by dry lightning. Those fires merged to become the largest in state history, burning more than a million acres in seven counties. California firefighters were exhausted that summer, CNN reported at the time, and they were particularly concerned about the potential for more and more fires sparked by dry lightning.
All of the seven largest fires in California history have occurred in the past five years, and four of those were caused by lightning, according to data from Cal Fire.

“With warming and drying and drier vegetation, it doesn’t take a whole lot of lightning to start wildfires,” Kalashnikov told CNN. “So even if, on the off chance, dry lightning decreases in the future, it just takes one outbreak one day in a year to cause a lot of fire and a lot of damage, if that were to happen.”

The study, funded by NASA and published Monday in the journal Environmental Research: Climate, is the first to develop long-term climatology of dry lightning in California, specifically focusing on Central and Northern California, an area where lightning is a significant cause of wildfire .

Dry lightning was found to occur most frequently in July and August, the researchers found, though lower elevation regions tended to see activity peak later in September and October, when vegetation is even drier.

Researchers found that around Sacramento, San Francisco, Redwood, Sequoia and Yosemite, lightning sparked nearly 30%, of fires which accounted for nearly 50% of the total burned area.

“That is a lot of fires started by lightning, which are usually more difficult to attack because they tend to be more remote than human caused fires,” Chris Vagasky, a meteorologist and lightning applications manager at Vaisala, told CNN.

Lightning strikes east of the eastern front of the McKinney Fire in the Klamath National Forest in California.

Vagasky, who is not involved with the study, said the findings provide “excellent background” for weather forecasting and wildland management communities to better determine the conditions that are favorable for dry lightning to occur in advance.

“This really highlights the importance of understanding when dry lightning can be expected so that crews can be at the ready in the event of fire starting,” he said. “So it’s good to see that there is now a study for this region of the US that shows not just the time of year, but the type of meteorological conditions that appear favorable for dry lightning.”

Nebraska and Colorado are sparring over water rights. It could be the new norm as rivers dry up

The research is just the first step, Vagasky said. “When thunderstorms do develop, first responders need to be aware that dry lightning conditions may be possible, but they will also have to be able to quickly respond to areas that are impacted,” he added.

Kalashnikov said there are still uncertainties when it comes to lightning research, whether dry lightning will occur more often as the climate changes. But one thing is certain, he said, as the Western drought persists, conditions are much more favorable for dry lightning to take shape. In just the last year alone, dry lightning has sparked deadly and destructive wildfires such as the Bootleg Fire in Oregon that burned more than 400,000 acres.

“We know it’s getting hotter and drier — California is becoming hotter and drier,” Kalashnikov said. “So we can say that no matter what the trend in lightning is doing, when lightning happens with a hotter, drier atmosphere and vegetation, it’s just going to lead to more of a risk of these kinds of wildfire outbreaks like we saw in 2020. “

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Uvalde school district looking for interim police chief as Pete Arredondo awaits termination hearing

Uvalde school district looking for interim police chief as Pete Arredondo awaits termination hearing

“We continue to search and talk to different organizations about an interim police chief or an interim team,” Harrell said in a public meeting Monday evening. “There have been four officers who have been recommended for hire. They are all from out of town and they look like very promising candidates, lots of years of experience. So we will continue on that progress as well.”

The board’s search was previously reported by the local online newspaper Uvalde Hesperian, citing comments given by school board President Luis Fernandez at a Rotary Club meeting last week.
Arredondo was placed on unpaid leave following his highly criticized handling of the massacre at Robb Elementary School in May, in which 19 children and two teachers were killed. Officials have said Arredondo was the on-scene commander during the shooting, but the chief has disputed this, saying he did not believe he was in charge.

The Uvalde superintendent recommended Arredondo be fired in the wake of the tragedy and amid growing anger from residents and families who demanded the chief be terminated from the position.

The school board has postponed Arredondo’s termination hearing twice because of requests from his attorney involving his right to due process. Most recently, the board pushed off the meeting due to a “scheduling conflict” which prevented the hearing from being held on August 4, the district said. A new hearing date was not set at the time.

Harrell also provided updates on safety measures being implemented for the new school year, including at least 500 cameras to be purchased for the district, designated points of entry for parents and visitors and the continued installation of fences, although it’s not clear if the fences will be completed by the first day of school.

The school district recently completed a wifi audit to see what needs to be strengthened and is also in the process of getting an estimate for security film and glass, Harrell said. He said the school district has spent approximately $4.5 million on security and community support this summer, which was from a variety of funding resources.

The Texas Department of Public Safety has officially agreed to have 33 officers assigned to Uvalde school campuses and will remain there throughout the school year, Harrell said. I have added that each officer will be assigned to a designated campus.

Harrell also announced that there will be an option to attend school virtually in the upcoming year.

Uvalde parent, Adam Martinez, said he will likely keep his two children in virtual learning, saying that even though some of the security measures are reassuring, his son said that an increased number of officers doesn’t make him feel safer because he believes officers didn’t help during the massacre.

“As of right now, we’ll just continue virtual and see if somehow we can change the perception of the school officers or the police officers in general because right now, it seems like the children don’t have any confidence. They are going to school scared,” Martinez told CNN.

Martinez said he is one of the parents helping to file grievances against the school board, Harrell and other school staff. So far, they’ve filed at least six complaints and want Harrell removed, he said.

Fernandez confirmed the school district has zeroed in on a property to replace Robb Elementary, which the district has said students will not return to, according to the Uvalde Hesperian report.

Additionally, Fernandez said the district will approach fire drills differently, using the intercom system instead of sirens, the paper reported.

CNN has reached out to the school district and the Texas Department of Public Safety for confirmation and comment, and has not immediately heard back.

Termination hearing for Uvalde school police chief Pete Arredondo is delayed again
Following the massacre, a report from a Texas House Investigative Committee identified widespread failures across responding law enforcement agencies during the shooting. The report also concluded Arredondo failed to assume his responsibility for him as the on-scene commander during the incident.
Responding officers arrived at the school within minutes of the shooter entering the building on May 24, but it took more than an hour for law enforcement to enter the adjoining classrooms and kill the gunman, according to a timeline from the Texas Department of Public Safety.

“At Robb Elementary, law enforcement responds failed to adhere to their active shooter training, and they failed to prioritize saving the lives of innocent victims over their own safety,” the report said, adding, “The void of leadership could have contributed to the loss of life as injured victims waited over an hour for help, and the attacker continued to sporadically fire his weapon.”

Arredondo has resisted officials’ statements identifying him as the leading officer, saying he “was responding as a police officer” and did not consider himself to be in charge.

However, video footage from body-worn cameras and security cameras shows officers on the scene deferring to Arredondo when they are unsure of their role during the shooting and also shows Arredondo giving orders and coordinating personnel, according to a CNN analysis of the footage.

CNN’s Elizabeth Wolfe and Taylor Romine contributed to this report.

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Hackers Take Aim at University Websites

China Military Drills Taiwan

US Says China ‘Manufactured’ Crisis

China’s actions in the Taiwan Strait are “manufactured” and “completely unnecessary,” Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Colin Kahl said Monday during a press briefing at the Pentagon.

Kahl said the US has not changed its support of the One China policy, nor do US officials believe China will take Taiwan over militarily in the next few years.

“We don’t support China using its military actions against Taiwan. We don’t support Taiwan moving towards independence. Our policy has not changed its support for the status quo. China’s policy is what’s changed,” Kahl said, adding that China is trying to “salami-slice their way into a new status quo.”

China is “trying to coerce” both Taiwan and the international community, Kahl said.

“All I’ll say is, we’re not going to take the bait, and it’s not going to work,” he said. “It’s a manufactured crisis. That doesn’t mean we have to play into that. I think it would only play to Beijing’s advantage.”

Kahl was asked about the developing situation between China and Taiwan several times during the Monday briefing. He reiterated the Defense Department’s support of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan last week, which prompted China’s last several days of military exercises in the Taiwan Strait.

China “clearly” was not “happy” with Pelosi’s visit, Kahl said, but “nothing about the visit changed one iota of the US government’s policy toward Taiwan or toward China.”

Kahl said China’s reaction to Pelosi’s Taiwan visit was not surprising. Pelosi “had every right” to go to Taiwan, Kahl said, adding that the Department of Defense was committed to providing Pelosi with “the support required” once she confirmed that the trip was happening.

After Pelosi traveled to Taiwan, Kahl said China carried out missile exercises and other live fire demonstrations. China also boosted its air and naval military activities in the Strait, he said.

Kahl declined to say whether Chinese aircraft or missiles have flown over Taiwan, saying those answers depended on the lock and trajectory of each object and that he did not “have the physics of it” in front of him in that moment.

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Family IDs man, 21, fatally shot in Otsego by deputies, blames initial response

Family IDs man, 21, fatally shot in Otsego by deputies, blames initial response

Family on Monday identified the man who was shot to death in an Otsego neighborhood over the weekend by deputies who the Sheriff’s Office said were threatened by him with a knife.

Jordyn J. Hansen, 21, was fatally wounded about 1 am Sunday in the 12300 block of NE. 72nd Court, said his aunt Sara Wroblewski, who lives where deputies responded.

The Wright County Sheriff’s Office said deputies shot Hansen during a confrontation and that he was armed with a knife.

However, Hansen’s aunt contended in a detailed written account released to the Star Tribune late Monday morning that law enforcement was lax while in her home, missed opportunities to detain him and allowed him to get a hold of a knife.

Multiple messages were left with the Sheriff’s Office seeking a response to Wroblewski’s allegations.

In a statement Sunday, the Sheriff’s Office said that “reports indicated a man was having mental health challenges and had threatened physical harm to his family and himself.”

Deputies spoke to Hansen upon arriving at the scene, and he agreed to go to the hospital for an evaluation. However, the statement continued, he “ran into the kitchen and grabbed a knife” before an ambulance could arrive.

“I have fled the home and ran into the neighborhood,” the statement read. “Squads set up a perimeter and requested additional support from the Minnesota State Patrol helicopter.”

The statement said Hansen confronted deputies a short time later in a neighboring backyard, where two deputies attempted to stun him with a Taser as he threatened them with the knife. The two deputies then shot the man.

Hansen was taken to North Memorial Health Hospital, where he was pronounced dead a short time later.

Justine Love, in a brief interview Monday with the Star Tribune, said the Midwest Medical Examiner’s Office told her family that her brother was hit by six gunshots from law enforcement.

Court records in Rice County show that Hansen has a history of mental health difficulties dating back nearly four years to when he lived in Faribault and include attempts of suicide, delusions that his life was being threatened, hearing voices, belief that his mind was being read , and extreme alcohol and illicit drug abuse.

Courts twice ordered him civilly committed for treatment of social anxiety disorder and depression, with his most recent commitment being extended in March for six months and active at the time of his death.

Wroblewski said in her statement to the Star Tribune that Hansen moved into her Otsego home a few months ago after completing treatment.

“He was still under formal treatment commitment until September but was released [by the Rice County District Court] into our care,” she added.

She said the family believed a new place to live “was his best chance at a full recovery away from his previous lifestyle, which triggered mental health crisis.”

Rice County Attorney John Fossum said that the court’s decisions leading up to Hansen moving in with his aunt “would be based on medical evaluations and recommendations from the professionals responsible for the individual’s care.”

Fossum added that “any explanation of those decisions not found in the public portions of the court file is private data and cannot be disclosed by this office.”

Wroblewski said the family contacted law enforcement early Sunday because Hansen “was having a mental health episode, and we needed him to be removed from our home to get some help.”

The aunt said Hansen “had communicated threats to family outside our home, but didn’t make any threats to us. But there were signs of volatility when we were with Jordyn prior to [law enforcement] and we made officers aware of this.

“We believe there were multiple opportunities inside our home for officers to peacefully restrain and contain Jordyn knowing that this was a mental health call, and the situation was unpredictable and could change in a moment’s notice.”

Instead, she continued, “the officers allowed Jordyn to be escorted through our home unrestrained, which is how he obtained a weapon.”

Wroblewski said her husband warned the officers on that scene that Hansen was heading toward the kitchen unrestrained.

“We believe the outcome would have been different if officers had handled this differently inside our home,” she said. “We have many questions for law enforcement that we are still waiting on.”

The state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is now heading the investigation and has yet to release any information. The deputies have been placed on standard administrative leave.

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Pennsylvania defense attorney charged with pressing clients into sex

Pennsylvania defense attorney charged with pressing clients into sex

SCRANTON, Pa. — A defense attorney targeted vulnerable clients and pressured them into having sex in exchange for legal work, the Pennsylvania attorney general’s office said Monday.

Corey J. Kolcharno is charged with four counts of promoting prostitution after an investigation found he sexually exploited clients, tethering “his performance as their counsel to a demand for sexual services from them or in exchange for payment,” police wrote in an affidavit.

Kolcharno — a former Lackawanna County prosecutor — was arraigned Monday and released on a $20,000 unsecured bail. A statement issued by his attorney from him said Kolcharno “has made a conscious decision to accept responsibility.” Kolcharno told reporters he intended to give up his law license.

According to state police, Kolcharno targeted women who struggled with addiction, had been sexually abused or had financial problems. At first he requested nude photos or worn underwear, then escalated his predatory behavior into a demand for sex in exchange for legal services, authorities said. I have paid his clients as much as $500, police said.

Victims said they were ashamed but felt they had no choice but to give in, authorities said.

Kolcharno “picked these victims because they had limited choices, because he thought they would be easy to silence, and less likely to be believed if they ever came forward,” Attorney General Josh Shapiro said in a written statement.

Investigators said they found hundreds of sexually explicit images of Kolcharno’s clients on his cellphone.

Police said the crimes took place between 2018 and 2022, when Kolcharno was a partner in the Fanucci & Kolcharno law firm outside Scranton.

Before reentering private practice, Kolcharno was an assistant district attorney in Lackawanna County from 2005-2011.

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Nicole Linton in court: Woman accused in fiery wreck charged

Nicole Linton in court: Woman accused in fiery wreck charged

Nicole Linton, a traveling nurse from Houston, allegedly ran through a red light and caused the wreck.

LOS ANGELES — The driver suspected of causing a fiery crash that killed five people and an 8 1/2-month-old fetus was charged Monday with murder.

Nicole Lorraine Linton, a traveling nurse from Houston, was charged with six counts of murder and five counts of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence, according to the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office.

She could face 90 years to life in prison if convicted of all charges.

Linton, 37, was jailed on a $9 million bail Monday after being released from a hospital over the weekend. It was not immediately clear whether she had an attorney who could speak on her behalf of her.

Prosecutors said Linton’s Mercedes-Benz was doing 90 mph (144 kph) last Thursday when it ran a red light and smashed into cars in a crowded intersection in unincorporated Windsor Hills about 10 miles (16 km) southwest of downtown Los Angeles. Several victims were thrown from the cars and several vehicles caught fire.

RELATED: Houston nurse accused in fiery California wreck that killed multiple people

The crash killed 23-year-old Asherey Ryan, her 11-month-old son Alonzo Quintero and her boyfriend, Reynold Lester, Sha’seana Kerr said in a GoFundMe posting.

Lester’s family told KABC-TV that the 24-year-old security guard was the father of Ryan’s 8 1/2-month-old unborn child. The family has said Ryan was on the way to a doctor’s appointment for a prenatal checkup when she was killed.

One murder charge — but not an additional charge of vehicular manslaughter — was filed for the fetus, who was identified by the coroner’s office as Armani Lester and listed as born on the same day he died.

“A young family was destroyed in the blink of an eye,” District Attorney George Gascón said at a news conference.

Two other women were also killed but their names weren’t made public as of Monday.

“While the wreckage of this fiery crash at this intersection was removed and traffic eventually resumed, there is catastrophic damage to the families and friends of those killed and injured,” Gascón said. “It is not only a tremendous loss to the families but our entire community who learned of this incredible tragedy or have watched the now viral video of the collision,” he said.

Authorities said they haven’t found any evidence that Linton was under the influence of alcohol but prosecutors said she did have a history of dangerous crashes and knew the threat posed by her driving behavior, the Los Angeles Times reported.

RELATED: Police arrest driver in deadly Los Angeles crash

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What we know 16-year-old Kiely Rodni, who disappeared in Truckee

What we know 16-year-old Kiely Rodni, who disappeared in Truckee

It has been three days since 16-year-old Kiely Rodni disappeared in Truckee. She was last seen at a party near the Prosser Family Campground, in an area known to locals as “The Sanctuary.” Here’s what KCRA 3 knows so far. What’s the latest in the investigation? According to the Placer County Sheriff’s Office, multiple agencies are now part of this investigation that is now classified as a possible abduction. The department tells KCRA 3 it is struggling to gather leads due to the ages of potential witnesses .Kiely Rodni was last seen early Saturday morning at a party near the Prosser Family Campground. Witnesses and law enforcement say there were anywhere from 200 to 250 teenagers and young adults in attendance. The Placer County Sheriff’s Office said it is not interested in arresting or prosecuting any minors who were drinking or using drugs at the party; instead, it wants to focus on getting Kiely home to her family from her. Why did the Placer County Sheriff’s Office upgrade this to a possible abduction investigation? The Placer County Sheriff’s Office told KCRA 3 that the only reason this has been upgraded to a possible abduction is that investigators have not found her car, which is a silver 2013 Honda CRV.The department said it is still considering all leads and possibilities.This could include an accident, or if the teen just ran away.Which agencies are now involved in the investigation?The Placer County Sheriff’s Office is currently coordinating with the California Highway Patrol , Truckee police, FBI, and the Nevada County Sheriff’s Office as they continue their search for the teen. What can I do to help? The Placer County Sheriff’s Office has created a tip line for this investigation. You can call anonymously. Anyone with information about the teen’s whereabouts is asked to call the tipline 530-581-6320, option 7. The teen’s friends have set up this website with information, as well.

TRUCKEE, Calif. —

It has been three days since 16-year-old Kiely Rodni disappeared in Truckee.

She was last seen at a party near the Prosser Family Campground, in an area known to locals as “The Sanctuary.”

Here’s what KCRA 3 knows so far.

What’s the latest in the investigation?

According to the Placer County Sheriff’s Office, multiple agencies are now part of this investigation that is now classified as a possible abduction.

The department tells KCRA 3 it is struggling to gather leads due to the ages of potential witnesses.

Kiely Rodni was last seen early Saturday morning at a party near the Prosser Family Campground.

Witnesses and law enforcement say there were anywhere from 200 to 250 teenagers and young adults in attendance.

The Placer County Sheriff’s Office said it is not interested in arresting or prosecuting any minors who were drinking or using drugs at the party; instead, it wants to focus on getting Kiely home to her family from her.

Why did the Placer County Sheriff’s Office upgrade this to a possible abduction investigation?

The Placer County Sheriff’s Office told KCRA 3 that the only reason this has been upgraded to a possible abduction is that investigators have not found her car, which is a silver 2013 Honda CRV.

The department said it is still considering all leads and possibilities.

This could include an accident, or if the teen just ran away.

Which agencies are now involved in the investigation?

The Placer County Sheriff’s Office is currently coordinating with the California Highway Patrol, Truckee police, FBI, and the Nevada County Sheriff’s Office as they continue their search for the teen.

What can I do to help?

The Placer County Sheriff’s Office has created a tip line for this investigation. You can call anonymously.

Anyone with information about the teen’s whereabouts is asked to call the tipline 530-581-6320, option 7.

The teen’s friends have set up this website with information, as well.

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Top Pakistani Taliban leader Omar Khalid Khorasani killed in Afghanistan

Top Pakistani Taliban leader Omar Khalid Khorasani killed in Afghanistan

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KABUL — A top leader of the Pakistani Taliban militia was reported killed Sunday in southeastern Afghanistan, potentially dealing a serious blow to peace talks being negotiated between the extremist group and Pakistani officials with assistance from senior Taliban leaders in Afghanistan.

An aid to the Pakistani militia leader, known as Omar Khalid Khorasani, said in a tweet Monday morning that he died in a bomb blast in southeastern Afghanistan. “He is no more with us,” said the aide, Ehsanullah Ehsan. “May Allah… give him the highest place in Jannah,” or heaven.

The reported death of Khorasani followed months of talks that began shortly after Afghan Taliban forces took power in Kabul one year ago. Numerous delegations have met in Afghanistan since then to help end the years-long conflict between Pakistani forces and hard-line Pakistani militants.

There were conflicting reports Monday on the circumstances of Khorasani’s death and the precise location in southeastern Afghanistan where it occurred.

Ehsan told The Washington Post that two other Pakistani Taliban leaders who were traveling with Khorasani, Mufti Hassan Swati and Hafiz Dawlat Khan, were killed in the same incident. In a brief online conversation via Telegram, he said all three were killed by an “IED blast,” referring to an improvised explosive device or roadside bomb, but he did not specify where it happened or who was responsible. He said Khorasani was “leading the committee for peace negotiations.”

In the capital, Kabul, Taliban authorities have been struggling to contain a rash of terrorist attacks on the Shiite Muslim community over the past week. The attacks, mostly claimed by Islamic State militants, have caused panic in the Shiite Muslim community as it observes a period of religious mourning for a revered figure: Imam Hussein, a grandson of the prophet Muhammad slain in battle in the 7th century.

Taliban officials had promised to protect the community’s 10-day mourning tradition, which was due to culminate Monday with processions and funereal music, bringing tens of thousands of people into the streets. But after the third attack Saturday — a bombing in the heart of the Shiite community — officials virtually shut down the activities for fear of further violence.

On Monday morning, police cut off the area to all outside traffic and banned all local traffic. Roadside displays of brilliant religious flags and banners were taken down, and security forces in armored vehicles, some mounted with machine guns, continually patrolled the near-empty streets.

Taliban officials also cut off local cellphone signals across Kabul on Monday to prevent remote-controlled bombings. Two of the recent terrorist attacks involved bombs that were hidden in ordinary objects in separate crowded areas of the Shiite community and were detonated remotely.

“People here are very afraid now after what has happened, but still they have strong feelings that they must come out and honor Imam Hussein,” Habib Rezaie, 45, told a travel agent. “He was a great hero for the world, not only for Islam. But I think in these circumstances, it would be better if people stay home and not express that love so extravagantly.”

Among the few pedestrians who dared come out on the streets Monday were some female medical students who were supposed to report for an exam. They hurried nervously along the sidewalk, clutching papers and exam books, just two blocks from the site that was bombed Saturday.

“We are all scared. Our parents didn’t want us to go out, and we thought the Taliban might not give us permission, but we have to take these exams. It’s for our future,” said one student, 23, who gave her name only as Salaina.

Taliban officials have been struggling for months to respond to the Shiite community’s concerns about continuing attacks from the Islamic State, an extremist Sunni Muslim group that has repeatedly staged attacks in Kabul and other cities since the Taliban took power last August. In April, it bombed a large high school and a crowded shrine.

In an especially brazen attack Wednesday, the militants commandeered an apartment building and started shooting at a Taliban security patrol after reportedly taking some residents’ hostage. It took government forces nearly seven hours to quell the assault.

In attempting to prevent worse violence, Taliban authorities face an awkward balance between protecting local Shiites — a group they once persecuted — and allowing them the freedom they have long demanded to hold religious events. The Taliban forbade those same events when the Sunni Muslim group held power from 1996 to 2001.

Over two decades of US-backed administrations, as the minority Shiite and ethnic Hazara populace gained influence and success, its commemoration of Imam Hussein, during a religious period called Muharram, grew from a small, modest event inside Shiite areas to an ambitious display of colorful banners and archways put up over streets across the entire capital.

“People are worried, 100 percent, and they fear we will see more chaos coming, but it is not right for the authorities to stop our celebration either,” said Noor Mohammed, 55. “Imam Hussein is our champion. We know he would not want us to lose our lives, but people feel they must come out and show their feelings at any cost.”

In addition to grappling with terrorist attacks from extremist groups in West Kabul, the Taliban regime has been reeling since a US drone fired a missile on July 31 at a luxurious house in central Kabul, killing Ayman al-Zawahiri, the head of al-Qaeda since a US raid killed Osama bin Laden in 2011. Taliban officials have denied they knew he was living there, and they have accused the United States of violating their 2020 peace agreement by attacking the house.

The death of Khorasani marks another setback for Taliban efforts to reduce conflict at home and in the region. In this case, the Taliban has been working with Pakistani officials for nearly a year to engineer a peace agreement with the Pakistani Taliban, after facing accusations from Pakistan that it was secretly supporting the group. The effort resulted in a month-long cease-fire in November, but the militants resumed attacks after that.

Haq Nawaz Khan in Peshawar, Pakistan, contributed to this report.