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3 dead in shooting at Florida Narcotics Anonymous meeting

University instructor charged in shooting death of student

EDGEWATER, Fla. — A man went into a Narcotics Anonymous meeting in Florida and fatally shot his ex-girlfriend and her friend before turning the gun on himself, police said Tuesday.

Quinton Hunter brandished the gun shortly after entering the Monday night meeting, Edgewater police Chief Joseph Mahoney said during a news conference Tuesday. About 20 other participants safely fled and called police, he said.

Erica Hoffman and Ian Greenfield were already dead when officers arrived, the chief said. At some point after the shooting, Hunter began recording a Facebook Live which showed him wearing goggles and breathing heavily.

“It appears from the timeline we have that he had already shot Mr. Greenfield and had fired several other shots before he went live,” the chief said. “But he didn’t make any comments, he didn’t communicate with us. Just heavy breathing. It was very strange.”

Officers sought to make contact with the suspect to negotiate before a SWAT team breached the building and found the gunman and the two others dead inside, the post said.

Hunter had a violent criminal history, the chief said. He also said investigators are still trying to figure out the relationship between Greenfield and Hoffman, and that Hunter may have been motivated by jealousy.

The meeting was held in the offices of Be The Bridge, a nonprofit organization that helps the homeless and others get a fresh start in life.

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Coroner: Smoke inhalation killed at least 5 of 10 in fire

University instructor charged in shooting death of student

NESCOPECK, Pa. — Authorities say at least half of the 10 people found dead after an early morning fire in northeastern Pennsylvania died of smoke inhalation.

The Luzerne County coroner’s office said autopsies on the victims of the early Friday blaze in Nescopeck began Saturday. Examinations by Dr. Gary Ross were completed on three women, one man and a girl, the office said in a news release Saturday afternoon.

Determining the manner of death — classifying the deaths as accidents or homicides, for example — for the victims is pending the outcome of the fire investigation, the coroner’s office said. Positive identification of the victims is pending review of medical records, dental records and DNA if required, the coroner’s office said.

State police said seven adults ranging from late teens to age 79 were killed along with children aged 5, 6 and 7.

The county’s district attorney, Sam Sanguedolce, said a preliminary investigation suggests the fire broke out on the front porch at around 2:30 am on Friday. He said it appears that “the fire started and progressed very quickly, making it very difficult to get out.”

Nescopeck is a small town on the Susquehanna River, about 20 miles (32 kilometers) southwest of Wilkes-Barre. The house was on a residential street of largely owner-occupied, single family homes.

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North Carolina sheriff stocking schools with AR-15 rifles

University instructor charged in shooting death of student

MARSHALL, N.C. — When schools in one North Carolina county reopen later this month, new security measures will include stocking AR-15 rifles for school resource officers to use in the event of an active shooter.

Spurred by the elementary school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, that left 19 children and two teachers dead in May, school officials and Madison County Sheriff Buddy Harwood have placed one of the semiautomatic rifles in each of the county’s six schools. Each of the guns will be locked inside a safe, Harwood said.

The North Carolina school district and sheriff’s office are collaborating to enhance security after the Uvalde shooting revealed systemic failures and “egregiously poor decision-making,” resulting in more than an hour of chaos before the gunman was finally confronted and killed by law enforcement, according to to a report written by an investigative committee of the Texas House of Representatives.

“Those officers were in that building for so long, and that suspect was able to infiltrate that building and injure and kill so many kids,” Harwood told the Asheville Citizen Times. “I just want to make sure my deputies are prepared in the event that happens.”

The idea of ​​having AR-15s in schools does not sit well with Dorothy Espelage, a UNC Chapel Hill professor in the School of Education who has conducted decades of study and research on school safety and student well-being.

“What’s going to happen is we’re going to have accidents with these guns,” Espelage told WLOS-TV. Just the presence of an SRO increases violence in the schools. There’s more arrests of kids. Why is it that they have to have these AR-15s? It doesn’t make any sense.”

Madison County Schools Superintendent Will Hoffman said school administrators have been meeting regularly with local law enforcement officials, including Harwood, to discuss the updated safety measures.

Harwood said the county’s school resource officers have been training with instructors from Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College.

Harwood said the safes where the AR-15s will be kept will also hold ammunition and breaching tools for barricaded doors.

“We’ll have those tools to be able to breach that door if needed. I do not want to have to run back out to the car to grab an AR, because that’s time wasted. Hopefully we’ll never need it, but I want my guys to be as prepared as prepared can be,” he said.

Schools are scheduled to reopen Aug. 22, according to the Madison County Schools website.

While the optics of school resource officers potentially handling AR-15s in schools may be discomforting to some, Harwood said he believes it is a necessary response.

“I hate that we’ve come to a place in our nation where I’ve got to put a safe in our schools, and lock that safe up for my deputies to be able to acquire an AR-15. But, we can shut it off and say it won’t happen in Madison County, but we never know,” Harwood said.

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More human remains discovered as drought dries Lake Mead

University instructor charged in shooting death of student

LAS VEGAS — More human remains have been found at drought-stricken Lake Mead National Recreation Area east of Las Vegas, authorities said Sunday.

It’s the fourth time since May that remains have been uncovered as Western drought forces the shoreline to retreat at the shrinking Colorado River reservoir behind the Hoover Dam.

National Park Service officials said rangers were called to the reservoir between Nevada and Arizona around 11 am Saturday after skeletal remains were discovered at Swim Beach.

Rangers and a Las Vegas Metropolitan Police dive team went to retrieve the remains.

Park Service officials said the Clark County Medical Examiner’s Office will try to determine when and how the person died as investigators review records of missing people.

On May 1, a barrel containing human remains was found near Hemenway Harbor. Police believe the remains were that of a man who died from a gunshot wound and the body was likely dumped in the mid-1970s to early 1980s.

Less than a week later, authorities say human skeletal remains were found at Calville Bay.

More recently, partial human remains were found in the Boulder Beach area on July 25.

Police have speculated that more remains may be discovered as the water level at Lake Mead continues to recede.

The discoveries have prompted about long-unsolved missing person and murder cases dating back decades speculation — to organized crime and the early days of Las Vegas, which is just a 30-minute drive from the lake.

The lake surface has dropped more than 170 feet (52 meters) since the reservoir was full in 1983.

The drop in the lake level comes while a vast majority of peer-reviewed science says the world is warming, mainly because of rising levels of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

Scientists say the US West, including the Colorado River basin, has become warmer and drier in the past 30 years.

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Judith Durham, Australia’s folk music icon, dies at 79

Seekers lead singer Judith Durham with fellow band member and guitarist Athol Guy attends at media conference in Melbourne, Australia on Sept. 10, 2013. Lead singer of The Seekers, Durham, has died aged 79 in Melbourne, Friday, Aug. 5, 2022 after suf

MELBOURNE, Australia — Judith Durham, Australia’s folk music icon who achieved global fame as the lead singer of The Seekers, has died. She was 79.

Durham died in Alfred Hospital in Melbourne on Friday night after suffering complications from a long-standing lung disease, Universal Music Australia and Musicoast said in a statement on Saturday.

She made her first recording at 19 and rose to fame after joining The Seekers in 1963. The group of four became the first Australian band to achieve major chart and sales success in the UK and the United States, eventually selling 50 million records.

International hits included “The Carnival is Over,” “I’ll Never Find Another You,” “A World of Our Own” and “Georgy Girl.”

Durham embarked on a solo career in 1968 but recorded with The Seekers again in the 1990s.

“This is a sad day for Judith’s family, her fellow Seekers, the staff of Musicoast, the music industry and fans worldwide, and all of us who have been part of Judith’s life for so long,” said The Seekers’ management team member Graham simpsons.

Her bandmates in The Seekers — Keith Potger, Bruce Woodley and Athol Guy — said their lives had been changed forever by losing “our treasured lifelong friend and shining star.”

“Her struggle was intense and heroic, never complaining of her destiny and fully accepting its conclusion. Her magnificent musical legacy from Ella Keith, Bruce and I are so blessed to share, ”they said.

Tributes flowed for the beloved singer, with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese describing Durham as “a national treasure and an Australian icon.”

“Judith Durham gave voice to a new strand of our identity and helped blaze a trail for a new generation of Aussie artists,” Albanese wrote on Twitter. “Her kindness of her will be missed by many, the anthems she gave to our nation will never be forgotten.”

In her home state Victoria, Premier Dan Andrews said Durham had conquered the music world both in Australia and overseas.

“With her unique voice and stage presence leading The Seekers, the band became one of Australia’s biggest chart toppers,” he said.

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Alabama town disbands police department over racist text

University instructor charged in shooting death of student

VINCENT, Ala. — A racist text message sent by a police officer has prompted officials in a small Alabama town to disband their police department and fire the police chief and assistant chief.

Vincent Mayor James Latimore on Thursday confirmed that Police Chief James Srygley and Assistant Chief John L. Goss had been dismissed, al.com reported.

The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office on Friday condemned the two officers’ actions and said it stands with the city “in providing emergency law enforcement related service to the citizens (of Vincent) at this time.”

In the message, which recently surfaced on social media, someone identified as “752″ texts: “What do y’all call a pregnant slave?” An unidentified recipient responds twice: “?” and “??”

“752″ answers: “BOGO Buy one, get one free”

“This has turned this community apart. It doesn’t matter what color we are as long as we do right by people,” City Councilman Corey Abrams said during Thursday’s council meeting.

On Tuesday, Latimore said “appropriate action has been taken” against the officer alleged to have sent the text, though at the time he would not name the person or anyone involved.

The city’s website lists three people in its department: Srygley, Goss and Officer Lee Carden.

During the council meeting, Latimore announced he had suspended the chief and assistant chief, and the council voted to end the agency. Latimer said Carden turned in his resignation via text message just hours after the city council voted to dissolve the department.

Located in central Alabama, southeast of Birmingham, Vincent has a population of just under 2,000 people. It’s located in Shelby, St. Clair, and Talladega counties.

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Tribe: California wildfire near Oregon causes fish deaths

Tribe: California wildfire near Oregon causes fish deaths

HAPPY CAMP, Calif. — A wildfire burning in a remote area just south of the Oregon border appears to have caused the deaths of tens of thousands of Klamath River fish, the Karuk Tribe said Saturday.

The tribe said in a statement that the dead fish of all species were found Friday near Happy Camp, California, along the main stem of the Klamath River.

Tribal fisheries biologists believe a flash flood caused by heavy rains over the burn area caused a massive debris flow that entered the river at or near Humbug Creek and McKinney Creek, said Craig Tucker, a spokesman for the tribe.

The debris entering the river led to oxygen levels in the Klamath River dropping to zero on Wednesday and Thursday nights, according to readings from tribal monitors at a nearby water quality station.

A photo from the Karuk taken about 20 miles (32 kilometers) downstream from the flash flood in the tributary of Seiad Creek showed several dozen dead fish belly up amid sticks and other debris in thick, brown water along the river bank.

The full extent of the damage is still unclear but the tribe said late Saturday it appears the fish found dead 20 miles downstream were swept there after their deaths and that the fish kill isn’t impacting the entire river.

“We think the impact is limited to 10 or 20 miles of river in this reach and the fish we are seeing in Happy Camp and below are floating downstream from the ‘kill zone,’” the tribe said in an updated statement, adding it continues to monitor the situation.

The McKinney Fire, which has burned more than 90 square miles (233 square kilometers) in the Klamath National Forest, this week wiped out the scenic hamlet of Klamath River, where about 200 people lived. The flames killed four people in the tiny community and reduced most of the homes and businesses to ash.

Scientists have said climate change has made the West warmer and drier over the last three decades and will continue to make weather more extreme and wildfires more frequent and destructive. Across the American West, a 22-year megadrought deepened so much in 2021 that the region is now in the driest spell in at least 1,200 years.

When it began, the McKinney Fire burned just several hundred acres and firefighters thought they would quickly bring it under control. But thunderstorms came in with ferocious gusts that within hours had pushed it into an unstoppable conflagration.

The blaze was 30% contained on Saturday.

The fish kill was a blow for the Karuk and Yurok tribes, which have been fighting for years to protect fragile populations of salmon in the Klamath River. The salmon are revered by the Karuk Tribe and the Yurok Tribe, California’s second-largest Native American tribe.

The federally endangered fish species has suffered from low flows in the Klamath River in recent years and a parasite that’s deadly to salmon flourished in the warmer, slower-moving water last summer, killing fish in huge numbers.

After years of negotiations, four dams on the lower river that impede the migration of salmon are on track to be removed next year in what would be the largest dam demolition project in US history in an attempt to help the fish recover.

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Flaccus reported from Portland, Oregon.

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Minnesota jury: Woman wasn’t entitled to morning-after pill

University instructor charged in shooting death of student

AITKIN, Minn. — A jury on Friday ruled that a central Minnesota pharmacist did not violate a woman’s rights when he refused to provide her emergency contraceptives more than three years ago.

Andrea Anderson, a mother of five from McGregor, sued under the Minnesota Human Rights Act after the pharmacist, based on his religious beliefs, refused to accommodate her request. State law prohibits discrimination based on sex, including issues related to pregnancy and childbirth.

The ruling comes amid national political debate about contraception under federal law, with the US House passing a bill that would guarantee the right to contraception. House Democrats are worried that a conservative US Supreme Court that already erased federal abortion rights could go further and limit the use of contraception.

Leaders with the group Gender Justice, which represented Anderson, said they plan to appeal, Minnesota Public Radio News reported.

“The testimony was so clear that she received lesser services than other customers because what she was going there for was emergency contraception. And so we believe that, by law, that’s discrimination in Minnesota,” said Jess Braverman, legal director for the advocacy group.

Anderson brought her prescription for a morning-after pill to the Thrifty White pharmacy in McGregor in January 2019. Longtime pharmacist George Badeaux told her he could not fill the prescription based on his beliefs.

Anderson eventually got her prescription filled at a pharmacy in Brainerd, making the round-trip of more than 100 miles (161 kilometers) in winter driving conditions.

Attorneys for Badeaux did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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Former Puerto Rico Gov. Wanda Vázquez charged with bribery

Former Puerto Rico Gov. Wanda Vázquez charged with bribery

San Juan Puerto Rico — Form Puerto Rico Gov. Wanda Vázquez was arrested Thursday on bribery charges related to the financing of her 2020 campaign, the latest hit to an island with a long history of corruption that brought fresh political upheaval to the US territory.

Vázquez is accused of engaging in a bribery scheme from December 2019 through June 2020 — while she was governor — with several people, including a Venezuelan-Italian bank owner, a former FBI agent, a bank president and a political consultant.

“I am innocent. I have not committed any crime,” she told reporters. “I assure you that they have committed a great injustice against me.”

The arrest embarrassed and angered many in Puerto Rico who believe the island’s already shaky image has been further tarnished, leaving a growing number of people who have lost faith in their local officials to wonder whether federal authorities are their only hope to root out entrenched government corruption . Concern over previous corruption cases led to a delay in federal aid for Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria as the US government implemented more safeguards.

Thursday’s arrest also was a blow to Vázquez’s pro-statehood New Progressive Party, which is pushing to hold a referendum next year in a bid to become the 51st US state.

Vázquez was the second woman to serve as Puerto Rico’s governor and the first former governor to face federal charges. Former Gov. Aníbal Acevedo Vilá of the opposing Popular Democratic Party was charged with campaign finance violations while in office and was found not guilty in 2009. He had been the first Puerto Rico governor to be charged with a crime in recent history.

“For the second time in our history, political power and public office are used to finance an electoral campaign,” said José Luis Dalmau, president of Acevedo’s party. “Using the power of the government to advance political agendas is unacceptable and an affront to democracy in Puerto Rico.”

Vázquez’s consultant, identified as John Blakeman, and the bank president, identified as Frances Díaz, have pleaded guilty to participating in the bribery scheme, according to the US Department of Justice.

In early 2019, the international bank owned by Julio Martín Herrera Velutini was being scrutinized by Puerto Rico’s Office of the Commissioner of Financial Institutions because of transactions authorities believed were suspicious and had not been reported by the bank.

Authorities said Herrera and Mark Rossini, the former FBI agent who provided consulting services to Herrera, allegedly promised to financially support Vázquez’s 2020 campaign for governor in exchange for Vázquez dismissing the commissioner and appointing a new one of Herrera’s choosing.

Authorities said Vázquez accepted the bribery offer and in February 2020 demanded the commissioner’s resignation. She then was accused of appointing a former consultant for Herrera’s bank as the new commissioner in May 2020. After the move, officials said Herrera and Rossini paid more than $300,000 to political consultants to support Vázquez’s campaign.

A flurry of messages exchanged during that time between people involved in the case included a heart emoji attached to the commissioner’s resignation letter and three sealed lips emojis when someone provided Rossi’s name to Vázquez, who requested the name of “the guy from the FBI.” In addition, Herrera texted Rossini about the need for a campaign manager and said he didn’t want “a monkey from Puerto Rico.”

After Vázquez lost the primary to current Gov. Pedro Pierluisi, authorities said Herrera then allegedly sought to bribe Pierluisi to end an audit into his bank with favorable terms. Herrera is accused of using intermediaries from April 2021 to August 2021 to offer a bribe to Pierluisi’s representative, who was actually acting under FBI orders, according to the indictment.

Officials said Herrera then ordered a $25,000 payment to a political action committee in hopes of trying to bribe Pierluisi.

Stephen Muldrow, US Attorney for Puerto Rico, said Pierluisi is not involved in the case.

Vázquez, Herrera and Rossini are each charged with conspiracy, federal bribery programs and honest services wire fraud. If they are found guilty on all counts, they could face up to 20 years in prison, officials said.

Meanwhile, Díaz and Blakeman could face up to five years in prison, officials said.

Muldrow said officials believe Herrera is in the United Kingdom and Rossini in Spain. It wasn’t clear if the US would seek to extradite them.

Juan Rosado-Reynés, a spokesman for Vázquez, told the AP he did not have an immediate comment.

Attorneys for the other suspects charged in the case could not be immediately reached for comment.

In mid-May, Vázquez’s attorney told reporters that he and his client were preparing for possible charges as the former governor at the time denied any wrongdoing: “I can tell the people of Puerto Rico that I have not committed any crime, that I have not engaged in any illegal or incorrect conduct, as I have always said.”

Vázquez was sworn in as governor in August 2019 after former Gov. Ricardo Rosselló stepped down following massive protests. She served until 2021, after losing the primaries of the pro-statehood New Progressive Party to Pierluisi.

In a statement Thursday, Pierluisi said his administration will work with federal authorities to help fight corruption.

“No one is above the law in Puerto Rico,” he said. “Faced with this news that certainly affects and lacerates the confidence of our people, I reiterate that in my administration, we will continue to have a common front with federal authorities against anyone who commits an improper act, no matter where it comes from or who it may implicate.”

Vázquez previously served as the island’s justice secretary and a district attorney for more than 30 years.

She became governor after Puerto Rico’s Supreme Court ruled that the swearing in of Pierluisi — who was secretary of state in 2019 — as governor was unconstitutional. Vázquez at the time said she was not interested in running for office and would only finish the nearly two years left in Rosselló’s term.

Rosselló had resigned after tens of thousands of Puerto Ricans took to the street, angry over corruption, mismanagement of public funds and an obscenity-laced chat in which he and 11 other men including public officials made fun of women, gay people and victims of Hurricane Maria, among others.

Shortly after she was sworn in, Vázquez told the AP that her priorities were to fight corruption, secure federal hurricane recovery funds and help lift Puerto Rico out of a deep economic crisis as the government struggled to emerge from bankruptcy.

During the interview, she told the AP that she had long wanted to be in public service: as a girl, she would stand on her balcony and hold imaginary trials, always finding the supposed defendants guilty.

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Man charged with murder in weekend slaying of Indiana cop

Man charged with murder in weekend slaying of Indiana cop

ANDERSON, Ind. — A man accused of fatally shooting an Indiana police officer during a traffic stop had made a song about killing an officer, investigators said Monday.

Carl Boards II was charged with murder and other crimes, a day after Elwood Officer Noah Shahnavaz was gunned down in the wee hours Sunday in Madison County, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) northeast of Indianapolis.

The 24-year-old officer was shot in the head after stopping Boards’ car. Investigators found 36 rifle bullet casings and damage to the patrol car’s hood, windshield and driver’s door.

Shahnavaz’ gun was still in its holster when he was taken to a hospital, Richard Clay of the Indiana State Police said in a court filing.

Boards, 42, owns a barber shop in Marion, Indiana. Police went to the shop and interviewed a man who lives in an apartment above the business.

The man indicated that Boards “made a recorded song making statements that if he was ever caught by police that he would kill them,” Clay said.

Boards was released from parole a year ago. His criminal record of him goes back to 1999 and includes convictions involving guns and drugs, Clay said.

It wasn’t immediately known if Boards has an attorney yet who could comment on the allegations.

Shahnavaz served in the US Army for five years before becoming a police officer about a year ago.

“His dream was to serve others and we are proud of what he has accomplished in such a short time, both in the military and with Elwood police,” Fishers High School Principal Jason Urban said. “The entire FHS Tiger family grieves this tragic loss of such a promising young man full of talent and potential.”

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