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Nashville school shooting: Police seize guns at home of attacker​

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Police released CCTV images showing the shooter gaining entry to the school
By Angélica Casas in Nashville & George Wright in London
BBC News

Three children and three adults have been killed in a shooting by an ex-student at a school in the US city of Nashville, Tennessee.
The attack took place at The Covenant School, a private Christian school for students aged three to 11.
The three pupils who died were all aged nine.
Police said the suspect gained entry by shooting through a door at the school. A search of their home led to officers seizing more firearms.
The child victims have been named as Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs and William Kinney.
The adult victims were named as Cynthia Peak, 61, Katherine Koonce, 60, and Mike Hill, 61.

The suspect has been identified as 28-year-old Audrey Hale, officers said.
There has been some confusion about Hale's gender identity - with police initially describing the attacker as a woman, and later saying that Hale identified as transgender.
A police spokesperson told Washington Post that Hale "is a biological woman who, on a social media profile, used male pronouns".
The shooter was armed with three guns, including a semi-automatic rifle, and was shot dead by police.
They had left a manifesto and had drawn a detailed map of the school, with entry points. Police are now studying those documents.
Hale, who had no criminal record, was a former student at the school and officers said they believe "resentment" may have been a motive.

Map of shooting scene

Police received the first call about the incident at 10:13 local time (15:13 GMT) on Monday.
The suspect drove to the school and got in by firing through one of the school doors, which were all locked.
Video later released by Nashville police show Hale using a gun to gain entry by shattering glass panes on the front doors, then wandering the school's deserted corridors - at one point walking past a room labelled "Children's Ministry".
In the CCTV footage, Hale is wearing what looks like a protective vest and carrying an assault-style rifle in one hand, with a second, similar weapon also visible hanging from the left hip.
Hale fired shots on the ground floor before moving to the upper floor.
School buses with children arrive at Woodmont Baptist Church to be reunited with their families after a mass shooting at The Covenant School
IMAGE SOURCE,GETTY IMAGES
Image caption,
School buses with children arrive at a church to be reunited with their families after the shooting
As police cars arrived, Hale fired on them, striking one in the windscreen, said police.

One officer was injured by broken glass. Police rushed inside and shot the suspect dead at 10:27.
A search of a nearby parked car led officers to "firmly believe" that Hale was a former student of the school, said police.
Police spoke with the attacker's father during a search of a nearby home that was listed as the shooter's address.
Nashville Police Chief John Drake said investigators there found a manifesto and "a map of how all of this was going to play out", including entry and exit points at the school building.
He also said the shooter had conducted surveillance while planning the attack.
In a search of the shooter's home, more weapons were recovered, in addition to the ones used in the attack, including a sawed-off shotgun and a second shotgun.
Hale's mother, Norma Hale, told ABC News: "It is very, very difficult right now", before asking for privacy.

Media caption,
Survivor of Illinois shooting makes angry plea in Nashville
The Presbyterian-affiliated Covenant School is located in the upmarket Green Hills neighbourhood, south of central Nashville.
In a statement, the school said "our community is heartbroken".
"We are grieving tremendous loss and are in shock coming out of the terror that shattered our school and church."
The mother of one pupil said her son had been left traumatised. "I think he's doing better now that he knows that the shooter is dead," Shaundelle Brooks told BBC News.
"These are conversations we shouldn't be having," she added. "We're failing our children."
Hours after the shooting, a memorial service for the victims was held at the nearby Woodmont Christian Church.
Senior minister Clay Stauffer tearfully said that Evelyn Dieckhaus's sister, who is 11, had plans to be baptised in a few weeks, according to local outlet the Tennessean.
Evelyn's sister cried as she said, "I don't want to be an only child."
People attend a vigil at Woodmont Christian for those who were killed in a mass shooting at The Covenant School
IMAGE SOURCE,GETTY IMAGES
Image caption,
Vigils took place at the Woodmont Christian Church
President Joe Biden called the shooting a "family's worst nightmare".
"We have to do more to stop gun violence," he said, once again urging Congress to pass tougher gun control laws. "It is ripping our communities apart, and ripping at the very soul of this nation."
The attack was America's 129th mass shooting of 2023, according to Gun Violence Archive, a non-profit that tracks gun violence data.
According to data compiled by Education Week, there have been 12 school shootings that have resulted in deaths or injuries in the US this year up until the end of last week.
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At least 57 killed, 133 injured in 38 U.S. mass shootings this month​


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Police work near the scene of a mass shooting at The Covenant School on March 27, in Nashville, Tenn. Photo: Brett Carlsen/Getty Images

The U.S. continues to grapple with devastating mass shootings, with dozens killed as a result in March alone, per data from the Gun Violence Archive.
By the numbers: At least 57 people have died in 38 mass shootings in the U.S. so far this month, with another 133 injured.
  • 130 mass shootings have taken place in 2023 so far, per the archive, meaning there have been more mass shootings than days this year.
Context: The Gun Violence Archive defines a mass shooting as a situation in which at least four people are shot and either injured or killed, not including the shooter.
State of play: Six people, including three children, were killed in a school shooting in Nashville on Monday. The alleged shooter was shot and killed by police.
The big picture: In the wake of Monday's recent shooting, lawmakers are renewing calls for gun control as, along with the rest of the nation, they reckon with how to curb the alarming rate of gun violence.
  • After the Nashville school shooting, President Biden said: "We have to do more to stop gun violence. It's ripping our communities apart, ripping at the very soul of the nation."
  • "So I call on Congress, again, to pass my assault weapons ban. It's about time that we began to make some more progress," Biden said.
Go deeper: 1 in 5 Americans have experience with gun violence: Poll

 

A Texas man used an Apple AirTag to track down his stolen truck and shoot and kill the suspected thief, police say​

  • A Texas man used an Apple AirTag in his truck to track it down after it was stolen.
  • The man who stole the truck was shot and killed by one of the men looking for the truck, police say.
  • It's the latest high-profile case of the tracking technology, which has been criticized for enabling stalking.
A Texas man shot and killed a suspected thief on Wednesday after he used an Apple AirTag to track down his stolen truck, according to local police.

The San Antonio Police Department said it received a call reporting a stolen vehicle Wednesday around 1 p.m., before one of the men looking for the truck located the suspected thief and confronted him before authorities arrived, ultimately shooting and killing him, KSAT reported.

Police believe the man whose truck was stolen, along with two family members, tracked the AirTag to the parking lot of a shopping center where they found a man still inside the truck when they arrived.

SAPD Information Officer Nick Soliz told reporters Wednesday police are investigating the incident, noting it seems the men did not wait for police to arrive before intervening. He said the one who confronted the man inside the truck claims he saw a weapon before shooting his own gun into the truck.

The alleged truck thief, who police described as a Hispanic man in his 30s, was later pronounced dead. The identities of the shooter and the man who was killed have not been released.

Police are still investigating whether the man in the truck actually had a weapon, which could influence whether the man who shot and killed him faces charges.

Soliz encouraged people to wait for police in situations like this, noting Wednesday's incident shows it can be dangerous to intervene before police arrive.

"If you are to get your vehicle stolen, I know that it's frustrating but please do not take matters into your own hands like this," Soliz said.

 

US: Shooting at teen birthday party kills several in Alabama​

Published April 17, 2023

At least four people have died and dozens were injured in the shooting at a dance studio. US President Joe Biden has reiterated his call for gun reform after the tragedy.

At least four people were killed and multiple people were injured in a shooting at a birthday party in the small city of Dadeville in the southern US state of Alabama, officials said Sunday.

More than 28 people were injured, some critically, during the shooting late Saturday about 60 miles (97 kilometers) northeast of the state capital of Montgomery.

Officials provided no information about what led to the shooting or whether any suspect had been killed or arrested.

"We're going to continue to work in a very methodical way to go through this scene, to look at the facts, and ensure that justice is brought to bear for the families," Jeremy Burkett, a spokesman for the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency said.

Shooting at US teenager's party kills four people, wounds 28

Dadeville Police Chief Jonathan L. Floyd asked for patience at a press conference, saying "What we've dealt with is something that no community should have to endure."

"It's going to be a long process, but I do earnestly solicit your prayers," he added.

Ben Hayes, a senior pastor of Dadeville’s First Baptist Church, said the shooting happened at a birthday party and most of the victims were teenagers.

"Dadeville is a small town and this is going to affect everybody in this area," he said.

Shooter targets downtown dance studio during birthday party

Witnesses told CBS-affiliated television station WRBL that the shooting occurred at a dance studio during a birthday party.

Among the dead was a rising US-football star who planned to play college football and was celebrating at his sister's "Sweet 16" birthday celebration.

Philstavious "Phil" Dowdell, a Dadeville High School senior who had committed to Jacksonville State University, was shot dead at the party, his grandmother Annette Allen told local media.

"What has our nation come to when children cannot attend a birthday party without fear?" President Joe Biden said in a statement on Sunday.

Biden again urged Congress to pass laws that would make firearms manufacturers more liable for gun violence, ban assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines, and require safe storage of firearms and background checks for gun sales.

"Guns are the leading killer of children in America, and the numbers are rising — not declining," he added. "This is outrageous and unacceptable."
Alabama Governor Kay Ivey said in a statement that: "This morning, I grieve with the people of Dadeville and my fellow Alabamians. Violent crime has NO place in our state, and we are staying closely updated by law enforcement as details emerge."

The shooting occurred within weeks of two high-profile deadly mass shootings in two other southern US states, Tennessee and Kentucky.

There has been a staggering number of shootings in America this year alone. Data from the Gun Violence Archive show there has been more than 163 mass shootings in 2023. The group defines mass shootings as those in which four or more people are killed, excluding the shooter.

 
Gun deaths among U.S. children and teens rose 50% in two years
BY JOHN GRAMLICH
APRIL 6, 2023

The number of children and teens killed by gunfire in the United States increased 50% between 2019 and 2021, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of the latest annual mortality statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

微信图片_20230419001042.png

In 2019, before the coronavirus pandemic, there were 1,732 gun deaths among U.S. children and teens under the age of 18. By 2021, that figure had increased to 2,590.

The gun death rate among children and teens – a measure that adjusts for changes in the nation’s population – rose from 2.4 fatalities per 100,000 minor residents in 2019 to 3.5 per 100,000 two years later, a 46% increase.

Both the number and rate of children and teens killed by gunfire in 2021 were higher than at any point since at least 1999, the earliest year for which information about those younger than 18 is available in the CDC’s mortality database.

The rise in gun deaths among children and teens is part of a broader recent increase in firearm deaths among Americans overall. In 2021, there were 48,830 gun deaths among Americans of all ages – by far the highest yearly total on record and up 23% from the 39,707 recorded in 2019, before the pandemic.

The total number of gun deaths among children and teens in 2021 includes homicides, suicides, accidents and all other categories where firearms are listed on death certificates as the underlying cause of death. It does not include deaths where firearms are listed as a contributing, but not underlying, cause of death.

Homicide was the largest single category of gun deaths among children and teens in 2021, accounting for 60% of the total that year. It was followed by suicide at 32% and accidents at 5%. Among U.S. adults, by contrast, suicides accounted for a 55% majority of gun deaths in 2021.

In addition to data on gun fatalities, the CDC publishes estimates on nonfatal gun-related injuries sustained by children and teens. In 2020 – the most recent year with available data – there were more than 11,000 emergency-room visits for gunshot injuries among children and teens under the age of 18 – far higher than in other recent years. An exact count is not possible, however, because the CDC’s estimate is based on a sample of U.S. hospitals, not all U.S. hospitals, and is subject to a large margin of error.

Gun deaths are much more common among some groups of children and teens​

In the U.S., some groups of children and teens are far more likely than others to die by gunfire. Boys, for example, accounted for 83% of all gun deaths among children and teens in 2021. Girls accounted for 17%.

Older children and teens are much more likely than younger kids to be killed in gun-related incidents. Those ages 12 to 17 accounted for 86% of all gun deaths among children and teens in 2021, while those 6 to 11 accounted for 7% of the total, as did those 5 and under. Still, there were 179 gun deaths among children ages 6 to 11 and 184 among those 5 and under in 2021.

For all three age groups, homicide was the leading type of gun death in 2021. But suicides accounted for a significant share (36%) of gun deaths among those ages 12 to 17, while accidents accounted for a sizable share (34%) of gun deaths among those 5 and under.

Racial and ethnic differences in gun deaths among kids are stark. In 2021, 46% of all gun deaths among children and teens involved Black victims, even though only 14% of the U.S. under-18 population that year was Black. Much smaller shares of gun deaths among children and teens in 2021 involved White (32%), Hispanic (17%) and Asian (1%) victims.

 

New York man fatally shoots woman who made wrong turn in his driveway​


No cell signals in residential area... really?
 

US: Shooting at teen birthday party kills several in Alabama​

Published April 17, 2023

At least four people have died and dozens were injured in the shooting at a dance studio. US President Joe Biden has reiterated his call for gun reform after the tragedy.

At least four people were killed and multiple people were injured in a shooting at a birthday party in the small city of Dadeville in the southern US state of Alabama, officials said Sunday.

More than 28 people were injured, some critically, during the shooting late Saturday about 60 miles (97 kilometers) northeast of the state capital of Montgomery.

Officials provided no information about what led to the shooting or whether any suspect had been killed or arrested.

"We're going to continue to work in a very methodical way to go through this scene, to look at the facts, and ensure that justice is brought to bear for the families," Jeremy Burkett, a spokesman for the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency said.

Shooting at US teenager's party kills four people, wounds 28

Dadeville Police Chief Jonathan L. Floyd asked for patience at a press conference, saying "What we've dealt with is something that no community should have to endure."

"It's going to be a long process, but I do earnestly solicit your prayers," he added.

Ben Hayes, a senior pastor of Dadeville’s First Baptist Church, said the shooting happened at a birthday party and most of the victims were teenagers.

"Dadeville is a small town and this is going to affect everybody in this area," he said.

Shooter targets downtown dance studio during birthday party

Witnesses told CBS-affiliated television station WRBL that the shooting occurred at a dance studio during a birthday party.

Among the dead was a rising US-football star who planned to play college football and was celebrating at his sister's "Sweet 16" birthday celebration.

Philstavious "Phil" Dowdell, a Dadeville High School senior who had committed to Jacksonville State University, was shot dead at the party, his grandmother Annette Allen told local media.

"What has our nation come to when children cannot attend a birthday party without fear?" President Joe Biden said in a statement on Sunday.

Biden again urged Congress to pass laws that would make firearms manufacturers more liable for gun violence, ban assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines, and require safe storage of firearms and background checks for gun sales.

"Guns are the leading killer of children in America, and the numbers are rising — not declining," he added. "This is outrageous and unacceptable."
Alabama Governor Kay Ivey said in a statement that: "This morning, I grieve with the people of Dadeville and my fellow Alabamians. Violent crime has NO place in our state, and we are staying closely updated by law enforcement as details emerge."

The shooting occurred within weeks of two high-profile deadly mass shootings in two other southern US states, Tennessee and Kentucky.

There has been a staggering number of shootings in America this year alone. Data from the Gun Violence Archive show there has been more than 163 mass shootings in 2023. The group defines mass shootings as those in which four or more people are killed, excluding the shooter.


Dadeville%20victims%20shooting%20blog.jpg

 

4 killed in US's Maine home; 3 wounded in linked highway shooting​

Four people were fatally shot at a house in Maine on Tuesday shortly before gunfire wounded three others on a busy highway, in a pair of crimes that are linked, authorities said

APBowdoin
gun, gun law, gun permit, mass shooting, US gun law, US gun permit


Photo: Pexels
Apr 19 2023 | 9:26 AM IST

Four people were fatally shot at a house in Maine on Tuesday shortly before gunfire wounded three others on a busy highway, in a pair of crimes that are linked, authorities said. Hours later, a man was charged with murder.

Police closed a portion of the interstate highway and residents and businesses in the area were ordered to shelter in place for about 90 minutes before authorities determined there was no threat to the general public.

The shootings are among a spate of recent mass killings that have shaken communities both large and small, including a Christian elementary school in Nashville, Tennessee; a bank in Louisville, Kentucky and a Sweet 16 party in a small city in Alabama.

In Maine, police charged Joseph Eaton, 34, of Bowdoin, with four counts of murder Tuesday evening but declined to discuss a possible motive for the shootings or identify the shooting victims. Eaton was expected to appear in court later this week.

The crimes began in rural Bowdoin, where the bodies were found, and continued with gunfire 25 miles (40 kilometers) to the south on Interstate 295 in Yarmouth, police said. One of the three highway victims was critically wounded, police said.

Law enforcement officers, some carrying long rifles, could be seen canvassing areas near the highway after the shootings. At one point, heavily armed officers at an off-ramp peered inside the trunk of a car that had apparent bullet holes in the windshield. Police said a person of interest was detained, and witnesses saw one person in handcuffs.

In Bowdoin, a farming community with about 3,000 residents, yellow crime tape hung where the shootings took place, in a home flanked by woods at the end of a long, gravel driveway. About 10 marked and unmarked law enforcement vehicles and a crime scene van were parked outside, and investigators moved about the scene.
At one point, a woman spoke to police outside the house before dropping to her knees and sobbing. Later, hearses were seen leaving from the driveway.

The town of Bowdoin has no affiliation with Bowdoin College, which is located about 10 miles (16 kilometers) away, in the town of Brunswick.
Maine Governor Janet Mills tweeted her concern for the families, friends and loved ones of those impacted by this tragedy. She said she was praying for the injured.

Like people across Maine, I am shocked and deeply saddened. Acts of violence like we experienced today shake our state and our communities to the core, she said.
In Yarmouth, traffic backed up on the interstate as police shut down the southbound lanes. The highway reopened later Tuesday, with the exception of one exit where the police were inspecting the car.

Employees at Water Treatment Equipment Inc., a business near the highway, locked the doors and pulled down the shades after being alerted to the lockdown, which lasted about an hour and a half, manager Kim Snyder said. Workers saw cars backing up on the highway, along with police cars, ambulances and fire trucks.
It definitely shifted the day, and the worry kicked in, she said. They hadn't caught the active shooter. We didn't know what was going on."

Lenora Felker, who works near the highway at Rosemont Market and Bakery, said she sensed something was afoot when people started streaming in, saying the highway was closed, followed by dozens of law enforcement officers who descended on the area.

Officers went business to business asking if they had seen anyone that was wet and muddy fleeing, Felker said. But she knew all the customers and didn't see anything unusual, she said.

 

Road rage shooting deaths doubled in the US in last 4 years, data shows

Someone was shot or killed in a road rage incident every 16 hours in 2022, report finds

Stock image of person holding gun in a vehicle.

Stock image of person holding gun in a vehicle. (Pexels)

April 18, 2023 at 12:46 PM

The number of reported road rage shooting deaths in the U.S. has doubled in the last four years and the deadly trend appears to show no signs of slowing down, according to a database of gun violence.

Everytown, an organization working to end gun violence, analyzed the Gun Violence Archive’s database and found that at least 70 road rage shooting deaths occurred in the United States in 2018. That number doubled to 141 in 2022.


Shooting at Southwest Side apartment complex may be related to relationship rivalry, police say

“The same trend occurred with gun injuries: at least 176 people were injured in a road rage incident in 2018, with a staggering increase to 413 people in 2022,” Everytown reported.
That translates to a person being shot or killed in a road rage incident every 16 hours in 2022.

Several road rage incidents have made headlines in San Antonio in recent weeks, including a road rage shooting on Sunday that left a 6-month-old child injured on the city’s Northwest Side.

The family of a 22-year-old nursing student at the University of the Incarnate Word believes he was killed in a suspected road rage shooting on Saturday night. Police haven’t confirmed the motivation behind the shooting but did say the victim died from a gunshot wound to the head while he was diving on I-35 N in Selma.

Another incident occurred on March 7 when a man was shot on the Southeast Side. He told KSAT he had no idea what he did to set the other driver off.

A road rage shooting in February near Highway 90 and Loop 410 left a woman hospitalized with life-threatening injuries after police said a car with three people inside was shot at by someone in a passing vehicle.

“The southern United States, which has weaker gun laws on average than the nation overall, sees the highest rates of victimization from road rage shootings, double those in the Northeast,” according to Everytown.

The organization found that the highest rate of road rage shootings that resulted in injury or death occurred in states where people are allowed to carry a gun without a permit.

Rates of Injuries and Deaths in Road Rage Shootings by Concealed Carry Framework (Everytown)

The research found that states with permitless carry had 27 percent more deaths and injuries in road rage incidents involving a gun than states that required a permit.

 
Gun violence in the US is nowadays as ordinary as ordering a menu at McDonald's. No one bats an eyelid anymore. This is routine stuff.
 

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