GENEVA (AP) — One hundred days into Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the war has brought the world a near-daily drumbeat of gut wrenching scenes: Civilian corpses in the streets of Bucha; a blown-up theater in Mariupol; the chaos at a Kramatorsk train station in the wake of a Russian missile strike.
Those images tell just a part of the overall picture of Europe’s worst armed conflict in decades. Here’s a look at some numbers and statistics that — while in flux and at times uncertain — shed further light on the death, destruction, displacement and economic havoc wrought by the war as it reaches this milestone with no end in sight.
THE HUMAN TOLL
Nobody really knows how many combatants or civilians have died, and claims of casualties by government officials — who may sometimes be exaggerating or lowballing their figures for public relations reasons — are all but impossible to verify.
Government officials, U.N. agencies and others who carry out the grim task of counting the dead don’t always get access to places where people were killed.
And Moscow has released scant information about casualties among its forces and allies, and given no accounting of civilian deaths in areas under its control. In some places — such as the long-besieged city of Mariupol, potentially the war’s biggest killing field — Russian forces are accused of trying to cover up deaths and dumping bodies into mass graves, clouding the overall toll.
With all those caveats, “at least tens of thousands” of Ukrainian civilians have died so far, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Thursday in comments to Luxembourg’s parliament.
In Mariupol alone, officials have reported over 21,000 civilian dead. Sievierodonetsk, a city in the eastern region of Luhansk that has become the focus of Russia’s offensive, has seen roughly 1,500 casualties, according to the mayor.
Such estimates comprise both those killed by Russian strikes or troops and those who succumbed to secondary effects such as hunger and sickness as food supplies and health services collapsed.
Zelenskyy said this week that 60 to 100 Ukrainian soldiers are dying in combat every day, with about 500 more wounded.
Russia’s last publicly released figures for its own forces came March 25, when a general told state media that 1,351 soldiers had been killed and 3,825 wounded.
Ukraine and Western observers say the real number is much higher: Zelenskyy said Thursday that more than 30,000 Russian servicemen have died — “more than the Soviet Union lost in 10 years of the war in Afghanistan”; in late April, the British government estimated Russian losses at 15,000.
Speaking on condition of anonymity Wednesday to discuss intelligence matters, a Western official said Russia is “still taking casualties, but … in smaller numbers.” The official estimated that some 40,000 Russian troops have been wounded.
In Moscow-backed separatist enclaves in eastern Ukraine, authorities have reported over 1,300 fighters lost and nearly 7,500 wounded in the Donetsk region, along with 477 dead civilians and nearly 2,400 wounded; plus 29 civilians killed and 60 wounded in Luhansk.
THE DEVASTATION
Relentless shelling, bombing and airstrikes have reduced large swaths of many cities and towns to rubble.
Ukraine’s parliamentary commission on human rights says Russia’s military has destroyed almost 38,000 residential buildings, rendering about 220,000 people homeless.
Nearly 1,900 educational facilities from kindergartens to grade schools to universities have been damaged, including 180 completely ruined.
Other infrastructure losses include 300 car and 50 rail bridges, 500 factories and about 500 damaged hospitals, according to Ukrainian officials.
The World Health Organization has tallied 296 attacks on hospitals, ambulances and medical workers in Ukraine this year.
FLEEING HOME
The U.N. refugee agency UNHCR estimates that about 6.8 million people have been driven out of Ukraine at some point during the conflict.
But since fighting subsided in the area near Kyiv and elsewhere, and Russian forces redeployed to the east and south, about 2.2 million have returned to the country, it says.
The U.N.’s International Organization for Migration estimates that as of May 23 there were more than 7.1 million internally displaced people — that is, those who fled their homes but remain in the country. That’s down from over 8 million in an earlier count.
LAND SEIZED
Ukrainian officials say that before the February invasion, Russia controlled some 7% of Ukrainian territory including Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014, and areas held by the separatists in Donetsk and Luhansk. On Thursday, Zelenskyy said Russian forces now held 20% of the country.
While the front lines are constantly shifting, that amounts to an additional 58,000 square kilometers (22,000 square miles) under Russian control, a total area slightly larger than Croatia or a little smaller than the U.S. state of West Virginia.
THE ECONOMIC FALLOUT IN RUSSIA AND UKRAINE …
The West has levied a host of retaliatory sanctions against Moscow including on the crucial oil and gas sectors, and Europe is beginning to wean itself from its dependence on Russian energy.
Evgeny Gontmakher, academic director of European Dialogue, wrote in a paper this week that Russia currently faces over 5,000 targeted sanctions, more than any other country. Some $300 billion of Russian gold and foreign exchange reserves in the West have been frozen, he added, and air traffic in the country dropped from 8.1 million to 5.2 million passengers between January and March.
Additionally, the Kyiv School of Economics has reported that more than 1,000 “self-sanctioning” companies have curtailed their operations in Russia.
The MOEX Russia stock index has plunged by about a quarter since just before the invasion and is down nearly 40 percent from the start of the year. And the Russian Central Bank said last week that annualized inflation came in at 17.8 percent in April.
Ukraine, meanwhile, has reported suffering a staggering economic blow: 35% of GDP wiped out by the war.
“Our direct losses today exceed $600 billion,” Andriy Yermak, the head of Zelenskyy’s office, said recently.
Ukraine, a major agricultural producer, says it has been unable to export some 22 million tons of grain. It blames a backlog of shipments on Russian blockades or capture of key ports. Zelenskyy accused Russia this week of stealing at least a half-million tons of grain during the invasion.
… AND THE WORLD
The fallout has rippled around the globe, further driving up costs for basic goods on top of inflation that was already in full swing in many places before the invasion. Developing countries are being squeezed particularly hard by higher costs of food, fuel and financing.
Crude oil prices in London and New York have risen by 20 to 25 percent, resulting in higher prices at the pump and for an array of petroleum-based products.
Wheat supplies have been disrupted in African nations, which imported 44% of their wheat from Russia and Ukraine in the years immediately before the invasion. The African Development Bank has reported a 45% increase in continental prices for the grain, affecting everything from Mauritanian couscous to the fried donuts sold in Congo.
Amin Awad, the U.N. crisis coordinator in Ukraine, said 1.4 billion people worldwide could be affected by shortages of grain and fertilizer from the country.
“This war’s toll on civilians is unacceptable. This war has no winner,” he told reporters in Geneva via video from Kyiv on Friday. “Today we mark a tragic milestone. And we know what is needed the most: An end to this war.”
Video above: The latest forecast from WPBF 25 News meteorologists
Tropical storm watches and warnings have been issued for South Florida by the National Hurricane Center for the tropical system currently in the Gulf of Mexico.
South Florida is expected to see heavy rains, flooding and possible isolated tornadoes from the remnants of Agatha that are expected to develop into Alex and hit over the weekend.
There is a 90% chance of development over the next two days, according to the National Hurricane Center.
As of Thursday evening, the system is called Potential Tropical Cyclone One. The NHC projects it will continue to move toward the Florida peninsula Friday into Saturday.
If the storm redevelops in the Atlantic, it would become the first named storm — Alex.
The system is forecast to become a tropical storm while it moves toward the Caribbean Sea over the next 24 hours. It is expected to cross the Florida peninsula Saturday morning.
Tropical storm warnings in effect
The Florida Keys, including the Dry Tortugas
Florida Bay
West coast of Florida south of the Middle of Longboat Key to CardSound Bridge
East coast of Florida south of the Volusia/Brevard County Line to Card Sound Bridge
Lake Okeechobee
Cuban provinces of Pinar del Rio, Artemisa, La Habana, and Mayabeque
Agatha made landfall as a Category 2 hurricane in Puerto Angel, Mexico, Monday after rapidly strengthening in the Pacific Ocean.
The National Hurricane Center downgraded Agatha to remnants of a depression Tuesday morning after the system weakened due to high terrain in its last report.
The remnants are currently on the edge of the Yucatan Peninsula near the southeastern Gulf of Mexico.
Tulsa shooting: Five dead in attack on medical clinic
Police have identified the suspect and four victims who were killed on Wednesday in Tulsa at the Saint Francis Hospital campus.
Tulsa police chief Wendell Franklin told reporters on Thursday morning that Michael Louis, the suspect, wanted to kill Dr Preston Phillips over recent back surgery and pain he felt.
He said the suspect purchased a semi-automatic rifle hours before the shooting took place on Wednesday afternoon, killing another physician, a receptionist and a patient.
Meanwhile, witnesses have recalled what happened when the gunman armed with a rifle and handgun opened fire and took his own life.
Officers responded to the scene within four minutes to find a “catastrophic scene”, said Tulsa police Capt Richard Meulenberg.
Mr Franklin praised the actions of his officers for doing what they had been trained to do, “to take immediate action without hesitation, that’s exactly what our officers do”.
The others killed include Dr Stephanie J Husen, receptionist Amanda Glenn, and hospital patient patient William Love.
Tulsa shooting highlights threats doctors face over care
Doctors have been increasingly threatened with or become victims of violence by patients complaining of pain, especially in recent years when they have prescribed alternatives to opioids and tapered patients off addictive painkillers.
More than two-thirds of pain specialists surveyed during a violence education session at a 2019 American Academy of Pain Medicine meeting said a patient threatened them with bodily harm at least once a year. Nearly half said they had been threatened over opioid management.
The deadly mass shooting at an Oklahoma medical office by a man who blamed his surgeon for pain following back surgery underscores the escalating threats doctors face
Taser maker proposes stun drone to try to stop school shootings
The proposal was met with objections from the company’s own ethics board, which questioned the idea of a remote-controlled flying drone armed with a Taser.
Axon said on Thursday that it has “formally begun development of a non-lethal, remotely-operated Taser drone system as part of a long-term plan” to stop mass shootings.
Two doctors, a receptionist and patient killed in Tulsa mass shooting
Three hospital employees and one patient have been identified as the victims of the mass shooting at the Saint Francis Hospital in Tulsa, southeast Oklahoma.
Tulsa Police Department Chief Wendell Franklin told reporters at a press briefing on Thursday that two physicians and a Saint Francis Healthcare System receptionist were among the four people killed.
A patient was also among the victims shot dead by suspect gunman Michael Louis, who police found dead with self-inflicted wounds.
The four victims were identified as Dr Preston Phillips, Dr Stephanie Husen, receptionist Amanda Glenn, and William Love, the patient.
Everything we know about the Tulsa hospital gunman
The suspected gunman of Tulsa named as Michael Louis, killed five people, including himself, on a hospital campus on 1 June as the nation reels from a series of mass shootings across the US, including massacres in Uvalde, Texas and Buffalo, New York.
He was a patient at the Tulsa medical clinic and was admitted to the facility on 19 May for back surgery. He reportedly called several times to complain about subsequent pain and sought “additional treatment”.
Louis bought an AR-15-style rifle hours before the attack. He also purchased a semi-automatic handgun on 29 May from a local pawn shop, the police chief said.
American schools and public places have become ‘battlefields’ says Biden in call for action on gun violence
The president spoke live Thursday evening as members of the Senate, on recess, huddle to discuss possible compromise legislation in response to the shocking scenes of slaughter which unfolded at a supermarket and elementary school over the past few weeks.
Even those shootings, nightmarish as they are, risk falling into memory now in the face of violence that has unfolded in the days following those attacks in Uvalde and Buffalo, including shootings at a hospital in Tulsa and a high school in Los Angeles.
”There are too many other schools, too many other everyday places that have become killing places, battlefields here in America,” Mr Biden declared on Thursday from the White House.
‘Thoughts and prayers are important but not enough’ says Harris
Vice president Kamala Harris in an address on Thursday once again stressed the need for “common-sense gun safety laws” and claimed Joe Biden has done more to combat gun violence “than any other president”.
“All of us hold the people of Tulsa in our hearts,” said Ms Harris, “but we also reaffirm our commitment to passing common-sense gun safety laws.
“President Biden has taken more executive action to combat gun violence than any other president,” she said. “But we cannot as an administration, or those of us who are here, address this alone.”
No more excuses. Thoughts and prayers are important, but not enough. We need Congress to act.
Multiple people shot in ‘critical incident’ at Wisconsin funeral
Multiple people have been shot in a ‘critical incident’ at a cemetery where a funeral was taking place in Wisconsin, in yet another shooting incident reported this week.
The incident took place during the funeral at Graceland Cemetery in Racine on Thursday afternoon, the police say.
“There are victims but unknown how many at this time,” Racine Police Department tweeted.
“After Columbine, after Sandy Hook, after Charleston, after Orlando, after Las Vegas, after Parkland, nothing has been done,” Biden said, reeling off a litany of devastating mass killings. “This time, that can’t be true. This time we must actually do something.”
Emergency personnel respond to a shooting at the Natalie Medical Building on Wednesday in Tulsa, Okla.
Ian Maule/Tulsa World via AP
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Ian Maule/Tulsa World via AP
Emergency personnel respond to a shooting at the Natalie Medical Building on Wednesday in Tulsa, Okla.
Ian Maule/Tulsa World via AP
Two doctors, a receptionist and a former soldier accompanying his wife during a checkup were killed in a mass shooting inside a Tulsa medical building, authorities said Thursday.
Police, officials at Saint Francis Health System and others provided details about the victims of Wednesday’s shooting.
One of the doctors once worked for a pro basketball team, and the other was a huge college football fan. The receptionist supervisor cheered on her sons’ high school baseball team, and police said the fourth victim was an Army veteran who sacrificed his life for his wife during the shooting.
DR. PRESTON PHILLIPS
Tulsa Police Chief Wendell Franklin said Phillips performed back surgery on the gunman last month and was the primary target of the shooting. Phillips, 59, was found dead in a second-floor exam room.
Phillips was an orthopedic surgeon with an interest in spinal surgery and joint reconstruction, according to a profile on the hospital system’s website. He had served as lead physician for Tulsa’s WNBA team before the franchise moved out of state, according to the Tulsa World.
In addition to his medical degree, Phillips had advanced degrees in organic chemistry, pharmacology and theology.
Dr. Cliff Robertson, president and CEO of Saint Francis Health System, said Phillips was a dedicated caregiver who considered medicine his calling. Robertson said Phillips was a “consummate gentleman.”
This undated photo provided by the Saint Francis Health System shows Dr. Preston Phillips.
Saint Francis Health System via AP
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Saint Francis Health System via AP
This undated photo provided by the Saint Francis Health System shows Dr. Preston Phillips.
Saint Francis Health System via AP
“He was — he is — a man that we should all strive to emulate,” Robertson said. “The fact that some individual would go after Dr. Phillips is mind-blowing. He’s one of those folks that, you know, his clinic can not always be on time because he will spend every minute with patients that they need.”
Phillips graduated in 1990 from Harvard Medical School and completed his fellowship at the university-affiliated Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston.
“Tragically, this incident is the latest in a seemingly unending series of devastating shootings that serve as painful and recurring reminders that gun violence is a medical and public health crisis in this country,” Harvard Medical School Dean George Q. Daley said Thursday in a statement.
In a statement, the J. Robert Gladden Orthopaedic Society said Phillips was one of its members. The Towson, Maryland-based group said its mission is to increase diversity within the orthopedic profession “and promote the highest quality musculoskeletal care for all people.”
The group called the shooting a “despicable act.”
DR. STEPHANIE HUSEN
According to the hospital system’s website, Husen, 48, focused on sports medicine. She graduated medical school in 2000 from Oklahoma State University and further trained at Greenville Memorial Hospital and the Steadman Hawkins Clinic of the Carolinas in South Carolina.
Robertson said Husen was “an incredible person.”
Husen’s ex-husband, John Reckenbeil, said Husen was a physical therapist when she broke her foot in a car accident in the late 1990s. As she was rehabilitating her injury, Husen made the decision to go to medical school and study orthopedics, Reckenbeil told The Associated Press.
Husen, who had two brothers, loved her family and enjoyed being a doctor, Reckenbeil said.
“That’s what is just so unacceptable,” Reckenbeil said. “She’s there doing her job … She loved helping people and she’s ripped from this planet doing what she loved to do.”
This 2019 photo provided by the Saint Francis Health System shows Dr. Stephanie Husen.
Shane Bevel/Saint Francis Health System via AP
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Shane Bevel/Saint Francis Health System via AP
This 2019 photo provided by the Saint Francis Health System shows Dr. Stephanie Husen.
Shane Bevel/Saint Francis Health System via AP
Husen grew up in Ponca City, Oklahoma, and was a big fan of Oklahoma Sooners football, Reckenbeil said.
“She was the greatest woman ever,” he said. “She was the best doctor, she was the best person, she was the best wife.”
Husen was cleaning out her house recently and sent him photos from their wedding of his late mother “out of the blue,” Reckenbeil said.
“That’s the type of woman she was,” Reckenbeil said.
Reckenbeil said Husen was often “the smartest person in the room, but she never let you know about it.”
AMANDA GLENN
Robertson said Glenn, 40, was a receptionist and served in a supervisory role.
The three employees were “the three best people in the entire world, the most committed to doing what they do every day and taking care of others. They didn’t deserve to die like that,” Robertson said.
The Charles Page High School baseball team said in a Facebook post that Glenn was a devoted wife, mother and friend.
“She was on our Booster Club Board and served the baseball boys and coaches selflessly. She was the biggest cheerleader for both of her sons and all of our boys!” the statement said. “Our baseball family is at a loss.”
WILLIAM LOVE
Franklin, the police chief, said Love, 73, was found wounded in a second-floor exam room and taken to the hospital’s emergency room for treatment. He died there.
Although Love was a patient at the clinic where the shooting happened, he didn’t have an appointment that day but was instead accompanying another patient, said Tulsa Police Capt. Richard Meulenberg.
Love was a retired Army sergeant with 27 years of service, including one tour in the Vietnam War, the Tulsa Police Department said in a statement posted on Facebook. Love enjoyed traveling and spending time with his family, which included eight grandchildren and six great grandchildren.
Love had taken his wife, Deborah, to the clinic the day of the shooting for her six-month checkup, said their daughter, Karen Denise Love. Deborah Love had back surgery in December.
They were in an examination room with one of Phillips’ assistants when the couple heard the commotion outside. When they realized it was gunshots, Karen Love said her father grabbed the door handle from inside the room.
“As they heard this guy going up and down the hall, they knew it was gunfire,” Karen Love said. “They thought it was someone just shooting people. My dad was trying to hold the door the best he could.”
The shooter walked past their room, but they heard him come back. He then started shooting through the sheetrock walls and through the door, striking William Love, she said.
Karen Love said her father was born in Georgia, a “poor, sharecroppers’ boy.”
“He was a red, white and blue guy, my daddy,” she said. “He was a good, stable human being.”
Before he was killed, Love had planned to travel with his wife, his daughter said. They enjoyed California, Wyoming and Georgia, Karen Love said.
About 60% of the infrastructure and residential buildings in Lysychansk, one of only two cities in the east still under at least partial Ukrainian control, have been destroyed from attacks, according to a local official.Oleksandr Zaika, head of the Lysychansk City military-civil administration, said 20,000 people were left in the city, down from a pre-war population of 97,000.
Tropical storm watches and warnings have been posted in parts of Florida ahead of the likely formation of a Gulf tropical depression or storm that will bring heavy rain and gusty winds to those areas into the weekend.
An area of low pressure located near Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula and the northwest Caribbean Sea is producing clusters of showers and thunderstorms right now.
The National Hurricane Center (NHC) has dubbed this system “Potential Tropical Cyclone One,” a procedure allowing the NHC to issue advisories, watches and warnings for a system that hasn’t yet developed but poses a threat of tropical-storm-force winds to land areas within 48 hours.
Due to models indicating a slightly faster motion across the Gulf of Mexico, tropical storm warnings have now been hoisted for the Florida Keys and for the west coast of Florida south of Englewood. Winds over 40 mph are expected in this area Friday night or early Saturday.
Tropical storm watches are also in effect from near Sarasota and Bradenton southward to Englewood and for the Atlantic coast to the Volusia-Brevard County line. Tropical-storm-force winds (39 mph or greater) could arrive in these areas by Friday night or Saturday morning and could last into Saturday afternoon or evening.
Tropical storm watches have also been hoisted in western Cuba, including the capital of Havana, where tropical-storm-force winds could occur on Friday. Such watches have also been issued for the northwestern Bahamas.
The NHC expects this system to strengthen into Tropical Storm Alex on Friday as it draws closer to Florida.
Fortunately, upper-level winds over the Gulf of Mexico will continue to be strong, providing strong wind shear that should limit the intensity of this system.
Those strong upper-level winds should also make the system lopsided, meaning most of its impacts of heavy rain and gusty winds could be relatively far east and southeast of its center.
Keep this in mind when looking at the forecast path above, which is the potential path of the storm’s center.
Dry air over the Gulf of Mexico may also become ingested by the system and help to limit its intensity.
Timeline and Potential Impacts
Here is a general timeline we’re expecting from this system over the next few days.
–Friday: Soaking rain spreads into South Florida and continues in western Cuba. Tropical-storm-force winds could arrive late at night.
–Saturday: The storm will move across the Florida Peninsula with soaking rain, gusty winds. Heavy rain is possible in the northwest Bahamas. The system then moves east of Florida Saturday night with slowly improving conditions.
–Sunday: The system then will track off the Southeast U.S. coast. Gusty winds could stir up high surf and dangerous rip currents along the Southeast coast, even with much of the rain from this system staying offshore.
-Sunday Night-Monday: The system then moves into the open Atlantic away from the East Coast.
South Florida, including the Florida Keys, western Cuba and the western Bahamas could pick up anywhere from 4 to 10 inches of rain, with locally higher amounts, from this system. This is where rainfall flooding is most likely from this system.
Modest coastal flooding is possible in the southern Florida Peninsula from the Florida Keys to Longboat Key near Sarasota, where up to 1 to 3 feet of inundation is possible at high tide.
The Gulf Is a June Hotspot
The Gulf of Mexico, Bay of Campeche and the western Caribbean Sea have historically been hot spots for development in June.
Last year, Tropical Storm Claudette formed, then quickly moved ashore in Louisiana and the Deep South on Father’s Day weekend.
The Weather Company’s primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.
A man shot and killed two female victims, then killed himself, in a parking lot outside Ames’ Cornerstone Church Thursday night, according to police and officials at the church.
“We are grieving deeply,” said a statement from Mark Vance, with the Salt Company youth ministry at Cornerstone Church. “Tonight, a tragic shooting occurred involving two young members of our Cornerstone Church community. It is believed that an adult male shot these two victims and then took his own life.”
The suspected shooter appeared to have died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, Story County Sheriff Capt. Nicholas Lennie said. The ages of the female victims were not immediately known.
Lennie said several 911 calls came in at 6:51 p.m. as a program was going on at church. The church hosts a regular Thursday evening event for the Salt Company.
Officials said the shooting happened in the parking lot of the church as others were inside. Hours later there were still people inside the church as well as in the parking lot.
The statement from Vance said he was unable to give any details about what happened because of the ongoing investigation.
“We can say, however, that we are more than saddened by the events that transpired. Our hearts break for all involved, and we are praying for everyone affected, especially the family of the victims. Our Ministry staff are available to support all those impacted, and we will continue to fully cooperate with authorities as they complete their full investigation,” the statement said.
Law enforcement officials on Thursday did not release details about the weapon used in the shooting. Lennie said there was not an ongoing threat to the public.
“I wouldn’t say I’m shocked as law enforcement,” Lennie said. “We prepare and we train hard for this, but when it happens, it’s obviously chaotic until you get it under control.”
‘The Lord is near to the brokenhearted’
Law enforcement officials will hold a news conference on the shooting at 10:30 a.m. Friday, Lennie said.
“I would also like to take a moment to just extend our condolences to those involved, the victims involved, the families, the witnesses that were here at the church,” Lennie told reporters earlier Thursday evening. “And our hearts are with them as well at this time.”
Gov. Kim Reynolds said the shooting was an “act of senseless violence.”
“Tonight’s act of senseless violence took the lives of two innocent victims at their place of worship. Kevin and I grieve for the families who have suffered an unfathomable loss,” the governor said on Twitter. “And while the investigation continues and we learn more, we ask that Iowans pray for the victims and their families, the members of Cornerstone Church, and the entire Ames community.”
The church’s statement said: “We sincerely appreciate the responsiveness of the Story County Sheriff’s Department, Ames PD, and all Law Enforcement Officials who have handled this matter with exceptional professionalism and compassion. Please join us in praying for all affected and their families.”
It went on to quote Psalm 34:18, “‘The Lord is near to the brokenhearted’. Right now, we are brokenhearted and we need God to draw near to us.”
The church will hold a prayer service on Friday at 10 a.m. at the church, 56829 US HWY 30, Ames.
“All are welcome to attend in-person or join us online at cornerstonelife.com/live,” the statement said.
The shooting in Ames follows several high-profile mass shootings. Ten people were killed at a Buffalo, New York, grocery store on May 14. Twenty-one people — including 19 students — were killed at a Uvalde, Texas, school on May 24. And four people were killed at a Tulsa, Oklahoma, medical building Wednesday.
Ames, 30 miles north of Des Moines, is the center of a metro area of 126,195 and is the home of Iowa State University, the nation’s first land-grant institution of higher learning. It’s also home to major research facilities of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, as well as numerous ag-related industries, including Renewable Energy Group, a biodiesel company Chevron recently acquired for $3.15 billion.
Cornerstone Church, a megachurch with dozens of staff, is at the intersection of U.S. Highway 30 and Interstate 35 in Ames. The church sits just south of Lake Wesley.
The church is also framed by CrossRoad Baptist Church and the Iowa Department of Transportation Maintenance Garage. Beyond that are sprawling fields. Across the street from the church is the 3T’s All Star Sports Academy. To its west, on the other side of I-35, are DMACC Career Academy and Durham School Services, as well as a handful of businesses.
The church, according to its website, was founded in 1994 from a college ministry at ISU called The Salt Company, which is still the name of the church’s university ministry.
The Cornerstone website says it is now a “multigenerational church with a passion to reach the next generation of college students with the Gospel.”
The Salt Company‘s website says that about 1,300 students gather to worship at Cornerstone every Thursday night during the school year.
With coronavirus-positive hospitalizations in Los Angeles County on the rise, officials said the nation’s most populous county could be poised to see a new universal indoor mask mandate later this month if the upward trends continue.
“Our weekly case rate and the rate of increase in hospital admissions are of concern,” L.A. County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said Thursday. “If we continue on the current trajectory … we’re likely to move into the CDC high [COVID-19] community level within a few weeks towards the end of June, indicating increased stress on the healthcare system.”
The concerns come as Alameda County, the Bay Area’s second-most populous county and home to Oakland, ordered a new mask mandate in most indoor spaces effective Friday, citing worsening coronavirus cases and rising rates of hospitalizations. That makes Alameda the first county in California to issue a universal indoor mask order since the end of the winter Omicron surge.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends universal indoor masking when a county enters the high COVID-19 community level, the worst in a three-tier system.
Entering the high COVID-19 community level means that new weekly rates of hospitalizations, or hospital capacity, are being affected by coronavirus-positive patients to such an extent that the hospital systems may grow strained.
The CDC on Thursday placed 13 California counties in the high COVID-19 community level. It’s the first time since mid-March that any county in the state was in that level.
Nearly 1 in 6 Californians live in a county with a high COVID-19 community level. The affected counties are Santa Clara, Sonoma, Solano, Marin and Napa in the San Francisco Bay Area; Sacramento, Placer, Yolo, El Dorado in the Sacramento Valley area; and Monterey, Mendocino, San Benito and Del Norte elsewhere in Northern California.
L.A. County health officials have already said once the county enters the high COVID-19 community level, that will trigger a local requirement to wear masks in indoor public settings.
Projections show L.A. County could enter the worst COVID-19 community level within three weeks, around the official start of summer.
“There is no certainty with this date. Actual hospital admission rates could increase at a faster rate. Or if case numbers stabilize or decrease in the next two weeks, the rate of increase in hospitalizations could be a lot lower,” Ferrer said.
“As we look to the near future, it reminds us that we ourselves also have the ability to influence where these numbers go. We all have the power to take steps to reduce the amount of viral spread, which ultimately reduces the number of people that are in the hospital with a positive COVID-19 infection,” Ferrer said.
According to CDC data issued Thursday, L.A. County observed 5.3 new weekly coronavirus-positive hospitalizations for every 100,000 residents, an 18% increase from the previous week’s rate of 4.5. A rate of 10 or more would place L.A. County in a high COVID-19 community level.
Elsewhere in Southern California, Ventura County had a new weekly coronavirus-positive hospitalization rate of 7.6; Santa Barbara County, 6.3; Orange County, 5.3; San Diego County, 4.9; and Riverside and San Bernardino counties, 2.9.
Sacramento and Placer counties had the highest weekly coronavirus-positive hospitalization rates in the state, 12.1; and other Bay Area counties also had high rates, with Sonoma and Marin counties reporting 11.8; Solano County, 11.5; Santa Clara and Monterey counties, 10.1; and San Francisco and San Mateo counties, 9.6.
Some trends in the San Francisco Bay Area point to a possible path where coronavirus-positive hospitalizations will worsen.
Alameda County’s rate of new weekly coronavirus-positive hospitalizations is 75% worse than L.A. County’s. Alameda County is reporting a rate of 9.3 weekly coronavirus-positive hospitalizations for every 100,000 residents, up 26% from the prior week, and the county’s health officer expects the area to enter the high COVID-19 community level soon.
Contra Costa and San Joaquin counties also had the same rate of new weekly coronavirus-positive hospitalizations as Alameda County.
“Daily new admissions of patients with COVID-19 rapidly increased in recent days and now exceed last summer’s peak,” the Alameda County Public Health Department said in a statement Thursday.
“Rising COVID cases in Alameda County are now leading to more people being hospitalized and today’s action reflects the seriousness of the moment,” Alameda County Health Officer Dr. Nicholas Moss said in a statement. “We cannot ignore the data, and we can’t predict when this wave may end. Putting our masks back on gives us the best opportunity to limit the impact of a prolonged wave on our communities.”
Alameda County has one of California’s highest coronavirus case rates — 354 cases a week for every 100,000 residents as of Monday. L.A. County’s rate is 299 cases a week for every 100,000 residents, according to data published Thursday. A rate of 100 cases or more a week for every 100,000 residents is considered high.
Initially, in this second wave of Omicron cases, communities that were traditionally hit hard by the pandemic weren’t disproportionately affected. But “that is no longer true,” Alameda County health officials said, and Latino residents now have the highest coronavirus case rate in Alameda County.
“Masking provides an added layer of protection against infection from a virus that spreads through the air. Wearing a high-quality mask protects both the wearer and those around them, and having more people masked will help slow the spread of COVID-19,” Alameda County health officials said.
The Alameda County mask order will require masks to be worn at indoor businesses and workplaces, including offices, stores, theaters and conference centers, as well as restaurants and bars when not eating or drinking; and on public transportation, including taxis and ride-shares. Businesses and venue operators are required to post signage at all entrance points to communicate the mask requirement and “make reasonable efforts to ensure compliance in their setting,” the health order said.
Alameda County’s mask mandate has certain exceptions; the county won’t require masking in K-12 school settings through the few remaining days in the traditional school year, nor will the order apply to Berkeley, which has its own public health department. Masks need not be worn while working alone in a closed office or room; while swimming or showering at a gym; or while obtaining a medical or cosmetic service involving the head or face for which mask removal is needed to perform the service.
Alameda County is also allowing masks to be optional for performers at indoor live events, such as the theater, opera, symphony, religious choirs and professional sports; at religious gatherings when necessary to perform rituals; and at indoor gyms and yoga studios by people who are “actively engaged in periods of heavy exertion,” are swimming or diving, or when engaged in sports where masks create a risk to health, like wrestling and judo.
Masks will be required in other indoor youth settings, including child care, summer school and youth programs. Children younger than 2 must not mask because of the risk of suffocation.
The Berkeley public K-12 school system has already issued a mask order for indoor classroom settings, as well as indoor graduations. Other educational institutions have done the same elsewhere in California, including UCLA and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.
Of all the COVID-19 restrictions that have been issued over the years, a mask order is among the least onerous to the public, said UC San Francisco epidemiologist and infectious-diseases expert Dr. George Rutherford.
“If you’re going to try and stay in front of this and try and restrict the damage that’s going on, this strikes me as a fairly low-level ask, to have people wear a mask,” Rutherford said.
“We’re not talking about lockdowns, we’re not talking about mandatory vaccination, we’re not talking about mandatory testing programs. We’re just talking about wearing masks, which are highly effective, especially if both people are wearing masks. And it’s something we’re used to doing,” Rutherford said.
In L.A. County and elsewhere, some hospital physicians have pointed out that many coronavirus-positive patients aren’t being treated in their hospitals for COVID-19, and their infection status is incidental to the reason they’ve been admitted.
In L.A. County, Ferrer said about 60% of coronavirus-positive patients in its public and private hospitals are being treated for reasons not related to the coronavirus infection, meaning only 40% of them are in the hospital because they’re sick with COVID-19 illness.
“But because they are COVID positive, they do create stress on the hospital system,” Ferrer said.
Too many coronavirus-positive patients in hospitals, whether they’re sick due to COVID-19 illness or for some other reason, strain resources because of the additional services the hospital needs to provide to keep the patients from spreading the virus to other vulnerable people.
RACINE – Two people were shot at Racine’s Graceland Cemetery Thursday afternoon during a funeral for a man killed by police.
Just before 2:30 p.m., multiple shots were fired at the cemetery, located along the 3600 block of Osborne Boulevard, Racine police said in a tweet.
“There are victims but unknown how many at this time,” police originally said, but later confirmed to the Journal Sentinel that two adults were struck by gunfire.
The shooting occurred at the interment for Da’Shontay L. King Sr., the man fatally shot by Racine police May 20, King’s sister, Natasha Mullen said.
“We were at the gravesite trying to get prepared to bury him, and bullets started flying everywhere,” she said.
A Racine police officer fatally shot King, 37, during a traffic stop about two weeks ago. Police said they were carrying out a search warrant on a vehicle when King, who they said had a handgun, ran from the car.
The officer, Zachary B. Brenner, then fatally shot King. It’s unclear exactly why Brenner shot King. Racine police said King “took an action” that prompted Brenner to shoot, but the Wisconsin Department of Justice did not mention such an action in a statement.
King’s funeral service took place at noon Thursday at the Fellowship of Christian Believers church, 703 Washington Ave., according to his obituary. His interment at the cemetery was to follow.
It was not immediately clear how many people were shot or the extent of their injuries. Preliminary emergency radio traffic indicated that first responders were having a difficult time trying to figure out the number of victims at first.
A Racine Fire Department official directed a reporter to the police department for information.
An official at the Draeger-Langendorf Funeral Home and Crematory, which hosted King’s funeral, declined to comment.
“Today’s heinous shooting at a cemetery, while a family was already mourning the loss of a loved one, is a new low for these perpetrators of violence in our community,” Racine Mayor Cory Mason said in a statement.
“The violence has got to stop! Revenge is not the answer,” Mason added.
Mason also called on the Racine police to enforce a curfew for all people under the age of 18. All juvenile residents must be home by 11 p.m., the mayor said.
Witnesses recount ‘spray of bullets’
Ken Rorek, who lives in the neighborhood, called the shooting unexpected and sad.
“Regardless what happened to (King), it’s still a sad situation. There should be no retaliation, or whatever happened. Let the family bury him in peace,” he said.
Tre Brantley, 19, was playing basketball at Lockwood Park, next to the cemetery, when suddenly “bullets were whistling past us.”
Brantley said it’s remarkable that no one at the park was hit.
“If we were in different spots on the court, I’m pretty sure one of us would of been hit,” he said. “There was a lot of people at the park.”
Brantley said about 30 minutes before the shooting, a group of children were playing on the basketball court with someone who might have been a teacher.
Brantley, who lives nearby, commented on the spread of gun violence.
“You move out of bad neighborhoods only for the same thing to happen here,” he said.
Alissa Miller was in the backyard of her parents’ house, across from the cemetery, with her children and other relatives when she heard a “spray of bullets.”
“Immediately, we knew it was gunshots,” she said.
The adults began telling the children to go inside. Then, in the next moment, they heard screams.
“It was terrified, horrific screaming,” Miller said. “It was unmistakable.”
Miller estimates 20 to 30 bullets were fired in a quick barrage, followed by a handful of single shots.
The family got inside and called 911. They made sure neighbors took cover too. Then they watched from the windows as police combed the grass of the nearby Jewish cemetery — separated from the Graceland Cemetery by a fence — for bullets.
Given how terrifying it was to hear the gunfire and screaming, Miller said she can’t imagine how traumatic the experience was for those who were attending the interment.
Miller, who grew up in the home across from the cemetery, said the outburst of violence is highly unusual for the neighborhood.
“It’s been such a safe and quiet neighborhood where everybody knows everybody,” she said. “I don’t know that anything remotely close to this has ever happened.”
Ascension All Saints Hospital, also next to the cemetery, went on lockdown, according to a hospital spokesperson. The emergency department was still accepting patients and people with previously scheduled appointments could keep them.
The hospital did not say how many people it was treating from the shooting.
Police blocked several streets in the area.
“I was just trying to bury my brother and almost lost my life doing so,” Mullen said.
A man who blamed his surgeon for continuing pain after a recent back operation bought an AR-style rifle Wednesday and carried out a shooting that same day at a Tulsa, Oklahoma, medical office, killing the doctor and three other people in an attack that ended with him taking his own life, police said Thursday. The gunman called the clinic repeatedly complaining of pain and specifically targeted the doctor who performed the surgery, Tulsa Police Chief Wendell Franklin said.
That physician, Dr. Preston Phillips, was killed, along with Dr. Stephanie Husen, receptionist Amanda Glenn and patient William Love, Franklin said. The attack occurred on the campus of Saint Francis Health System in Tulsa. The chief identified the shooter as Michael Louis, 45, of Muskogee, Oklahoma.
A letter found on the gunman “made it clear that he came in with the intent to kill Dr. Phillips and anyone who got in his way,” Franklin told reporters. “He blamed Dr. Phillips for the ongoing pain following the surgery.”
It was the latest in a series of mass shootings in the U.S. including the deadly school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, and an attack on a supermarket in Buffalo, New York. Over the weekend in Taft, Oklahoma, a woman was killed in a mass shooting during a Memorial Day event that also left seven people injured, police said.
Phillips was an orthopedic surgeon with an interest in spinal surgery and joint reconstruction, according to a profile on the clinic’s website. He once served as lead physician for Tulsa’s WNBA team before the franchise moved out of state, according to the Tulsa World.
Dr. Cliff Robertson, president and CEO of Saint Francis Health System, called Phillips a “consummate gentleman” and “a man that we should all strive to emulate.” He said the three employees who were killed were “the three best people in the entire world” and that they “didn’t deserve to die this way.”
Police believe the gunman bought his weapons legally, Franklin said. The gunman bought an AR-style semi-automatic rifle on the afternoon of the shooting and a handgun on Sunday, the police chief said.
Franklin praised the law enforcement officers, 911 operators and emergency responders for their “immediate response” to the attack. Police responded to the call about three minutes after dispatchers received the report at 4:52 p.m. and made contact with the gunman at 5:01 p.m., authorities said Wednesday.
“Our training led us to take immediate action without hesitation,” he said. “That’s exactly what officers do and that’s what they did in this instance.”
The length of time it took police officers in Uvalde to engage the gunman during last week’s deadly school shooting at Robb Elementary School has become a key focus of that investigation. Officers waited over an hour to breach the classroom where the 18-year-old gunman attacked with an AR-style semi-automatic rifle, killing 19 children and two teachers.
The spate of recent gun violence across the country has led to Democratic leaders amplifying their calls for greater restrictions on guns, while Republicans are emphasizing more security at schools. Bipartisan discussions are also being conducted.
The White House said President Biden will deliver a primetime address Thursday night to talk about gun violence.
RACINE, Wis. — A suspect shot and injured two people during a funeral at Graceland Cemetery in Racine Thursday afternoon, according to police.
Racine police described the shooting as a “critical” incident and urged people to stay away. Police said multiple shots were fired in the direction of the funeral service.
Sgt. Kristi Wilcox said a juvenille was treated and released and a second was flown to a hospital in Milwaukee.
Around an hour after the shooting, a family member who attended the funeral service told TMJ4 News five people had been hit. Racine police said it’s possible not everyone has reported injuries or plans to report minor injuries.
TMJ4 News crews could see at least 12 markers for bullet rounds at the scene of the shooting.
At the cemetery on Thursday.
The Draeger-Langendorf Funeral Home and Crematory confirms to TMJ4 News that a funeral during that time was for Da’Shontay L. King Sr. The worker at the funeral home said King’s family members were hit. All funeral home staff are OK, they said.
Family previously identified Da’Shontay King Sr. as the man who a Racine police officer shot and killed near 12th and Schiller on March 20. Police said that an officer attempted a traffic stop for a firearms investigation. Police said King got out of the vehicle armed with a firearm. The officer ordered the suspect to stop and comply with commands, but he refused, police said. The officer opened fire. King was pronounced dead at the scene.
The man shot and killed by Racine Police on Friday afternoon is Da’Shontay King Sr., according to family. He was 37 years old.
The City of Racine will enforce a juvenile curfew ordinance from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. following the shooting on Thursday.
Anyone under the age of 18-years-old must be home by 11 p.m., according to Racine Mayor Cory Mason. Mason said he is instructing the police department to actively enforce the curfew through the weekend.
The shooting at the cemetery happened around 2:30 p.m.
A spokesperson for nearby Ascension All Saints Hospital said the hospital was on lockdown. They have since lifted the lockdown.
“The safety of our associates, patients, visitors and providers is our top priority. Due to a situation offsite, increased security measures have been put in place at Ascension All Saints Hospital. Patients are still able to keep previously scheduled appointments and the emergency department is currently accepting patients. However, out of an abundance of caution, the number of open entrances into the hospital has been reduced and additional security screenings have been implemented,” according to Ascension.
The Racine United School District tells us that Park High School was dismissed about 10 minutes later than normal, after law enforcement assured them it was safe to do so.
TMJ4’s Bruce Harrison spoke with a neighbor, who says the gunfire toward the service was so sporadic that it hit playground equipment behind the service at Lockwood Park. He says his son was playing basketball at the park.
We spoke with another neighbor, who lives right across the street. He says the gun violence is out of control in Racine.
“When I heard it’s a funeral, I’m thinking, Lord you can’t even go to a funeral anymore. They’re shooting from 120 yards away. Complete disregard,” said Kevin.
Tre Brantley says he was playing basketball near the cemetery when the shooting broke out.
He said he heard bullets whistling past him. Brantley and his brother took off and yelled, “run.”
Editor’s Note: TMJ4 News initially reported that 5 people were shot and injured, citing what family members told us at the scene. This report has been updated with information provided by Racine police during a press conference Thursday, that 2 people were shot and injured.
Please avoid the area of Graceland Cemetery due to a critical incident. Thank you!!
At 2:26pm there were multiple shots fired at Graceland Cemetery. There are victims but unknown how many at this time. The scene is still active and being investigated.
We will update you when more details become available.
Tropical storm watches have been posted in parts of Florida ahead of the likely formation of a Gulf tropical depression or storm that will bring heavy rain and gusty winds to those areas into the weekend.
An area of low pressure located near Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula and the northwest Caribbean Sea is producing clusters of showers and thunderstorms right now.
The National Hurricane Center (NHC) has dubbed this system “Potential Tropical Cyclone One,” a procedure allowing the NHC to issue advisories, watches and warnings for a system that hasn’t yet developed but poses a threat of tropical-storm-force winds to land areas within 48 hours.
In this case, tropical storm watches are now in effect from near Sarasota and Bradenton southward to the Florida Keys and back up the Atlantic coast to the Volusia-Brevard County line. Tropical-storm-force winds (39 mph or greater) could arrive in these areas by Friday night or Saturday morning and could last into Saturday afternoon or evening.
Tropical storm watches have also been hoisted in western Cuba, including the capital of Havana, where tropical-storm-force winds could occur on Friday. Such watches have also been issued for the northwestern Bahamas.
The NHC expects this system to strengthen into Tropical Storm Alex on Friday as it draws closer to Florida.
Fortunately, upper-level winds over the Gulf of Mexico will continue to be strong, providing strong wind shear that should limit the intensity of this system.
Those strong upper-level winds should also make the system lopsided, meaning most of its impacts of heavy rain and gusty winds could be relatively far east and southeast of its center.
Keep this in mind when looking at the forecast path above, which is the potential path of the storm’s center.
Dry air over the Gulf of Mexico may also become ingested by the system and help to limit its intensity.
Timeline and Potential Impacts
Here is a general timeline we’re expecting from this system over the next few days.
–Friday: Soaking rain spreads into South Florida and continues in western Cuba. Tropical-storm-force winds could arrive late at night.
–Saturday: The storm will move across the Florida Peninsula with soaking rain, gusty winds. Heavy rain is possible in the northwest Bahamas. The system then moves east of Florida Saturday night with slowly improving conditions.
–Sunday: The system then will track off the Southeast U.S. coast. Gusty winds could stir up high surf and dangerous rip currents along the Southeast coast, even with much of the rain from this system staying offshore.
-Sunday Night-Monday: The system then moves into the open Atlantic away from the East Coast.
South Florida, including the Florida Keys, western Cuba and the western Bahamas could pick up anywhere from 4 to 10 inches of rain, with locally higher amounts, from this system. This is where rainfall flooding is most likely from this system.
Modest coastal flooding is possible in the southern Florida Peninsula from the Florida Keys to Longboat Key near Sarasota, where up to 1 to 3 feet of inundation is possible at high tide.
The Gulf Is a June Hotspot
The Gulf of Mexico, Bay of Campeche and the western Caribbean Sea have historically been hot spots for development in June.
Last year, Tropical Storm Claudette formed, then quickly moved ashore in Louisiana and the Deep South on Father’s Day weekend.
The Weather Company’s primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.
Authorities said that Mr. Gendron traveled more than 200 miles from his home in Conklin, N.Y., in the state’s Southern Tier, to commit his attack after carefully choosing the East Side neighborhood in Buffalo because of its large number of Black residents.
In the months before the shooting, Mr. Gendron hadwritten an extensive series of racist comments in a private online diary, including plans for an attack in Buffalo, photos of tactical gear and the assault-style weapon that officials say he used to carry out the shooting, and other musings, using the messaging site Discord.
Just before the attack, Mr. Gendron shared those writings with a small group of people; Mr. Gendron also briefly livestreamed the attack on Twitch, an Amazon-owned site popular with video gamers.
“There’s a lot of evidence here,” said Mr. Flynn.
He added that he would fight any effort by the defense to move the trial out of Erie County. “This happened in our community,” Mr. Flynn said.
Mr. Gendron surrendered to the police after the shooting, and days later, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced an executive order directing the State Police to establish a new unit to monitor “violent extremism through social media,” like the channels Mr. Gendron is believed to have used.
Ms. Hochul has also backed a series of new measures to tighten the state’s already stringent gun laws, including raising the age for ownership of semiautomatic rifles, like the one Mr. Gendron is believed to have used, to 21. Those bills were beginning to be passed in Albany on Thursday by the State Legislature, which is controlled by Democrats.
Mr. Gendron’s attack came just 10 days before a shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, which left 21 people dead, including 19 children. The gunman in that shooting, Salvador Ramos, 18, who died in the attack, also used an assault-style rifle. And on Wednesday, there was another shooting in Tulsa, Okla., where a man killed four people at medical center, carrying a semiautomatic rifle and a handgun.
Alameda County issued a new mask mandate in most indoor public settings, effective Friday, as coronavirus cases climb.
The county, home to Oakland, is the San Francisco Bay Area’s second-most populous. Alameda County’s move represents the first time a California county has issued a mask mandate since the winter Omicron surge faded.
The order does not apply to K-12 school settings through the end of the school year, nor does it apply to Berkeley, which is in Alameda County but has its own public health department. Berkeley’s K-12 public school system, however, has already implemented an indoor mask mandate.
Officials are deciding how best to respond now that COVID-19 cases are rapidly rising after plunging in the spring.
“Rising COVID cases in Alameda County are now leading to more people being hospitalized, and today’s action reflects the seriousness of the moment,” Dr. Nicholas Moss, Alameda County’s health officer, said in a statement.
“We cannot ignore the data, and we can’t predict when this wave may end. Putting our masks back on gives us the best opportunity to limit the impact of a prolonged wave on our communities.”
Alameda County has one of California’s highest coronavirus transmission rates, reporting about 354 cases a week for every 100,000 residents for the past week. That figure has climbed 20% from mid-May. A rate of 100 cases a week or more for every 100,000 residents is considered high.
The rate of new weekly hospitalizations jumped significantly in the last week. Alameda County is now reporting 9.3 new weekly coronavirus-positive hospitalizations for every 100,000 residents, up 26% from the previous week. That’s close to the threshold of 10 new weekly coronavirus-positive hospitalizations for every 100,000 residents, which would place Alameda County in a high COVID-19 community level as defined by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The CDC recommends that people in counties in the high COVID-19 community level practice universal masking in indoor public areas. A high COVID-19 community level is an indication of possible strain on the hospital system.
The reinstatement of the mask order in Alameda County comes as coronavirus cases in Southern California also continue to climb and cause disruptions.
“If we continue on the current trajectory, we could find that cases and hospitalizations end up exerting stress on our healthcare system within just a few weeks,” Los Angeles County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said during a recent briefing.
Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., and Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wy., will lead the public hearings for the House select committee investigating the January 6 attack on the Capitol.
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Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., and Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wy., will lead the public hearings for the House select committee investigating the January 6 attack on the Capitol.
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The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol released an official notice that it will hold the first hearing on what it has found so far about the deadly siege on Thursday, June 9 in prime time at 8 p.m. ET.
In the notice made late on Thursday, the panel also said witnesses for the hearing would be announced next week.
At the hearing, the panel will “present previously unseen material documenting January 6th, receive witness testimony, preview additional hearings, and provide the American people a summary of its findings about the coordinated, multi-step effort to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election and prevent the transfer of power,” it said.
This will be the first public hearing held by the committee in nearly a year. During the last hearing, in July, four police officers gave graphic accounts of the physical and verbal assaults they endured while protecting the Capitol and the lawmakers who had gathered on Jan. 6, 2021, to count and certify states’ electoral votes from the 2020 election. Over 100 law enforcement officers were injured and several people died after pro-Trump rioters stormed the Capitol to overturn the election results.
Altogether, the panel is expected to hold about a half dozen public hearings in June and release a report on its findings in September. Committee members say the hearings will provide a narrative for what led up to the attack, who helped organize and fund some of the outside groups promoting false claims that Joe Biden did not rightfully win the election, and what then President Trump was doing behind the scenes around the time of the violent insurrection.
In recent months, the committee has held several business meetings to approve contempt charges against a handful of former Trump administration officials who refused to cooperate with the investigation.
Former White House chief of Staff Mark Meadows initially cooperated with a subpoena and turned over text messages and emails, but then reversed course and declined to appearor provide additional documents. Former aides Steve Bannon, Peter Navarro and Dan Scavino also defied subpoenas from the panel. The full House approved contempt charges for all four and referred them to the Justice Department. So far, DOJ has indicted Bannon for failing to comply with a congressional subpoena and his trial is set for this summer.
The committee has interviewed more than 1,000 witnesses, publicly subpoenaed about 100 individuals, and received tens of thousands of pages in documents since it was created roughly a year ago.
Initially top leaders from both parties pushed for an outside, independent commission to probe the riot, but Republican members decided to oppose that effort and also voted against setting up the select committee. Once the committee was approved, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., then tapped five members from his party to serve on it. But after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., rejected three of them, McCarthy boycotted the panel. Pelosi tapped Republicans Liz Cheney of Wyoming and Adam Kinzinger of Illinois to serve on the committee.
Five House Republicans, including McCarthy, have received committee subpoenas that focused on their communications with Trump and others around the attack, but have so far declined to appear before the committee.
The panel does not have the authority to bring any criminal charges against the former president or any of those involved in the events leading up to or on the day of the attack, but several panel members maintain the Justice Department could take action even without the committee’s report.
A gunman who killed his surgeon and three other people at a Tulsa medical office blamed the doctor for his continuing pain after a recent back operation and bought an AR-style rifle just hours before the rampage, police said Thursday.
The gunman called the clinic repeatedly complaining of pain and specifically targeted the doctor who performed the surgery, Tulsa Police Chief Wendell Franklin said.
That physician, Dr. Preston Phillips, was killed Wednesday, along with Dr. Stephanie Husen, receptionist Amanda Glenn and visitor William Love, police said. The attack occurred on the campus of Saint Francis Health System in Tulsa. The chief identified the shooter as Michael Louis, 45, of Muskogee, Oklahoma.
Louis carried a letter that said he was targeting Phillips, Franklin said. The letter “made it clear that he came in with the intent to kill Dr. Phillips and anyone who got in his way,” Franklin said. ”He blamed Dr. Phillips for the ongoing pain following the surgery.”
Franklin said Phillips performed the surgery on May 19 and Louis was released from the hospital on May 24.
He said Louis called the doctor’s office “several times over several days” reporting he was still in pain and saw Phillips on Tuesday for “additional treatment.” Louis called the office again Wednesday “complaining of back pain and wanting additional assistance,” he said.
A phone number listed for an address for a Michael Louis in Muskogee was not working Thursday.
Phillips, 59, was an orthopedic surgeon with an interest in spinal surgery and joint reconstruction, according to a profile on the clinic’s website. He once served as lead physician for Tulsa’s WNBA team before the franchise moved out of state, according to the Tulsa World.
Dr. Cliff Robertson, president and CEO of Saint Francis Health System, called Phillips a “consummate gentleman” and “a man that we should all strive to emulate.” He said the three employees who were killed were “the three best people in the entire world” and that they “didn’t deserve to die this way.”
Husen was 48 and Glenn was 40, officials said.
Police have received reports that 73-year-old Love, who was accompanying a patient to the doctor’s office, held a door shut in hopes of allowing others to flee from the gunman through another door, Franklin said in response to reporters’ questions. Love also was a patient at the clinic but didn’t have an appointment there on Wednesday, police said.
Police believe Louis bought his weapons legally, Franklin said. Louis bought an AR-style semi-automatic rifle on the afternoon of the shooting and a handgun on Sunday, the police chief said.
Franklin praised the law enforcement officers, 911 operators and emergency for their “immediate response” to the attack Wednesday. Police responded to the call about three minutes after dispatchers received the report at 4:52 p.m. and made contact with the gunman at 5:01 p.m., authorities said Wednesday.
“Our training led us to take immediate action without hesitation,” he said. “That’s exactly what officers do and that’s what they did in this instance.”
The length of time it took police officers in Uvalde, Texas, to engage the gunman during last week’s deadly school shooting at Robb Elementary School has become a key focus of that investigation. Officers waited over an hour to breach the classroom where the 18-year-old gunman attacked with an AR-style semi-automatic rifle, killing 19 children and two teachers.
Oklahoma House Democrats on Thursday called for a special session to consider gun safety legislation, but that’s unlikely to happen in a GOP-controlled Legislature that has been pushing for years to loosen firearms restrictions.
Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt, who is running for reelection, said last week after the Texas shooting that it was too soon to talk about firearms policy. A pro-firearms group, the Oklahoma 2nd Amendment Association, is an influential force at the state Capitol, and the first bill Stitt signed into law after taking office in 2019 was a measure that allows most adults to openly carry firearms without the previously required background check or training.
Since January, there have been 12 shootings where four or more people have been killed, according to The Associated Press/USA TODAY/Northeastern University mass killing database. Those shootings have left 76 dead, including 35 adults and children in Buffalo, Uvalde and Tulsa, the database says. The death toll does not include the suspects in the shootings.
A Republican congressman used a House hearing on gun control in the aftermath of multiple mass shootings to show off his own collection of guns and brandishing them via remote video link.
A Democrat, Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas, interjected and said: “I hope the gun is not loaded.”
But Greg Steube replied: “I’m in my house, I can do whatever I want with my guns.”
The hearing on the Protecting Our Kids Act, an omnibus bill backed by House Democrats, was held amid calls for meaningful reform after mass shootings in Buffalo, New York (10 dead); Uvalde, Texas (21 dead, including 19 children); and Tulsa, Oklahoma (four dead).
Joining the hearing from his Florida home, Steube complained about proposals to ban high-capacity magazines.
“The Glock 19 was the highest-sold handgun in the United States,” he said. “It comes with a 15-round magazine. That gun would be banned.”
Then he held up a weapon.
“Right in front of you I have a Sig Sauer P226. Comes with a 21-round magazine. This gun would be banned. Here’s a 12-round magazine. This magazine would be banned under this current bill, it doesn’t fit as this gun was made for [a] 21-round magazine. This gun would be banned under this bill.”
He showed another gun.
“Here’s a Sig Sauer P320. It takes a 20-round magazine. Here’s a 12-round magazine that would be banned. It doesn’t fit. Because it would be banned. This gun would be banned under this bill.”
And another.
“Here’s a gun I carry every single day to protect myself, my family, my wife, my home. This is an XL Sig Sauer P365, comes with a 15-round magazine. Here’s a seven-round magazine which would be less than what would be lawful under this bill … it doesn’t fit. So this gun would be banned.”
Steube is a former US army lawyer who supported Donald Trump’s attempt to overturn the 2020 election. He voted against awarding the congressional gold medal to police officers who defended the Capitol from rioters on 6 January 2021.
On Thursday, he refused requests to yield from the Democratic committee chair, Jerry Nadler of New York.
The shootings in Buffalo, Uvalde and Tulsa happened within two weeks. More mass shootings, widely defined as events in which four or more people not including the shooter are injured or killed, occurred around the US during the Memorial Day weekend.
Republicans remain opposed to gun reform, although senators from both parties have said talks initiated after the Uvalde shooting have shown promise.
On Thursday, two Democrats on the House judiciary committee, Sylvia Garcia of Texas and Madeleine Dean of Pennsylvania, read the names of the 19 children killed in Uvalde.
Garcia argued Republicans were “complicit” in such mass shootings because they have refused to countenance gun reform.
Her voice shaking, Dean asked: “Where is their outrage over the slaughter of 19 fourth-graders and their two teachers? Why don’t they feel an urgency to do something?
Texas State Sen. Roland Gutierrez raised questions in a news conference on Thursday about whether information on 911 calls from inside Robb Elementary School was relayed properly to responders at the scene of the shooting.
Gutierrez said he spoke with the agency that regulates the 911 calls, the Commission on State Emergency Communications, and was told the 911 calls were handled by and relayed to the city’s police force on the scene. However, what is unclear, is if that information was relayed to the school district police chief who was the incident commander on the scene.
“They were being communicated to a Uvalde police officer and the state agency that I have spoken to has not told me who that is,” Gutierrez said.
Gutierrez also said he wants to know more about what was happening at the school that day.
“I want to know where the cops were in that room. I want to know how many of my cops were in there, how many state troopers were there. I want to know how many state troopers were outside. I want to know how many federal officers were inside for 19 minutes, I mean for 45 minutes,” Gutierrez told reporters.
“I want to know specifically who was receiving the 911 calls,” he said.
CNN has contacted the Commission on State Emergency Communications, Uvalde Police and Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District for comment on Gutierrez’s statements.
The state senator also said that Texas Department of Public Safety Col. Steven McCraw told him he would receive information about the identities of the 19 officers who were in the hallway outside the classroom where the shooter was located, on Friday. Gutierrez promised to share that information with media once received.
“I urge you, do not allow these people to hide behind a district attorney investigation on procedural matters. Do not allow anybody, do not allow this governor to hide behind the local district attorney on these procedural failures, on these policy failures, under the guise that we’re looking at a criminal investigation,” the state senator urged.
“There’s been a lot of failure here,” he said.
School district Police Chief Pedro “Pete” Arredondo was identified last week by DPS as the commanding officer who decided not to breach the adjoining classrooms where a gunman slaughtered 19 children and two teachers.
Search warrants have been issued for teen gunman Salvador Ramos’ cell phone, the truck he was driving, and his grandparents’ home, according to court records obtained by CNN.
One warrant, signed Wednesday by Uvalde County District Court Judge Camille DuBose, allows law enforcement to perform a forensic download of Ramos’ iPhone 13 Pro Max, which was found next to his body after he was fatally shot by police.
During the bloodbath, a negotiator tried to call the shooter, but he didn’t respond, Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin told reporters Wednesday.
“They tried every number they could find that he was associated with,” McLaughlin said.
In the 77 minutes of bloodshed at the Texas elementary school, teacher Eva Mireles spent some of her final breaths on the phone with her husband, telling him she was dying, Uvalde County Judge Bill Mitchell told The New York Times after being briefed by sheriff’s deputies.
But Mireles’ husband – school district police officer Ruben Ruiz – wasn’t able to save his wife and 20 other victims massacred at Robb Elementary School.
Ruiz was among the many law enforcement officers to respond to the school during that attack.
“She’s in the classroom and he’s outside. It’s terrifying,” Mitchell told the Times on Wednesday.
In Texas, county judges are the county’s executive and top official.
Mitchell said he didn’t know the exact words exchanged between the teacher and the school district police officer. But the core message was devastating.
“He’s outside hearing his wife: ‘I’m dying,’” Mitchell told the Times.
He said he didn’t know whether Ruiz relayed details of his phone call with his wife to Arredondo, who was the incident commander during the massacre.
The director of the Texas Department of Public Safety said the incident commander believed the scene was no longer an active shooter situation, but a barricaded person scenario. It’s not clear why.
“We’re going to do that eventually,” the school district police chief said. “Whenever this is done and the families quit grieving, then we’ll do that obviously.”
‘It was an honor’ to spend final moments with a heroic teacher
In this small city, everyone knows someone deeply impacted by the massacre.
It was Mireles – the teacher who told her husband she was dying.
“It was an honor to spend the last moment with Eva as she left this Earth to go to a greater place,” DPS Trooper Juan Maldonado told CNN affiliate KSAT.
Maldonado met Mireles and her husband years ago when their daughters joined the same soccer team, KSAT reported.
“She protected her students,” Maldonado said. “She’s a hero to everyone, and she’s a hero to the family and to Uvalde.”
Mireles’ funeral is scheduled for Friday.
Funeral services for the other teacher killed, Irma Garcia, and her husband, Joe Garcia, took place Wednesday. Joe Garcia died of a heart attack two days after his wife was gunned down. The couple’s family attributed his death to a broken heart.
Where the investigation stands now
Local, state and federal investigators will scour the still evolving details of the massacre to try to understand what went so horrifically wrong.
Right now, the Texas Rangers are investigating the mass tragedy. Once the agency completes its probe, Uvalde County District Attorney Christina Busbee said she will review the report and determine how to proceed.
“The Rangers will complete their investigation. I will review it and then we will see if there are any criminal charges that need to be brought,” Busbee said.
The review aims “to provide an independent account of law enforcement actions and responses that day, and to identify lessons learned and best practices to help first responders prepare for and respond to active shooter events,” a Justice Department spokesperson said.
While the investigations haven’t been completed, some notions are abundantly clear, said Thor Eells, executive director of the National Tactical Officers Association (NTOA).
He said the incident commander’s belief that the shooter was no longer active and the decision to not immediately bust into the classroom were “100% flawed.”
“If you’re in a classroom with innocent victims, and I know that shots have been fired, I need to engage you,” Eells said. “Even if you stopped firing, I’m going to make entry into the room so we can begin to administer life-saving aid to any potential victims.”
CNN’s Rebekah Riess, Mark Morales, Aaron Cooper, Shimon Prokupecz, Aya Elamroussi, Virginia Langmaid and Ashley Killough contributed to this report.
WASHINGTON — President Biden, who as a candidate vowed to make Saudi Arabia a “pariah” in response to the assassination of a prominent dissident, has decided to travel to Riyadh this month to rebuild relations with the oil-rich kingdom at a time when he is seeking to lower gas prices at home and isolate Russia abroad.
While the logistics and timing were still being worked out, Mr. Biden planned to add the visit to a previously scheduled trip to Europe and Israel, administration officials said, asking for anonymity because the trip had not been formally announced. During his stop in Riyadh, he will meet with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who was deemed responsible for the assassination, as well as the leaders of other Arab nations, including Egypt, Jordan, Iraq and the United Arab Emirates.
The visit represents the triumph of realpolitik over moral outrage, according to foreign policy experts. In the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Mr. Biden finds it necessary to court other energy producers to replace oil from Moscow and stabilize world markets. The group of oil-producing nations called OPEC Plus, led by Saudi Arabia, announced on Thursday that they would increase production modestly in July and August. American officials expect them to do more in the fall, but it may not be enough to bring down prices at the pump before November’s congressional elections.
The Biden administration has already been stepping up cooperation with Saudi Arabia on a variety of issues in recent months, particularly in seeking an end to the eight-year-old Saudi-led war in neighboring Yemen. A two-month-old truce was extended on Thursday, and Mr. Biden praised Saudi leaders for their role. “Saudi Arabia demonstrated courageous leadership by taking initiatives early on to endorse and implement terms of the U.N.-led truce,” he said in a statement.
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