Drive-by shootings are nothing more than coward thugs who blast off their weapons thinking it makes them have the persona of being tough or superior to their peers. The outcome is that someone innocent of even knowing the shooter is hurt or killed which brings tragedy to a mother or father of a beloved child or loved one.Drive-by shootings are nothing more than coward thugs who blast off their weapons... more
Top executives at Blackwater Worldwide authorized secret payments of about $1 million to Iraqi officials that were intended to silence their criticism and buy their support after a September 2007 episode in which Blackwater security guards fatally shot 17 Iraqi civilians in Baghdad, according to former company officials.
Blackwater approved the cash payments in December 2007, the officials said, as protests over the deadly shootings in Nisour Square stoked long-simmering anger inside Iraq about reckless practices by the security company’s employees. American and Iraqi investigators had already concluded that the shootings were unjustified, top Iraqi officials were calling for Blackwater’s ouster from the country, and company officials feared that Blackwater might be refused an operating license it would need to retain its contracts with the State Department and private clients, worth hundreds of millions of dollars annually.
Four former executives said in interviews that Gary Jackson, who was then Blackwater’s president, had approved the bribes and that the money was sent from Amman, Jordan, where the company maintains an operations hub, to a top manager in Iraq. The executives, though, said they did not know whether the cash was delivered to Iraqi officials or the identities of the potential recipients.
Blackwater’s strategy of buying off the government officials, which would have been illegal under American law, created a deep rift inside the company, according to the former executives. They said that Cofer Black, who was then the company’s vice chairman and a former top C.I.A. and State Department official, learned of the plan from another Blackwater manager while he was in Baghdad discussing compensation for families of the shooting victims with United States Embassy officials.
Alarmed about the secret payments, Mr. Black cut short his talks and left Iraq. Soon after returning to the United States, he confronted Erik Prince, the company’s chairman and founder, who did not dispute that there was a bribery plan, according to a former Blackwater executive familiar with the meeting. Mr. Black resigned the following year.
Stacy DeLuke, a spokeswoman for the company, now called Xe Services, dismissed the allegations as “baseless” and said the company would not comment about former employees. Mr. Black did not respond to telephone calls and e-mail messages seeking comment.
Reached by phone, Mr. Jackson, who resigned as president early this year, criticized The New York Times and said, “I don’t care what you write.”
Unless Virginia Governor Tim Kaine steps in, the state will execute John Allen Muhammad the "Beltway sniper" tonight at 9pm. Yesterday the Supreme Court declined to hear Muhammad's appeal (clipped by LadybugLady).
Muhammad, along with his teenage accomplice Lee Boyd Malvo, was responsible for a 2002 killing spree in the DC area that left 10 people dead. The shootings targeted everyday people in everyday locations like gas stations. They were all the more frightening because they were unpredictable and without motive. It had just been a year since the September 11th attacks and for the period while the shootings were taking place, it was a a new wave of terror for Washington-area residents.
Muhammad has maintained his innocence. His accomplice, Malvo, is serving life in prison without parole. (Ironically, a case that the Supreme Court did hear yesterday was on whether life without parole was cruel and unusual punishment for teenagers.)
We've been looking at the death penalty a lot in the last few weeks, mostly because of the case of Cameron Todd Willingham in Texas - where the state may have executed an innocent man. With a case like that, opposition to the death penalty seems practical: let's prevent mistakes from occurring. The Muhammad case is a bit different. It falls along the line of retribution - why Obama says he's supports the death penalty, despite doubts about its efficacy: "the community is justified in expressing the full measure of its outrage."
What do you think? Is the community justified in this instance? In any instance?
"This issue of Dr. Gates being a victim of excessive force and bad judgment is a much bigger subject...This one case could open up the issue of the pervasiveness of race profiling.""This issue of Dr. Gates being a victim of excessive force and bad judgment is a much... more
A Tampa woman refused to be a carjacking victim when she was approached by an armed man who jumped into her car on Thursday.A Tampa woman refused to be a carjacking victim when she was approached by an armed... more
Rapper Dolla Shot and Killed In L.A.. This is the record he was known for. RIP from ForbezDVDRapper Dolla Shot and Killed In L.A.. This is the record he was known for. RIP from... more
A lone gunman killed at least 12 people and himself Friday in an immigration services center in Binghamton, New York, a government official said.
Emergency personnel tend to a person taken from the building where the shootings took place.
The gunman carried identification that said he was 42 and from upstate New York, the official said.
A warrant is being obtained to search the suspected shooter's home in Binghamton, another law enforcement source said.
Officials would not name the suspect.
Five people were wounded, the official said.
Three victims were taken to Wilson Medical Center with gunshot wounds to various extremities, Wilson spokeswoman Christina Boyd said.
A fourth victim was taken to another area hospital, Boyd said.
The local police command center said SWAT teams are still inside, clearing the building.
The shootings began about 10:30 a.m. ET at the American Civic Association, which helps immigrants and refugees, a law enforcement source said.
More than a dozen people were wounded, and 20 to 40 people may have been taken hostage, the source said.
"This is a horrible situation," Gov. David Paterson said.
"There's no available data on what's going on there other than the fact that lives have been lost." Video Watch Gov. Paterson ask for moment of silence »
Two people were led from the building in plastic handcuffs, WBNG reported. It was not immediately known whether the two were under arrest.
Video from the scene showed a person on a stretcher being taken to an ambulance.A lone gunman killed at least 12 people and himself Friday in an immigration services... more
In a bizarre macabre account of divine intervention, Erik Larson amazingly encounters the All Mighty through a death proof hearse. Empowered to guide the lost, the Minister of Death mobs down the streets in his bequeathed vehicle of demise to enlighten the impressionable, the drug addicts, and the criminal element of the mortality that challenges them. Being scared straight may be the answer toward a future of sobriety.In a bizarre macabre account of divine intervention, Erik Larson amazingly encounters... more
From deaf gangster to Hollywood gang-star, actor Gabriel Martinez shares his unique life growing up hard-of-hearing in the 'hood. Once a lost and mischievous youth embraced by the brotherhood of his urban clique, Gabriel grudgingly faced incident after incident of disreputable violence, mistaken identity, and inadvertent miscommunication. Spot Gabriel on the street nowadays, and you might mistaken him as a criminal, a perpetrator, or even a gangbanger, but he’s left his life as a gangster to play one on TV.From deaf gangster to Hollywood gang-star, actor Gabriel Martinez shares his unique... more
30 mins ago a shots were fired at VA Tech Campus in a dorm room. check out local news for more information30 mins ago a shots were fired at VA Tech Campus in a dorm room. check out local news... more
Police were called to Honeysuckle Close, in Harold Hill, Romford at 1340 GMT to resolve a domestic dispute between a man and a woman. After neighbors told police they had seen the man with a gun an armed response unit was called in.
A spokeswoman said, "A man has been shot in the street by police. He was pronounced dead at a local hospital."Police were called to Honeysuckle Close, in Harold Hill, Romford at 1340 GMT to... more
A student fatally shot a 16-year-old classmate during a dispute Thursday at a Knoxville high school, as other teenagers watched in horror as the victim clutched his chest and fell to the floor.
The shooting happened shortly after 8 a.m. at the Central High School cafeteria, Chief Deputy Bill Roehl said, and the suspected shooter was taken into custody minutes later on a nearby street. The suspect and victim knew each other, Knox County School System Superintendent Bill McIntyre said.
"This wasn't a shooting that was a random act," Roehl said. "It was an individual directing his aggression toward another individual, not the school or the students inside the school."
The cafeteria was a popular place to gather before classes started at 8:30 a.m., students said. When the shooting happened, students in the cafeteria began crying and scrambling to leave, while others tried to get in the room, thinking they had missed a fight, witnesses said.
Authorities haven't released the names of the victim, who died at University of Tennessee Medical Center, or the suspect. No other students were injured.
The school, which has about 1,400 students, was placed on lockdown after the shooting. Classes were dismissed and students were bused to a nearby church so they could be picked up by their parents.
A student fatally shot a 16-year-old classmate during a dispute Thursday at a... more
She was shot in the arm. I don't understand what's being said, but wow. This is pretty intense. Not graphic, just crazy.She was shot in the arm. I don't understand what's being said, but wow. This is... more
CONCORD, N.C. (AP) — Two people were shot and killed Friday morning during an apparent robbery at a soda bottling plant north of Charlotte, authorities said.
Concord deputy police chief Guy Smith said authorities were using a helicopter and police dogs to hunt for the shooter, who was seen running away from the Sun-drop Bottling Co. carrying a box. He remained at large late Friday afternoon.
"We have 25 to 30 investigators who are following every lead," Smith said. "When someone is carrying a box from the scene, you want to talk to them."
Smith said the shooter walked into the plant's office around 10 a.m. during what they believe was a robbery. He identified the victims as Donna Barnhardt, 59, and Darrell Noles, 44.
Two employees working at the facility who did not hear the gunfire later found the bodies and called 911, he said.
Smith said Barnhardt had worked at the company for 18 years.
"She liked her job. She was just one of these people who was happy-go-lucky," said Charles Messina, whose brother-in-law is married to Barnhardt's daughter. "She was just bubbly all the time ... It's just amazing that something so senseless could happen."
Family members said Noles was not an employee at the plant, but was visiting the office to apply for a part-time job.
Smith said police don't know the shooter's identity or if there was a relationship between the shooter and the victims.
The Rev. Donnie Tomlin of the Wil-Mar Park Baptist Church in Concord said his family is trying to come to terms with Noles' death. Noles was his wife's uncle.
"He was a great guy. Just a good family man. This is so tough for everyone," he said.
Sun-drop Bottling manufactures soft drinks and spring water at the plant about 25 miles north of Charlotte. The company, founded in 1954, has about 30 employees and produces 1,800 to 5,000 cases of soda a day.
Telephone messages left for company president John King at his home were not returned Friday.
Outside the one-story brick bottling plant, workers talked quietly in groups. A few had tears as they hugged their fellow employees. They were reluctant to talk to the media.
Barnhardt, the mother of three, spent most of her spare time doting on her five grandchildren, family members said.
"She loved them," Messina said. "She was supposed to take two of her granddaughters to a dance recital rehearsal after work. What are we going to tell them?"
Family members recalled how much Barnhardt loved the holidays, especially Easter. Every year she would invite family members and friends for an easter egg hunt in her backyard. She gave away hundreds of dollars in presents at the hunt, including hammocks, barbecue grills and $100 gift certificates.
"She loved to watch the adults scramble for eggs with the kids," Messina said. CONCORD, N.C. (AP) — Two people were shot and killed Friday morning during an... more
A bank teller pregnant with twins was shot in the stomach during a robbery Tuesday morning, but both the teller and the fetuses survived the attack, authorities said.
The gunman came into the Huntington Bank branch around 9:30 a.m., jumped over the counter screaming and shot the teller, Lt. Jeff Duhamell said. He then fired another shot as he was running out of the bank, Duhamell said.
The bullet entered the abdomen of Katherin Shuffield, 30, who is five months pregnant, but missed both fetuses, Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard said.
"Angry is really what I am. This is just brazen," said Ballard.
Shuffield was hospitalized in critical but stable condition, police spokesman Sgt. Paul Thompson said.A bank teller pregnant with twins was shot in the stomach during a robbery Tuesday... more
Nine people were killed in 36 shootings over the weekend in Chicago, reflecting what some community leaders say is a deadly breakdown in discipline among gang members after a crackdown over the past few years put many of their leaders behind bars.
The shootings included drive-by attacks and one case in which someone shot up a plumbing supply store with an AK-47. At least 14 of the shootings were gang-related, according to police. As for the rest, the only thing they can say for sure is that three had nothing to do with gangs.Nine people were killed in 36 shootings over the weekend in Chicago, reflecting what... more
A high school senior collected enough supplies to carry out a bomb attack on his school and detailed the plot in a hate-filled diary that included maps of the building and admiring notations about the Columbine killers, authorities said Sunday.
Ryan Schallenberger, 18, was arrested Saturday after his parents called police when 10 pounds of ammonium nitrate was delivered to their home in Chesterfield and they discovered the journal, said the town's police chief, Randall Lear.
The teen planned to make several bombs and had all the supplies needed to kill dozens at Chesterfield High School, depending on where the devices were placed and whether they included shrapnel, Lear said. Ammonium nitrate was used in the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995 that killed 168 people.A high school senior collected enough supplies to carry out a bomb attack on his... more
