Monday, May 16, 2022

Wake-Up Call: Accused Shooter Made Recon Visit To Supermarket

Daily Mail 5/16/22

Authorities said Sunday that the mass shooting at a Buffalo supermarket a day earlier that left 10 people dead and three injured and that officials say was racially motivated is being investigated as a potential federal hate crime or act of domestic terrorism. The suspect, white 18-year-old Payton Gendron, who surrendered to police, is accused of traveling some 200 miles from his home in Conklin, New York, to carry out the attack in an area where he'd researched that a lot of Black people lived. Of the 13 people he's alleged to have shot inside and just outside the Tops Friendly Market, in an attack the shooter livestreamed on Twitch, 11 of them were Black and two were white. Screenshots appeared to show the n-word scrawled on his rife. Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown said Sunday, "This individual came here with the express purpose of taking as many Black lives as he possibly could." Authorities are still working to confirm the authenticity of a 180-page manifesto purportedly written by Gendron in which he described a racist ideology and said he wanted to terrorize non-white and non-Christian people and get them to leave the country.

Gendron Past Incident: Law enforcement officials said yesterday that New York State Police troopers had been called to Gendron's high school last June after a report that he'd made threatening comments, with AP citing a source as saying he threatened to carry out a shooting at Susquehanna Valley High School in Conklin. He was hospitalized for a day and a half for a mental health evaluation, but he was never charged with a crime and had nor further contact with police.
 

The Victims: Among those killed, all of whom were over age 50 except for one victim, was the store's security guard, 55-year-old retired Buffalo police officer Aaron Salter. Salter fired multiple times at the shooter, but the attacker was wearing body armor and the shots were ineffective, and the shooter then killed the former officer. Buffalo Police Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia called Salter "a true hero." (More information on the victims: https://nyti.ms/39WdtGF)


Biden on Attack: President Biden addressed the mass shooting while speaking at an annual law enforcement ceremony in Washington Sunday, saying, "We must all work together to address the hate that remains a stain on the soul of America. Our hearts are heavy once again, but the resolve must never, ever waver." The White House said Biden will visit Buffalo on Tuesday.

➤MAN OPENS FIRE AT CALIFORNIA CHURCH, KILLING ONE, BEFORE STOPPED BY PARISHONERS: A man opened fire during a lunch reception at a church in Laguna Woods, California, yesterday, killing one person and wounding five, four of them critically, before he was stopped and hog-tied by parishioners. The suspect, who is an Asian man in his 60s, was taken into custody by police. A motive wasn't immediately known, but investigators said they don't believe the gunman lives in the community. Most of the people in the Geneva Presbyterian Church were believed to be of Taiwanese descent. Orange County Undersheriff Jeff Hallock said of the people who stopped and hog-tied the suspect, "That group of churchgoers displayed what we believe is exceptional heroism and bravery in intervening to stop the suspect."
 

➤RUSSIA BOGGED DOWN IN UKRAINE; SWEDEN TAKES STEPS TO JOIN NATO: Russia's progress in eastern Ukraine has slowed down to very slow advances as its forces have gotten bogged down, according to both Ukraine and Western military officials. As top NATO diplomats met in Berlin yesterday, Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said the war, quote, "is not going as Moscow had planned," stating, "Ukraine can win this war."

The Ukrainian military said it held off a renewed Russian offensive in the Donetsk area and near the city of Izyum, and that it up blew up two railway bridges that had been seized by Russian forces in the Luhansk region. Britain’s Defense Ministry said the Russian army had lost up to one-third of the combat strength it committed to Ukraine when it invaded and was failing to gain any substantial territory. However, Russia continued its assault, hitting a chemical plant and 11 high-rise buildings in Siverodonetsk over the weekend, and destroying "military infrastructure facilities” in western Ukraine, near the border with Poland.

 
Meanwhile, Finland, which borders Russia, announced Sunday that it was seeking to join NATO, and Sweden's governing party hours later endorsed its own request to to join NATO too. However, questions arose about the two nations' bids when NATO member Turkey raised concerns.

➤FETTERMAN, LEADING DEMOCRATIC SENATE CANDIDATE IN PENNSYLVANIA, SUFFER STROKE: Pennsylvania Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman, who is the leading candidate for the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate in the state, revealed Sunday that he'd suffered a stroke, the news coming just two days before Tuesday's primary election. The 52-year-old said, however, that it's not slowing his campaign effort, and his campaign said he was on his way to a, quote, "fully recovery." A spokesperson said that Fetterman's wife had noticed he didn't look right on Friday morning and he began slurring his speech so he was taken to the hospital. Fetterman said, "I had a stroke that was caused by a clot from my heart being in an A-fib rhythm for too long." He said the doctors were able to remove the clot, which he said reversed the stroke, and got his heart under control. He said in a statement, "The good news is I’m feeling much better, and the doctors tell me I didn’t suffer any cognitive damage." He didn't say how much longer he'd be in the hospital, but stated, "Our campaign isn’t slowing down one bit, and we are still on track to win this primary on Tuesday, and flip this Senate seat in November."

🛫U.S. AIRLINES DEALING WITH PILOT SHORTAGE: U.S. airlines are dealing with their worst pilot shortage in recent memory, and it's coming at a time when people are back to flying in full force, but they're having to cut flights because there aren't enough pilots. Some potential solutions being eyed are raising the federally-mandated retirement age for pilots from 65 to 67 or higher, reducing flight-hour requirements to join a U.S. airline, and rethinking training programs to lower the barrier to entry. As an example, Delta and other big carriers dropped a four-year college degree from requirements for pilots. American Airlines is even selling bus tickets for some short routes. As with so many things, the problem has its roots in the pandemic, which stopped pilot hiring as training and licensing slowed. Additionally, airlines gave early retirement packages to thousands of pilots and other employees to cut labor costs when few passengers were flying at the worst of the pandemic.

➤STUDY..HUMANS MAY HAVE EVOLVED TO SHOW SIGNS OF STRESS TO EVOKE SUPPORT FROM OTHERS: Showing signs of stress seems to have an upside. University of Portsmouth researchers found showing signs of stress made a person appear more likable and prompted others to act more positively towards them. Dr. Jamie Whitehouse explains, “If producing these behaviors leads to positive social interactions from others who want to help, rather than negative social interactions from those who want to compete with you, then these behaviors are likely to be selected in the evolutionary process. We are a highly cooperative species compared to many other animals, and this could be why behaviors which communicate weakness were able to evolve.”

➤KENDALL JENNER RESPONDS TO VIRAL VIDEO OF HER CUTTING A CUCUMBER: In the most recent episode of The Kardashians, Kendall Jenner seems to have a hard time slicing a cucumber—even crossing her arms at one point to chop the vegetable. Fans couldn’t help but notice. "Kendall Jenner trying to cut a f----- cucumber is the most tragic thing I've ever witnessed," one fan wrote. Jenner retweeted the post on Thursday along with the caption, “Tragic!”


 
➤TOO MANY NSAIDS, STEROIDS MAY CONTRIBUTE TO CHRONIC BACK PAIN:  Using certain medications to treat back pain could actually backfire. A new study finds that persistent use of NSAIDs, like ibuprofen, and steroids to treat acute lower back pain may actually turn it into a chronic condition. McGill University researchers based their findings on observations of patients, an analysis of a large patient database, and an animal study. Lead researcher Dr. Luda Diatchenko says the study results suggest we “need to think further about how to treat our patients.” Some researchers not involved in the study express concern that it was not a clinical trial, which is the gold standard of medical research.

🏀NBA PLAYOFFS: Results from second-round games yesterday:
  • Boston Celtics 109, Milwaukee Bucks 81 - Boston wins series 4-3
  • Dallas Mavericks 123, Phoenix Suns 90 - Dallas wins series 4-3

🏒NHL PLAYOFFS: Results from first-round games yesterday:
  • New York Rangers 4, Pittsburgh Penguins 3 (OT) - New York wins series 4-3
  • Calgary Flames 3, Dallas Stars 2 (OT) - Calgary wins series 4-3

🏀CELTICS, DALLAS ADVANCE TO CONFERENCE FINALS: The Boston Celtics and Dallas Mavericks both won the deciding Game 7 of their second-round playoffs series yesterday to advance to the NBA conference finals. The Celtics defeated the defending champion Milwaukee Bucks 109-81, led by Grant Williams' career-high 27 points and seven three-pointers, as Boston set a Game 7 record with 22 three-pointers. Boston will play the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals. Dallas routed the Phoenix Suns 123-90, led by Luka Doncic's 35 points and Spencer Dinwiddie's 30 points. They will face the Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference Finals.

🏒RANGERS, FLAMES GET GAME 7 OT WINS TO MAKE SECOND ROUND: The New York Rangers and Calgary Flames both got Game 7 wins in overtime yesterday to advance to the second round of the NHL playoffs. The Rangers defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-3, with Artemi Panarin scoring the winning goal at 4:46 into overtime. New York will play the Carolina Hurricanes in the second round. Calgary downed the Dallas Stars 3-2, with Johnny Gaudreau making the winning goal at 15:09 into overtime. The Flames will play the Edmonton Oilers in the second round.

⚾PIRATES BEAT REDS 1-0 WITHOUT GETTING ANY HITS: The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Cincinnati Reds 1-0 at home on Sunday, but they did it without getting a single hit. The Pirates got their lone run in the bottom of the eighth inning on three walks and a groundout, and while starter Hunter Greene and reliever Art Warren combined to not allow a hit, it didn’t count as a no-hitter because they didn't go at least nine innings. Pittsburgh's win was just the sixth time in MLB history since 1901 that a team won without getting a hit, with it last happening in 2008.

🌞RECORD-HIGH TEMPS PLAGUE SOUTH: Dozens of record-high temperatures are expected to be broken across the South this week as temperatures remain in the 90s and 100s.  Many areas across the South have had daytime high temperatures in the 90s for more than a week, and it looks as though that trend will continue at least for another week.  Records could be broken from California and Nevada across the Southwest, Southern Plains, along the Gulf Coast and into the Southeast. Areas that saw temperatures between 100-105 degrees on Sunday will still be feeling the heat on Monday.  Las Vegas, Yuma, and Del Rio will again see temperatures at or above 100 degrees.




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