Mom watches as two sons are gunned down in restaurant
A mother watched on Thursday as a man approached the Chicago south side restaurant where she works and opened fire, killing her two sons and two other men in a shooting that police described as gang-related retaliation, media reported.
A lone gunman opened fire just before 4 p.m. local time at the Nadia Fish and Chicken restaurant in the South Shore neighborhood, killing Dillon and Raheem Jackson, who were found outside the establishment when police and rescue workers arrived, the Chicago Tribune reported.
“I can’t go on, my life is over. I’m ‘bout to … kill myself,” their mother told the Chicago Tribune as she wept, still wearing a red apron from her job at the restaurant as her sons’ bodies lay nearby. “I was standing right here in the window, they killed ‘em right in front of me.”
Two other men were found dead inside the restaurant, the Chicago Police Department said in an email to Reuters.
No arrests have been made in the shooting, police said.
The shooting was believed to be gang-related retaliation “from another incident,” an NBC affiliate reported, citing police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi.
The men were among the nine people shot on the city’s south side Thursday, including a pregnant woman who was found dead earlier in the afternoon in her apartment about a mile from the restaurant, the Tribune reported.
That shooting did not appear to be related to the restaurant killings, the newspaper reported.
Homicides are down about 10 percent so far in 2017 in the third-largest US city after a particularly deadly year in 2016, when there were 60 percent more homicides than in 2015, the Tribune reported.
via: http://nypost.com/2017/03/31/mom-watches-as-two-sons-are-gunned-down-in-restaurant/
Chicago Area Man Credits Cellphone App for Helping Him Lose 500 pounds
A 45-year-old man once-confined to his suburban Chicago-area home for years said he lost 500 pounds with the help of a cellphone app.
In 2011, Rafael Zuniga weighed over 800 pounds. His weight was a lifelong battle that spiraled out of control, KTLA sister station WGN-TV reported.
Over the past six years, he has lost 500 pounds. While he did the work alone, Zuniga said that ultimately, it was an app that got him on the path to living again.
Stress from work as a real estate adjuster and a bad break up left him at an all-time high of 831 pounds. Alcohol and fast food were his best friends.
“I’m always thinking I’ve got to lose a couple hundred pounds and I’ll be back in the mix,” he says. “But it wasn’t a couple hundred pounds. My weight doubled. I was in shock. As stupid as it sounds, I was in shock.”
Rock bottom
“When I was unable to keep cleaning myself, I guess that was my rock bottom,” he told WGN.
In July 2011, he was taken to the hospital and labeled morbidly obese. He was fighting lymphdema, hypertension, and cellulitis among other things.
It was a turning point for Zuniga.
“It was a beautiful day out and I had seen everybody. Life was passing me by,” he said.
That is when Zuniga decided to change his path of physical and financial ruin to one of wellness. After researching weight loss, he discovered the app “LoseIt!”
Zuniga’s goal was to weigh 250 pounds and travel the world.
“The image of me just being by an ocean, man, that helped me out tremendously,” he says.
How the weight loss app changed his life
Zuniga uses the app to count his calories, track his meals, and seek support from other users trying to lose weight. The app taught him to eat smarter, he said.
But he also started exercising. At first, it meant the smallest of movements.
“I was sitting at the edge of my bed doing sit ups. I refused to believe that I was disabled,” he says.
Zuniga now does cardio five times a week and lifts weights two to four times a week. He eats a high-protein diet, cuts out the carbs, and counts every calorie he eats.
And he has not had any surgical procedure to lose the weight. There is no more alcohol and he does take a prescribed appetite suppressant.
The real motivator? A vacation
In 2014, Zuniga’s dream came true. Labeling himself as “skinny for him” — he was down to 400 pounds — his father booked him a business class seat to the Dominican Republic.
Over the past three years, Zuniga has shed another 100 pounds bringing his overall weight loss in excess of 500 pounds.
He told the station he’d like to lose another 50 and get his doctors more comfortable with the idea of double knee replacements for his severe osteoarthritis. Removing his excess skin might get him close, but insurance doesn’t cover the procedure.
Zuniga is just the beginning of the rest of his life. Clean living with the help of an app is opening a whole new world for him, he said.
via: http://ktla.com/2017/03/31/man-says-app-helped-him-lose-500-pounds/
Video Shows L.A. County Deputy Ignoring Radio Call, “Saying ‘Someone’s Getting Shot – Oh Well’
A Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy is under investigation after a video posted to YouTube showed him apparently ignoring a radio call to go to a shooting while talking instead to his now ex-girlfriend.
Deputy Jeremy Fennell was placed on administrative leave in January in connection with the video, a spokesperson for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department confirmed to KTLA on Thursday. The video, published to YouTube Feb. 23 by an account dubbed “Compassionate Cop,” appears to show the deputy on a video call. He is sitting in his patrol vehicle, laughing, when a female dispatcher’s voice comes over the police radio.
“She can go f— herself, OK?” the deputy says.
The dispatcher’s voice refers to a 417, a radio code for a person with a gun.
“I want you, you, you, you,” the deputy says, pointing at the camera. “Somebody’s getting shot right now. … I know I gotta go, but I’m not gonna go because you mad, so I’m not gonna go.
“Someone’s getting shot. Oh well,” he continues with a shrug. “Oh well. Because I want to make things right with me and you.”
He continues, air-kissing at the camera, and saying the kisses can be returned “in person” at 11 o’clock.
The woman who posted the video, Priscilla Anderson, said she is Fennell’s ex-girlfriend. She told KTLA he recorded more than 100 such videos in an attempt to get her attention.
She also alleges he physically abused her, and that he took out his anger against her on everyday people, pulling them over and giving them tickets.
“I was struck in the neck; I was choked,” Anderson said. “I was threatened. I had a gun pulled to my head.”
Anderson said she called the sheriff’s Lakewood Station, where Fennell was posted, to try to get help. No one responded, according to Anderson, so she went to court to seek a restraining order, and then posted the videos online.
Fennell is indeed the subject of a restraining order issued Feb. 23, the same day the main video was published, local criminal justice blog Witness L.A. reported.
Fennell was arrested Jan. 25, the date on which he was placed on leave, by the sheriff’s Internal Criminal Investigations Bureau, according to county jail records. He’s 26, the records show.
Fennell bailed out of custody a little over three hours after his arrest, putting up $50,000 bail.
Anderson’s attorney is calling for an investigation into who knew what at the Lakewood Station. Anderson is being represented by Ben Meiselas with the office of famed L.A. defense attorney Mark Geragos.
“You have a deputy here who’s clearly gone rogue,” Meiselas said. “If we as a community lose the trust in our police department to protect victims of abuse when police are the perpetrators of that abuse, we lose confidence in the whole system.”
Sheriff Jim McDonnell issued a short statement: “We are very concerned about what is depicted in the video. The department is currently investigating the matter.”
A second video published by the “Compassionate Cop” account shows the same deputy threatening the person he’s calling.
“I’m going to come down there and get you. I’m going to make you call me,” the deputy says. “You see these lights, you know what I’m wearing? I can make you call me.”
Fennell is the son of sheriff’s Cmdr. Joseph Fennell, who was a driver for recently convicted ex-Sheriff Lee Baca, Witness L.A. reported.
Hemet Police Investigating After 7-Month-Old Baby Girl Dies at Possible Unlicensed Daycare
Hemet police are investigating on Wednesday after a 7-month-old baby girl went into cardiac arrest at a daycare and later died.
Officers were called to a home in the 1200 block of Stepstone Court around 8 a.m. Monday with reports of an unresponsive 7-month-old girl. There, they found Addison Watkins and began life saving measures.
Addison was transported to a local hospital where she was pronounced dead, according to the Hemet Police Department.
Her mother, Kristin Watkins, dropped off Addison and her brother, 3-year-old Nolan Watkins, that morning around 7 a.m., a family friend said on a GoFundMe page.
Kristin Watkins learned her daughter was in full cardiac arrest around 8:30 a.m. and rushed to the hospital with her husband, Steve Watkins, according to the friend, Darnisha Tossell.
By the time the couple arrived at the hospital Addison was already pronounced dead, Tossell said.
Addison showed no obvious signs of trauma, police said in a press release.
The Watkins family have been using the residence as a daycare since Nolan was 6-months-old, according to the family. The babysitter was not a family member, Tossell added.
Hemet police are working with Riverside Child Protective Services to determine any licensing issues with the daycare.
The family is accepting donations for funeral expenses on the GoFundMe page.
MAN ALLEGEDLY TRIED TO RECORD GIRL IN PALATINE FITTING ROOM
Palatine police are looking for a man a girl said held his cell phone underneath her fitting room door at Target.
Police said they responded to the Target on East Dundee Road on Sunday afternoon for a report of disorderly conduct. The girl, who is a minor, told them she was in a fitting room when she saw a cell phone being held under the door. The victim said the man holding it fled when she screamed.
Police released a surveillance image they said shows the suspect and are asking for help identifying him. The white male is wearing a black baseball cap with “Bauer” in yellow lettering offset on the front, police said.
Target released a statement Tuesday night, saying, “At Target, our guests are at the center of everything we do and our commitment to creating a safe and secure shopping environment in our stores is unwavering. As a part this commitment to safety, we have robust procedures, policies and trainings in place to ensure that our stores are safe places to shop and work. As soon as this incident was brought to our attention, we immediately partnered with local law enforcement. As this is an active investigation, please direct further questions to them.”
If you have any information about the man in the photo, contact Palatine police at 847-359-9000.
COUPLE TRIES TO SELL A BABY ON CRAIGSLIST FOR $3K, SHERIFF SAYS
Authorities say a Tennessee couple is accused of trying to sell a 5-month-old baby online for $3,000.
Local news outlets report that the Greene County Sheriff’s Office says 37-year-old Deanna Lynn Greer and 26-year-old John David Cain were arrested Friday on charges of aggravated child abuse and aggravated child neglect or endangerment.
Sheriff Pat Hankins says authorities were alerted after another couple saw an ad posted on Craigslist listing the infant for sale.
Hankins says an undercover officer contacted Greer and Cain and was given the price for the child. He says the couple then met with the agent at a store, exchanged the baby for cash and both were then taken into custody.
Hankins says the child is in state custody.
It’s unclear if Greer and Cain have attorneys.
Maryland teen planned a mass shooting and suicide at her school
THURMONT, Md. (AP) — An 18-year-old student meticulously planned a mass shooting at her high school in which she intended to die, authorities in Maryland said Monday.
A shotgun, ammunition and bomb-making materials including nails and fireworks were found at Nichole Cevario’s home in Thurmont on Thursday, Frederick County Sheriff Charles Jenkins said at a news conference.
There is no evidence that anyone else was involved, Jenkins said.
One of the teen’s parents notified Catoctin High School officials Thursday of a potential threat of violence and Cevario was removed from the classroom and turned over to investigators, the Frederick County sheriff’s office said in a statement. Cevario was later taken from the school to a hospital for an emergency evaluation and remains hospitalized, officials said.
“This attack was prevented by the parents, who stepped forward,” Jenkins said.
Cevario’s journal “clearly spelled out” detailed plans for an attack she had been working on for some time, including a timeline of the attack with her expectations for each stage, officials said. She had set April 5 as the day of the attack, the sheriff said. She was acquiring the materials and compiling details about school emergency procedures associated with drills conducted by school staff and on the school resource deputy.
Cevario’s diary showed “evidence of mental health issues, emotional issues,” Jenkins said. There was no indication that bullying was an issue, but the diary showed “a lot of frustration in her personal life,” Jenkins said.
Investigators don’t believe anyone was working with Cevario and they think they’ve eliminated any threat to the school and community, officials said. While explosive materials were located during the investigation, they weren’t combined in any form that created an explosive device.
Investigators have obtained an arrest warrant charging Cevario with possession of explosive material with intent to create a destructive device and possession of incendiary material with the intent to create a destructive device. They say the warrants will be served when she is released from the hospital.
A man who answered the phone at Cevario’s home and her attorney, Alan Winik, declined to comment.
via: https://www.yahoo.com/news/sheriffs-office-teen-planned-shooting-attack-school-172122253.html
Driver who mowed down 4-year-old boy gets shot dead after stopping
Police in Ohio are hunting for up to three suspects after a driver who was allegedly speeding down a residential street was fatally shot for striking a 4-year-old boy.
Police said Jamie Urton, 44, was killed after he got out of his vehicle to check on the injured child and an argument erupted between him and onlookers Friday.
“There was some type of confrontation that took place after the accident,” Cincinnati Police Department Lt. Steve Saunders told The Post. “I don’t know exactly what ensued, but as a result of that confrontation, there was gunfire that occurred and the victim was struck several times and was killed.”
No suspects had been identified as of Monday, Saunders said.
The boy’s father, Jamal Killings, told WCPO that his son was released from the hospital with bleeding in his brain on Saturday — one day after the violence on Kenton Street, where police said the boy was hit by a car after crossing into the road.
“My job as a father was to get my son face first off the concrete and take him to see medical attention, and that’s what I did,” Killings told the station.
The car had been speeding at about 45 miles per hour just prior to the crash, he said.
“I initially stopped the car, you know, a lot of kids play on that street — that’s residential, 15-25 [mph],” Killings said. “I initially stopped him. He slowed down a bit and then he kind of like swerved around me, hitting my other son. My son wasn’t hit in the middle of the street. He was hit on the curb.”
Killings apologized to Urton’s relatives, saying he didn’t agree with the apparent vigilante street justice.
“I apologize for your loss,” Killings said. “I don’t condone violence. I don’t teach my kids violence. That should never have happened … an unfortunate situation, unfortunate event, but I hope we can all learn from this.”
Killings said the boy must be monitored closely for the next six weeks and could require surgery due to his injuries.
Witnesses told police that three people were involved in the shooting, WCPO reported.
“I pulled right into it,” witness George Gaines said of the crime scene. “He was parked in the middle of the street.”
Gaines said he saw Urton slumped over into the car’s passenger seat as police responded to the shooting.
“The police pulled out from every place,” he said. “It was crazy.”
A passenger in Urton’s car was also injured by the suspects, but was not shot, WLWT reports. Police said it’s unclear whether the victims were dragged from the car or were attacked after they exited the vehicle.
FATHER ACCUSED IN FATAL STABBING OF 2 DAUGHTERS IN NORTH CAROLINA
In an exclusive interview with family members Saturday, ABC11 was told the father accused of murdering his two young children was an “abuser.”
Sheriff Hubert Peterkin said Genesis and Serenity Freeman – who were just 2-years-old and 4-days-old – were found stabbed multiple times near N.C. Highway 211 and Army Road in the Raeford area. Their bodies were found in a car parked in a wooded area. The children’s aunt, Marvina Smith, told ABC11 Saturday afternoon that the children’s mother attempted suicide when she discovered her kids had been murdered. She is currently recovering in the hospital.
“I want him to suffer,” Smith said. “The way them kids suffered. I want him to suffer.”
On Friday, the Fayetteville Police Department said the children’s father, Tillman Freeman, was in custody and had refused to say where the children were. He was charged then with two counts of child abuse and child neglect. He’s now also charged with two counts of first-degree murder.
“It’s kind of hard to find the words to describe what this feels like,” said Hoke County Sheriff Hubert Peterkin. “I know people read it, I know people see the story and hear about it, but to be out here on the scene and actually see this stuff, to see these children lifeless and brutally stabbed…I don’t care how many years you’ve been in it. How many times you’ve been in it or seen things, this was not a good experience. Everybody’s taking this real hard. Our heart goes out to the family, to the mother.”
Fayetteville police said the children were at the center of a domestic-related incident between Freeman, 30, and his wife, who was at the hospital at the time, and Freeman left with the children.
“From what our investigation’s telling us they had a dispute, where (Freeman) allegedly made accusations about the babies not being his, a child not being his or maybe her involvement with someone, and when he took the kids we understand he left in a rage,” Peterkin told ABC11.
“I feel sad and hurt, but there’s nothing I can do about it,” one of the relatives, whose name is being withheld, said.
Peterkin said Freeman accused his wife of cheating on him. She was in a local hospital when Freeman took them.
Freeman was arrested Friday afternoon after employees at a doctor’s office in Raeford reported a suspicious-looking man standing in front of their building.
During questioning, Freeman indicated the children were in Hoke County, and he may have harmed them, Peterkin said.
The SBI is investigating. Freeman has a court appearance on Monday.
via: http://abc7ny.com/news/father-accused-in-fatal-stabbing-of-2-daughters-in-north-carolina/1818355/
MAN CHARGED AFTER MARIJUANA, GUN FOUND IN STROLLER WITH CHILD INSIDE
A man has been charged after Chicago police said he was pushing a baby stroller stuffed with marijuana and a handgun while a child was inside on Friday.
Police arrested Anthony Kennedy, 32, in the 100-block of North Leclaire in the Austin neighborhood at about 3:18 p.m., police said.
After he was taken into custody, police said they discovered Kennedy was wanted for a domestic battery incident, multiple violations of an order of protection and two incidents of criminal damage to property.
The baby was placed in the care of a relative. Kennedy’s charges include possession of a handgun and marijuana and child endangerment.