ASK YOUR BABY’S PERMISSION BEFORE CHANGING DIAPER, SAYS SEXUAL CONSENT EXPERT
A sex education expert has sparked a debate on sexual consent, after she argued that parents should ask children for permission before changing their diapers.
Deanne Carson, who works for an organization which teaches children about consent, appeared on Australia’s ABC news network to comment on Saxon Mullins, whose rape case sparked a national debate on sexual consent laws. Carson argued that parents should teach their children about consent as early as possible.
“We work with parents from birth…Just about how to set up a culture of consent in their homes. ‘I’m going to change your nappy now, is that OK?’ Of course a baby’s not going to respond ‘yes mum, that’s awesome I’d love to have my nappy changed’.
“But if you leave a space and wait for body language and wait to make eye contact then you’re letting that child know that their response matters,” she said.
Carson, who describes herself as a sexuality educator, speaker and author on her Twitter profile, works with Body Safety Australia. The organization works to prevent child abuse and educates children from kindergarten through high school age about consent and respecting boundaries.
“In empowering children with their rights’ while educating families and professionals, the burden of responsibility is placed squarely on adults to protect children,” the organization’s website states.
The segment was later discussed on Australian news channel Sky News, where Rowan Dean, editor of The Spectator Australia, magazine dubbed the suggestion “lefty lunacy.”
Following the interview, Carson hit back at critics on Facebook.
“Sadly, some people have chosen to ridicule me (oh no! Pink hair! Must be a lesbian!) and the notion of giving infants bodily autonomy (poo in nappies har har amiright?!) [sic],” she wrote.
Carson quoted statistics reflecting how common sexual abuse is among children, and said the work her organization does follows international best practice in abuse prevention.
“It teaches children their rights AND their responsibilities and connects them with people who care and can help. It invites their parents into the discussion and is sensitive to cultural and family values,” she said.
Katie Russell, a spokesperson for the non-profit sexual violence organization Rape Crisis England and Wales, told Newsweek that Carson’s overall message had been misunderstood. Carson didn’t appear to be suggesting that diaper-changing is a sexual act, or that a baby is capable of communicating their consent, said Russell.
“She’s simply making the very reasonable case for establishing a ‘culture of consent’ in households and with children from the youngest possible age,” she said. “This is about both getting parents and carers into positive habits of not assuming consent from their children and about teaching children that they have a right to decide what happens to their bodies.”
Russell added, “When we know child sexual abuse is so widespread, it’s hard to understand why simple, respectful practices like this, aimed at reducing and preventing future harm to children, would be so ridiculed.”
Article via: http://www.newsweek.com/diaper-ask-baby-permission-changing-says-sexual-consent-expert-918981
#StopCallingTheCopsOnBlackPeople2018
A Black Student at Yale Was Napping in a Common Area, and a White Student Called the Police
A black graduate student at Yale who fell asleep in her dorm’s common room said she had a disturbing awakening this week when a white student flipped on the lights, told her she had no right to sleep there and called the campus police.
It was the latest in a string of recent episodes across the country in which the police have been summoned to respond to minor complaints involving people of color.
As in many of those encounters, including the arrest of two black men at a Philadelphia Starbucks and the questioning of black Airbnb guests in California, the Yale incident was captured in a widely shared video that set off anger online.
The graduate student, Lolade Siyonbola, posted a 17-minute recording of her encounter with police officers who responded to the call, and it touched a nerve, with more than 600,000 views as of Wednesday.
Ms. Siyonbola, 34, who is earning her master’s degree in African studies, said that she had camped out in the common room to work on a “marathon of papers.” On Monday night, she decided to take a nap.
Around 1:30 a.m. on Tuesday, she said, someone came in and turned on the lights, asking: “Is there someone in here? Is there someone sleeping in here? You’re not supposed to be here.”
Ms. Siyonbola said the woman told her she was going to call the police. In a shorter video that Ms. Siyonbola posted, the woman, who is not identified, says: “I have every right to call the police. You cannot sleep in that room.”
The woman, who also lives in the dorm, reported “an unauthorized person in the common room,” said Lynn Cooley, the dean of the graduate school of arts and sciences, who addressed the episode in an email to students on Tuesday.
Several officers responded to the call.
“We need to make sure that you belong here,” a female officer says in the longer video.
Ms. Siyonbola produced the key to her apartment and opened the door, and the officers told her they needed to see her ID.
After she asked why, one says, “I don’t know anybody from anybody, so I’m here just to make sure you’re supposed to be here, make sure she’s supposed to be here, and we’ll get out of your hair.”
Ms. Siyonbola relented and handed over her ID.
But the officers struggled to verify it, and Ms. Siyonbola appeared to grow more frustrated.
At one point, she says, “I am not going to justify my existence here.”
At another, an officer who identifies himself as a supervisor says, “We determine who is allowed to be here or who’s not allowed to be here, regardless of whether you feel you’re allowed to be here or not.”
“I hope that makes you feel powerful,” she responds.
The Yale Police Department referred inquiries to the university.
“We believe the Yale police who responded followed procedures,” Tom Conroy, a spokesman for the university, said on Wednesday. “As we do with every incident, we will be reviewing the call and the response of the police officers to ensure that the proper protocol was followed, and to determine if there was anything we could have done better.”
When asked if it was common practice to run IDs in such situations, he said it was.
Confirming her identity took longer than usual because the Ms. Siyonbola’s preferred name, which was printed on her ID, was different from what was in the university record, a school official said.
Late Wednesday, in an email to graduate students, Kimberly M. Goff-Crews, Yale’s vice president for student life, said that she was “deeply troubled” by the episode and that she and Dr. Cooley would hold listening sessions with students in the coming days.
“This incident and others recently reported to me underscore that we have work to do to make Yale not only excellent but also inclusive,” Ms. Goff-Crews said.
Earlier, Ms. Siyonbola called the police “ridiculous” for not leaving after seeing that she had a key and an ID. She said the larger issue was that “there are not consequences to you if you call the police on an innocent person, especially if they’re black.”
In her view, it was not an isolated incident at Yale. “I can tell you tons of other minor stories of microaggressions,” she said.
Ms. Siyonbola, who founded the Yoruba Cultural Institute in Brooklyn, is the author of a book about African history and diaspora migration. At Yale, her research focuses on migration and identity formation.
Dr. Cooley said in her email that more work needed to be done “to make Yale a truly inclusive place.”
“I am committed to redoubling our efforts to build a supportive community in which all graduate students are empowered in their intellectual pursuits and professional goals within a welcoming environment,” she wrote.
Ms. Siyonbola said she was disappointed in the dean’s response.
“It wasn’t compassionate,” she said. “It was very high-level — like we have to do better someday, somehow.”
She said she hoped this episode and others like it would prompt the administration to take action.
“This is what happens every day in America,” she added. “These things are unfortunate, they’re disappointing, they’re disheartening, but they’re not shocking anymore.”
Article via: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/09/nyregion/yale-black-student-nap.html
Nearly 200 free-roaming horses died searching for water on Navajos’ parched land
Nearly 200 feral horses, besieged with famine and dehydration, were found dead on a dried-up stock pond on Navajo land in Arizona.
The animals went to the pond in Gray Mountain, an unincorporated community in Coconino County in north-central Arizona, in search of water. But they somehow found themselves burrowed into the mud and too weak to escape, said Jonathan Nez, vice president of the Navajo Nation, which is the largest Native American tribe in the country and covers parts of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah.
Some of the 191 horses were buried neck-deep in the mud, Navajo officials said. Some were buried beneath others. Pictures show the horses’ overlapping bodies, arranged roughly in a circle, as they lie on the parched earth.
The mass deaths come as Arizona experiences an exceptional drought unlike anything it has seen in more than a decade. Navajo officials say horses dying near an empty watering pond is “not a new but a seasonal issue.”
The deaths also underscore an overpopulation of free-roaming horses, a problem entangled in competing interests, scarcity of resources and tribal cultural values.
About 73,000 horses and burros roam free in the western United States; that number has far exceeded what government officials say the land can sustain. With such overpopulation, having herds of free-roaming horses has become expensive. For example, damage the animals cause cost the Navajo Nation more than $200,000 a year. According to the Navajo Department of Agriculture, one horse consumes 18 pounds of forage a day. Removing as many as 13 dozen horses would save the Navajo Nation more than 290,000 gallons of water and 1.1 million pounds of forage a year.
But the issue has been a divisive one.
The Navajo tribe reveres horses, which have become symbols of the American West and are deeply entrenched in the Navajo people’s beliefs and traditions.
“It’s a sensitive subject to begin with because horses are considered sacred animals, so you just can’t go out and euthanize them. That would go too far against cultural conditions. At the same time, we have a bunch of horses no one is caring for, so it’s a delicate balance,” former Navajo spokesman Erny Zah told the Associated Press.
40 killed in armed bandit attack in northwest Nigeria
MAIDGURI, Nigeria — Armed bandits attacked a village in Nigeria’s northwest Kaduna state, killing at least 40 people, residents and officials said.
Police Inspector General Ibrahim Idris confirmed the bandits invaded the village of Gwaska Saturday, fighting local defense forces protecting the Birnin Gwari local government area, a community of about 3,000 people. He said 200 policemen and 10 patrol vehicles were deployed to the scene.
A resident who helped fight the bandits said at least 40 people were killed and the toll will likely climb. He spoke on condition of anonymity for security reasons. He said the attackers were from Zamfara state, and that they shot at children and torched houses as residents fled.
The attack came about a week after other unidentified gunmen attacked a nearby village.
The Kaduna State government confirmed the attack but didn’t give a casualty figure.
In a statement, the local government said it is concerned by the incessant banditry attacks in the region and has been engaging with the federal government on the matter.
“The Kaduna State Government has received with sadness reports of the murder of our citizens by armed bandits in Birnin Gwari,” it said, adding that it is committed to resolving the problem.
President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the establishment of a permanent battalion of the Nigerian Army in the Birnin Gwari area.
The State Emergency Management Agency is providing aid to those affected, it said.
Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Police: Flight attendant accused of bad behavior was drunk
Check out Ti’s video on the infamous United Airlines Overbooked Flight and Dragging
Parents Of Children Who Were Killed In Sandy Hook Are Suing Alex Jones Over His Conspiracy Theories
Three parents who lost their children in the mass shooting are suing the Infowars host
Infowars host Alex Jones is being sued by the parents of two children killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre over his claims that it was a hoax.
Jones’ conspiracy theories led to death threats and “intense emotional anguish,” the parents allege in two separate lawsuits that seek more than $1 million in damages each.
Adam Lanza, 20, shot and killed 20 children and six adults at the Newtown, Connecticut, school in 2012 before turning the gun on himself. In the years since, Jones has aired several segments accusing the parents of the children who were killed of lying and calling them “crisis actors” involved in an elaborate plot.
The lawsuits were filed late Monday in Texas’s Travis County District Court by Veronique De La Rosa and Leonard Pozner, who lost their 6-year-old son Noah in the shooting, and Neil Heslin, who lost his son Jessie, also 6.
The lawsuits chronicle Jones’ campaign since the shooting, claiming that De La Rosa is a “crisis actor” and urging his audience to not “believe any of it.”
The lawsuit cites an April 2017 segment called “Sandy Hook Vampires Exposed” in which Jones talks about an interview De La Rosa did with CNN’s Anderson Cooper. Jones claims the interview uses a green screen and that it did not take place at the Edmond Town Hall in Newtown. He also rants about CNN, the Gulf War, the Arab Spring, Libya, and Syria, before circling back to say that CNN and De La Rosa are not to be believed.
“Based on the video footage of the Anderson Cooper interview with Mrs. De La Rosa, Mr. Jones sought to convince his audience that they should not “believe any of it.” the lawsuit states.
Jones’ conspiracy theories have not only caused emotional suffering but resulted in Pozner receiving death threats from an Infowars fan in January 2016, the lawsuit adds.
Florida resident Lucy Richardson sent four voice and email messages to Pozner, with threats, such as “you gonna die, death is coming to you real soon” and “LOOK BEHIND YOU IT IS DEATH,” according to the complaint. She was sentenced in 2017 to five months in prison and three years of supervised release over the threats and is banned from accessing conspiracy theory sites, including Infowars.
The other lawsuit, filed by Heslin, focuses on Jones’ claim that the father was lying when he told Megyn Kelly in a June 2017 interview that he had held his son’s dead body and seen the bullet hole in his head.
“I lost my son. I buried my son. I held my son with a bullet hole through his head,” he responded when asked to about Jones’ claims.
Jones and Infowars correspondent Owen Shroyer, who is also named as a defendant in Heslin’s lawsuit, then aired a segment in which Shroyer claimed that Heslin couldn’t have held his child because bodies were identified through photo identification after the shooting.
“The statement [Plaintiff] made, fact-checkers on this have said cannot be accurate. He’s claiming that he held his son and saw the bullet hole in his head. That is his claim. Now, according to a timeline of events and a coroner’s testimony, that is not possible,” Shroyer said on the show.
“You would remember if you held your dead kid in your hands with a bullet hole. That’s not something you would just misspeak on,” he added.
The bodies of Sandy Hook victims were released to their families for burial after the initial photo-based identification.
“This heartless and vile act of defamation re-ignited the Sandy Hook ‘false flag’ conspiracy and tore open the emotional wounds that Plaintiff has tried so desperately to heal,” the lawsuit states.
In November 2016, Jones aired a segment titled “Alex Jones Final Statement on Sandy Hook,” but continued to repeat his conspiracy theories into 2017.
“By making renewed accusations about the plaintiffs in 2017, Infowars breathed new life into this conspiracy and caused intense emotional anguish and despair,” the lawsuit states.
Jones, Shroyer, Free Speech Systems, and Infowars did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
“For the last five-and-a-half years since they have had to bury their children, Infowars and Alex Jones have repeatedly and continuously called them liars, called them crisis actors, and have made them re-live what they’ve had to go through. As a parent, it takes a toll on you,” Bill Ogden, an attorney representing the parents in both cases, told BuzzFeed News.
Ogden’s law firm, Farrar & Ball, is also representing Marcel Fontaine, a man suing Jones and Infowars for defamation after the site falsely identified him as the attacker in the Parkland school shooting.
“The First Amendment has restrictions on it. You can’t yell ‘fire’ in a movie theatre, you can’t incite a riot,” Ogden said. “You don’t have the right to just make up anything you want, especially as a news outlet, which they count themselves as the truth of journalism and truth media. You can’t just make up something that’s going to damage people this way and not expect consequences.”
Another man, Brennan Gilmore, is also suing Jones in a separate defamation claim after Infowars published conspiracy theories about him being an “operative of the Deep State” because he captured on video the moment a white supremacist in Charlottesville, Virginia, allegedly plowed his car into a crowd of anti-racist protesters last year, killing one and injuring dozens.
Scientists can’t explain why diplomats in Cuba are suffering from ‘traumatic brain injury’
For two years, diplomats posted to Cuba have been suffering a mysterious illness.
They say they have heard painful, high-pitched noises and lost their hearing. “Some were asleep and awakened by the sound, even as others sleeping in the same bed or room heard nothing,” the Associated Press reported. Scores have reported headaches, dizziness, nausea and difficulty concentrating.
Douglas Smith, director of the Center for Brain Injury and Repair at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine, evaluated 24 affected Americans. He said his patients looked “exactly like the patients we would see in a concussion clinic,” according to the CBC.
His team has found “perceptible changes in [the] brains” of the victims, including changes to the “white matter tracts that let different parts of the brain communicate.” But none reported blows to the head.
Many of the victims reported trouble processing information. Some said they could not remember things anymore and struggled to come up with the right words when writing or speaking.
The symptoms have struck 24 Americans and 10 Canadians, including some minors. So far, investigators have not found their cause.
Initially, investigators suspected some kind of sonic attack. But they found little evidence of that. And scientists say acoustic waves have never been shown to alter the way the brain works. There has been suspicion that the ailment is something like a mass hysteria. But doctors say the changes to the brain that they see rule that out. They suspect it is a medical condition, though environmental assessments have yielded few clues.
DNA test from Ancestry.com reveals fertility doctor used his own sperm in procedures, lawsuit alleges
A 36-year-old woman thought something went wrong with her Ancestry.com DNA results, when an unknown name was identified as her biological father. She later learned it was the name of her parents’ fertility doctor, who without consent allegedly used his own sperm to impregnate her mother.
Kelli Rowlette filed a lawsuit last week against Dr. Gerald Mortimer, his wife Linda McKinnon Mortimer, and the Obstetrics and Gynecology Associates of Idaho Falls.
In 1979, Rowlette’s parents Sally Ashby and Howard Fowler were having trouble conceiving and saw Mortimer at the Obstetrics and Gynecology Associates of Idaho Falls, where the doctor diagnosed Ashby with a tipped uterus and Fowler with a low sperm count and low sperm mobility, according to the lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court in Idaho. Mortimer suggested a procedure where he said 85% of Fowler’s sperm would be mixed with donor sperm and inseminated to increase chances of conception. The couple agreed, saying the donor sperm must come from a college student who looks like Fowler.
Instead, the doctor, who did not match the donor specifications, used his own sperm for the inseminations — three per month in June, July and August of 1980, according to the lawsuit.
Rowlette was born May 20, 1981. The family later had to move to Washington state, and when Ashby told the doctor, he cried — knowing this was his biological daughter, the suit says.
More: Fertility center tells over 500 hopeful parents their frozen eggs, embryos may be damaged
Fast forward to July 2017: The parents never told Rowlette, now married and living in Benton County, Washington, she was conceived with the help of fertility treatments. Ancestry.com tells Rowlette her biological father is a man named Gerald Mortimer. It must be a mistake, she tells her mom — who takes a look at the name on her own time and is completely “devastated,” the lawsuit says. Ashby tells her now ex-husband Fowler the results, and they both sit on the news for several months, unsure whether or not to tell their daughter.
In October of 2017, Rowlette finds a copy of her birth certificate while cleaning out old papers at Fowler’s house, sees Mortimer’s signature as the doctor who delivered her, and discovers the truth, according to the lawsuit.
Now, the family is suing. Requests to reach Mortimer and the Idaho clinic in question were not immediately returned.
As for Ancestry’s help finding uncovering the truth, Eric Health, Ancestry.com’s Chief Privacy Officer, told USA TODAY the company’s tests help people “make new and powerful discoveries about their family history and identity” and might lead to “unexpected connections.”
Article via: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2018/04/04/ancestry-dna-test-fertility-sperm-father/485240002/
A Parkland student shielded others with his body — and is the last to leave the hospital alive
A Parkland student shielded others with his body — and is the last to leave the hospital alive
Anthony’s attorney, Alex Arreaza, said Wednesday that the teen was released over the weekend and that, although he is thinner and weak, Anthony is in “good spirits.”
Arreaza told The Washington Post that one bullet had “clipped” the teen’s liver and three others had hit his legs. He said that because of the teen’s injuries, doctors had to remove part of one of his lungs.
Arreaza said that Anthony cannot speak for long periods of time without becoming winded and that the teen will need physical therapy and possible treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder. But, he said, the teen is “happy he’s home.”
“He’s a little shellshocked right now,” Arreaza said. “But his spirits changed completely once he got home. The most noticeable thing is that he was smiling a lot more.”
Arreaza said it’s unclear at this time whether the teen will return to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. He said last month that the teen’s family intends to sue Broward County, Broward County Public Schools and the Broward County Sheriff’s Office for failing to protect the students.
Hundreds of Anthony’s fellow students returned to school earlier this week from spring break and were confronted with a new normal: added security, identification badges and clear plastic book bags.
In a memo to parents, school principal Ty Thompson likened the new security procedures to “when you enter a sporting event, concert, or even Disney World,” according to the Associated Press.
“As a first step, we are looking to see if we can get the kids through these entrances in a timely manner,” the principal wrote. “It is very difficult to balance both convenience/privacy with safety/security; if there is more of one, the other often suffers, but I will do my best to balance the two.”
Carly Novell, a senior and editor of the school newspaper, posted a photo of a clear backpack Monday on Twitter, joking, “But how satisfying would it be to put glue all over this backpack and peel it off.”
“On the real though, I want my privacy and my comfort. I don’t have that in school. I barely even have my education in school anymore,” she said in a subsequent tweet, pushing back against the new security protocol.
Kyrah Simon@kyrahsimonThese clear backpacks accomplish absolutely nothing. Not every item placed in the bag is visible and there is no possible way to monitor the contents of over 3000 backpacks. It’s great to know that this is where my community puts its resources.
Sheri Kuperman, a parent who has three children at the school, told the Sun-Sentinel that she has no problem with the security but that she is not convinced it will make her children and others any safer.
“We go through metal detectors when we go the airport,” she said, according to the newspaper. “I don’t know if it’s going to stop anything or not.”
After the recent shooting, Anthony was asked on the “Today” show whether he knew he was a hero — and the teen shook his head.
“He’s a hero in my book,” his attorney said, adding that Anthony is “the real deal.”
Plainfield teen accused of shooting parents dead at Michigan university; father was cop, Iraqi war veteran
manhunt continued late Friday for a college student from the Chicago suburbs who authorities said fatally shot his parents on the campus of Central Michigan University.
Authorities said Friday evening they had more than 100 officers from multiple agencies searching for 19-year-old James Eric Davis, of Plainfield. They warned that he should be considered armed and dangerous.
The victims were identified by authorities as Davis’ parents, James Eric Davis Sr. and Diva Jeneen Davis. Davis Sr. was a police officer in west suburban Bellwood and an Illinois National Guard veteran who served in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Diva Davis’s Facebook page identified her as a real estate broker; friends said she was also a breast cancer survivor and had worked as a flight attendant.
People who knew the family called Davis Jr. “respectful” and “a good kid” and his parents “upstanding,” and said they saw no obvious signs of trouble with the teenager, who was a sophomore at the school in Mount Pleasant, Mich.
“He was a good kid, always,” said Deantre DeYoung, 20, who met Davis Jr. when they were high school freshmen at Plainfield South High School and had kept in touch. “You would never expect something like this to come from James.”
The Davises were reportedly picking up their son from college for spring break when the shooting happened inside a residence hall on campus.
But Lt. Larry Klaus of the campus police department said Davis Jr. was taken to a hospital Thursday night by campus police because of a drug-related health problem, possibly an overdose. Authorities did not elaborate.
Bellwood Police Chief Jiminez Allen confirmed Friday that Davis Sr. was a part-time officer in the village and called it “a very difficult time” for the department.
An Illinois legislator whose district includes Bellwood, Rep. Emanuel “Chris” Welch, D-Hillside, said in a Tweet on Friday afternoon: “My sincerest condolences go out to the family of Bellwood Police Officer James Davis Sr. and his wife who were shot and killed this morning. May they RIP.”
The younger Davis attended Plainfield South High for three years, then completed high school at Plainfield Central, where he played basketball and graduated in 2016, Plainfield Community School District 202 officials confirmed.
They declined any further comment “out of respect to the family.”
Campus police identified and released a photo of Davis Jr. during an afternoon news conference. Klaus said surveillance video suggests he fled on foot after the 8:30 a.m. shooting at Campbell Hall. Police warned the public not to confront him. Earlier Friday, they said they suspected he was still in the central Michigan area.
Jordan Murphy, a longtime friend of Davis Sr., said they worked together as Illinois Army National Guard recruiters after being deployed together as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Murphy said Davis Sr., who went by Eric, brought his son to Murphy’s home on several occasions.
“Junior was a very respectful man, raised by upstanding parents, who would do anything to protect him and his siblings,” Murphy said. “This is an incredibly tragic event, and I pray for Eric’s other children. This is so incredibly out of character, something went wrong somewhere.”
Murphy called Eric and Diva Davis “loving, ever-present parents who doted on their children.”
Besides Davis Jr., the couple had a daughter and another son.
Lt. Col. Brad Leighton, public affairs director of the Illinois National Guard, said Davis Sr. served with the guard for 24 years before retiring in 2014.
His time in the guard included a 2003 deployment to Iraq, when he was with the 1244th Transportation Co. out of North Riverside. Later, he worked as a recruiter out of the Joliet Armory, Leighton said.
Julian Leal, who lives on the same block as the Davis home in Plainfield, called Davis Sr. a good neighbor, the type who would shovel out his neighbors after a snowstorm.
“We had picnics in our backyard,” Leal said. “I just had a beer with him last week. We talked about our kids who are in college. He was proud of his son.”
Leal added there was no hint of any problems or violence.
“We’re all confused and at a loss,” he said. “We’re telling our kids to be strong and pray for them. They wouldn’t want us to fall apart.”
Klaus, the campus police lieutenant in Michigan, said anyone who sees Davis Jr. shouldn’t confront him, but needs to call 911. Officials at the school, which has about 23,000 students, urged everyone on campus to take shelter.
“He should be considered armed and dangerous,” said Klaus, adding that Davis Jr. was wearing a black hoodie but had been shedding certain clothes while on the run.
The shooting occurred on the last day of classes before spring break at the Mount Pleasant campus, which is about 70 miles north of Lansing and is about a 270-mile drive from Chicago. Parents who were trying to pick up students were told instead to go to a local hotel where staff would assist them while the manhunt was ongoing.
The school posted an alert Friday morning on social media about shots being fired at Campbell Hall. An automated phone message also was sent to students.
Halie Byron, 20, said she locked herself in her off-campus house, about a 10-minute walk from Campbell Hall. She had planned to run errands before traveling home to the Detroit area.
“It’s scary thinking about how easy a shooter can come into a college campus anywhere — a classroom, a library. There’s so much easy access,” Byron said.
In the surrounding community, students and staff in the Mount Pleasant school district were told not to leave nine buildings. Visitors also weren’t being allowed to enter.
Article via: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-james-eric-davis-central-michigan-shooting-20180302-story.html