Heartbreaking and tragic news has come out of Connecticut, a lone gunman, 20-year-old Adam Lanza, was carrying his brother Ryan Lanza's ID whom is in police custody being questioned) went into Sandy Hook Elementary School and killed as many as 20 children and 6 adults. He reportedly was wearing all black and went into the school and opened fire. He killed his mother who taught at the school. At around 9:30 a.m, emergency calls came in reporting the shootings at the school. Many of the children who were killed were young kindergartners.
There is no word as to why he snapped or a reason behind the senseless crimes. The school is located in a small suburb in northern Fairfield County which has a population of 27,000. The school has just over 600 students. President Obama is expected to speak about the tragedy. SWAT will be investigating the home of the suspect. Once the death toll is confirmed, it would be one of the worst mass shootings in U.S.History. The killer is dead, but as of now, it is not known whether he killed himself or shot by an officer. The scence is secure at this time. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families.
If you haven't heard about the heart-breaking story of a young Canadian teen, Amanda Todd, who committed suicide a few days ago due to extreme bullying, this will give you a brief synopsis on what had transpired. Amanda Todd committed suicide last Wednesday after suffering tremendous torment and bullying. The story was listed on a Memorial Facebook page as this:
This girl, her name is Amanda Todd. She posted a video on YouTube a few days ago. She was bullied so bad it led to suicide… She was in a webcam chat group to meet up with new and old people. They started calling her Beautiful, Stunning, cute, Etc. And then they asked her to flash… So she did…..
Thinking it was nothing… A year went by and some guy she did not know, messaged her saying ”Give me a 'show' or I will send your boobs.” She ignored it…..Christmas Break came and a knock came on her door at 4 AM.
It was the police… That person sent the picture to EVERYONE. Everyone judged her. Bullied her.
From ONE MISTAKE. She ended up switching schools. That person found out her school, friends, address once again and sent them there too. She had no one. Everyone hated her. She ended up switching towns. Then at this new school….She met this boy who she thought liked her.
He didn't….he had a girlfriend. One day she got a note saying you better leave school.
She didn't. A group of boys and girls including that boy, the girlfriend and more came up to her while the school surrounded her. The girl said “Look around, No one likes you.”
One kid from the group said “JUST PUNCH HER ALREADY!” So she did, and Amanda got beat really bad.
And got left. Alone. And her dad ended up finding her in a ditch hours later. She went home and drank bleach, to try to kill herself. It didn't work. The next day all over her Facebook page was written
“Drink some more bleach",
"No one cares",
"I hope she dies, "No one would cry", "Everyone hates you", "Amanda try it again we dare you"…and so much more.
She cried every night. Why did everyone hate her.
One mistake. One. She started cutting so much and did drugs,and drank alcohol. She ended up trying to kill herself again. She failed. She couldn't take it anymore. At the end of the video it said ”I am Amanda Todd. I just need someone.” October 10th she hung herself. She is dead. Rest in paradise, Amanda. You're beautiful. I will find a way to help stop bullying.
In September, she posted the below video about the bullying and torment she endured. Her suicide has caused an out-pouring of grief internationally, however, some are still tormenting her in death as some people have posted vicious messages via her Facebook Memorial Pages.
The group, Anonymous, who are a group of anonymous hactivist got involved and found out who was the original person who threatened Amanda with the initial torment. The person has since turned himself in to officials. The accused man appeared in court on Monday on charges of sexual assault and sexual interference with a minor on a case not related to Todd's. He claims that he was Amanda's friend and he says it was a guy in NYC who was harassing the teen.
Amanda's family is devastated by the events that have transpired. Her father says he finds solace in the fact that his daughter has some peace now. He says his daughter made the video because she wanted to get the message out and didn't want others to have to go through what she went through. He added, it makes him happy that her voice is still alive and being heard. May she rest in peace.
James Eagan Holder, the man who opened fire at "The Dark Knight Rises" screening in an Aurora, Colorado movie theater may have tried to recreate a scene from the 2008 "The Dark Knight". He is reported to have painted his hair red and told the police he was "The Joker."NYC Commissioner,Ray Kelly, who is good friends with Aurora Police Commissioner, Dan Oaters, said at a press conference:
"We have some information, most of it is public. It clearly looks like a deranged individual. He had his hair painted red, he said he was ‘The Joker,’ obviously the enemy of Batman."
Commissioner Oates says they are confident that he acted alone. A thorough investigation is being carried out. Now as many as 71, people are said to have been injured, 12 of those killed. 2 people died at local hospitals and 10 bodies are still inside the theaters. Police are having to investigate each deceased person inside the theater as an individual crime scence and have said they could be there for a long period of time. Fears are the number of fatalities will rise as many of the wounded are in critical condition at local area hospitals. Oates said the killer's car was parked in the back of the theater. His apartment was also booby-trapped. He used an assault rifle, a Glock handgun, and a shotgun. The scene was chaotic, with many people running out of the theater for their lives. Holmes is currently in police custody right now.
James Holmes has been identified as The Dark Knight Massacre Killer. The 24-year-old walked into an Aurora, Colorado movie theater, set off some sort of unknown gas, and fired into the crowd killing 12 people and injuring dozens more. Witnesses said he was shooting people who tried to exit, at one point, and basically was shooting anyone in his way. Victims of the shooting range in various ages, as young at 3 months. The shooting has caused an outpouring of grief nationally and internationally. The premiere of The Dark Knight was canceled in Paris, France, and L.A. and New York plan on beefing up security at the showings for fear of copy cat crimes.
Holmes was a student at the University of Colorado's School of Medicine, but withdrew last month. TMZ reports:
A heavily armed gunman opened fire in the middle of a packed midnight screening of "The Dark Knight Rises" … killing at least a dozen moviegoers and reportedly wounding at least 50 others (including a 3-month-old baby) in Aurora, Colorado.
The suspect has been identified as 24-year-old James Holmes from Aurora, CO.
Cops say Holmes was wearing a bulletproof vest, riot helmet and a gas mask when he entered the Century 16 Movie Theater through an emergency exit and began randomly firing at movie patrons. Witnesses say he tossed tear gas into the crowd before he started shooting.
Police arrested Holmes in the movie theater parking lot — and federal agents evacuated his apartment building –after he "made a statement about explosives" in the building (see below).
After a thorough sweep of the complex, officials determined the building was safe.
Holmes reportedly used 4 guns during the shooting — a rifle, a shotgun, a handgun and another firearm that's being compared to an AK-47.
Jessica Redfield has been identified as one of the victims of today's Colorado Mass Shooting. She went along with a friend as hundreds of other excited fans to see a midnight screening on Friday morning of The Dark Knight Rises. A gunman opened fire in a Colorado theater in Aurora, killing at least 12 people and injuring dozens of others. Jessica, was an aspiring sportscaster, who ironically, survived a mass shooting in a mall in Toronto, CA on June 2, just last month. In that shooting, one man was killed and 7 injured. She wrote an emotional blog post describing that incident and how she felt a few weeks ago:
Late Night Thoughts on the Eaton Center Shooting
I can’t get this odd feeling out of my chest. This empty, almost sickening feeling won’t go away. I noticed this feeling when I was in the Eaton Center in Toronto just seconds before someone opened fire in the food court. An odd feeling which led me to go outside and unknowingly out of harm‘s way. It’s hard for me to wrap my mind around how a weird feeling saved me from being in the middle of a deadly shooting.
What started off as a trip to the mall to get sushi and shop, ended up as a day that has forever changed my life. I was on a mission to eat sushi that day, and when I’m on a mission, nothing will deter me. When I arrived at the Eaton Center mall, I walked down to the food court and spotted a sushi restaurant. Instead of walking in, sitting down and enjoying sushi, I changed my mind, which is very unlike me, and decided that a greasy burger and poutine would do the trick. I rushed through my dinner. I found out after seeing a map of the scene, that minutes later a man was standing in the same spot I just ate at and opened fire in the food court full of people. Had I had sushi, I would’ve been in the same place where one of the victims was found.
My receipt shows my purchase was made at 6:20 pm. After that purchase I said I felt funny. It wasn’t the kind of funny you feel after spending money you know you shouldn’t have spent. It was almost a panicky feeling that left my chest feeling like something was missing. A feeling that was overwhelming enough to lead me to head outside in the rain to get fresh air instead of continuing back into the food court to go shopping at SportChek. The gunshots rung out at 6:23. Had I not gone outside, I would’ve been in the midst of gunfire.
I walked around the outside of the mall. People started funneling out of every exit. When I got back to the front, I saw a police car, an ambulance, and a fire truck. I initially thought that maybe the street performer that was drumming there earlier had a heart attack or something. But more and more police officers, ambulances, and fire trucks started showing up. Something terrible has happened. I overheard a panicked guy say, “There was a shooting in the food court.” I thought that there was no way, I was just down there. I asked him what happened. He said “Some guy just opened fire. Shot about 8 shots. It sounded like balloons popping. The guy is still on the loose.” I’m not sure what made me stick around at this point instead of running as far away from the mall as possible. Shock? Curiosity? Human nature? Who knows.
Standing there in the midst of the chaos all around us, police started yelling to get back and make room. I saw a young shirtless boy, writhing on a stretcher, with his face and head covered by the EMS as they rushed him by us to get him into an ambulance. The moment was surprisingly calm. The EMTs helping the boy weren’t yelling orders and no one was screaming like a night time medical drama. It was as if it was one swift movement to get the boy out of the mall and into the ambulance. That’s when it really hit me. I felt nauseas. Who would go into a mall full of thousands of innocent people and open fire? Is this really the world we live in?
Police start yelling again “GET BACK NOW!” Another stretcher came rushing out of the mall. I saw a man on a stretcher, the blanket underneath him spotted with blood. Multiple gunshot holes in his chest, side, and neck were visible. It’s not like in the movies when you see someone shot and they’re bleeding continuously from the wound. There was no blood flowing from the wounds, I could only see the holes. Numerous gaping holes, as if his skin was putty and someone stuck their finger in it. Except these wounds were caused by bullets. Bullets shot out of hatred. His dark skin on his torso was tinted red with what I assume was his own blood. He was rushed into the ambulance and taken away.
More people joined the crowd at the scene and asked what happened. “There was a shooting in the food court,” kept being whispered through the crowd like a game of telephone. I was standing near a security guard when I heard him say over his walkie talkie, “One fatality.” At this point I was convinced I was going to throw up. I’m not an EMT or a police officer. I’m not trained to handle crime and murder. Gun crimes are fairly common where I grew up in Texas, but I never imagined I’d experience a violent crime first hand. I’m on vacation and wanted to eat and go shopping. Everyone else at the mall probably wanted the same thing. I doubt anyone left for the mall imagined they witness a shooting.
I was shown how fragile life was on Saturday. I saw the terror on bystanders’ faces. I saw the victims of a senseless crime. I saw lives change. I was reminded that we don’t know when or where our time on Earth will end. When or where we will breathe our last breath. For one man, it was in the middle of a busy food court on a Saturday evening.
I say all the time that every moment we have to live our life is a blessing. So often I have found myself taking it for granted. Every hug from a family member. Every laugh we share with friends. Even the times of solitude are all blessings. Every second of every day is a gift. After Saturday evening, I know I truly understand how blessed I am for each second I am given.
I feel like I am overreacting about what I experienced. But I can’t help but be thankful for whatever caused me to make the choices that I made that day. My mind keeps replaying what I saw over in my head. I hope the victims make a full recovery. I wish I could shake this odd feeling from my chest. The feeling that’s reminding me how blessed I am. The same feeling that made me leave the Eaton Center. The feeling that may have potentially saved my life.
Jessica had recently moved from San Antonio to Denver. At the movie, she had tweeted her excitement of wanting to see the movie moments before the gunman opened fire. Because of 24-year-old man opened fire, that was Jessica's last tweet.
Her brother, Jordan, confirmed her death via Twitter on his way to catch a flight to Colorado writing:
"This could easily be the worst night of my life. It appears that my sister has been fatally wounded in a mass shooting at a movie premiere in Denver, CO."
My Fabulous Style sends thoughts and prayers to Jessica's family and all the families of the victims during this difficult time.
A very horrific shooting has happened at an Aurora, Colorado movie theater. The Dark Knight Rising had attracted many movie go-ers and excitement was high for the movie. Huffingtonpost reports:
A heavily armed man entered a movie theater in suburban Denver early Friday and opened fire, killing at least 12 people and injuring 50 others.
The incident, which took place about 12:30 a.m. at the Century 16 movie theater in Aurora, Colo., occurred during midnight screenings of the new Batman film "The Dark Knight Rises."
When the movie patrons realized the attack was real and not part of the movie, pandemonium erupted and they began to flee. The film continued to play on the screen as bloodied customers took refuge outside. According to witnesses on the scene, some of the bullets also went through the walls of an adjacent theater, injuring patrons.
“There was this one guy on all fours crawling. There was this girl spitting up blood. There were bullet holes in some people’s backs, in some people’s arms. There was one guy who was just stripped down to his boxers. It looked like he had been shot in the back or something,” Donovan Tate, who escaped from the packed theater with his girlfriend, told CBS4.
Soon after receiving a flood of 911 calls, hundreds of police officers, ambulance and emergency crews arrived on the scene.
The suspect was found near a car behind the theater and arrested. He was dressed in black, carrying a knife, rifle and a handgun, and wearing a bulletproof vest.
"He did not resist," police spokesman Frank Fania. "He did not put up a fight."
The shooter's identity has not been released but he is thought to be in his early 20s. A motive for the attack is unknown.
Police also searched the suspect's North Aurora home after he spoke of "possible explosives in his residence," Oates said. Authorities evacuated the building as a precautionary measure.
The police originally announced that 14 people had been killed in the attack, butrevised the death toll around 7:45 a.m. ET, NBC News reported.
At this time, there is no evidence of additional shooters.
President Barack Obama, who is in Palm Beach, Fla., was notified of the shooting by Homeland Security Advisor John Brennan at 5:26 a.m. ET. He released the following statement:
"Michelle and I are shocked and saddened by the horrific and tragic shooting in Colorado. Federal and local law enforcement are still responding, and my Administration will do everything that we can to support the people of Aurora in this extraordinarily difficult time. We are committed to bringing whoever was responsible to justice, ensuring the safety of our people, and caring for those who have been wounded. As we do when confronted by moments of darkness and challenge, we must now come together as one American family. All of us must have the people of Aurora in our thoughts and prayers as they confront the loss of family, friends, and neighbors, and we must stand together with them in the challenging hours and days to come."
"We are praying for the families and loved ones of the victims during this time of deep shock and immense grief. We expect that the person responsible for this terrible crime will be quickly brought to justice."
The theater where the attack took place is just about 25 miles from Columbine High School, where two students shot and killed 13 people in 1999.
New questions are being raised about just how close of a relationship George Zimmerman had with the Sanford Police. Huffingtonpost reports:
Neighborhood watchman George Zimmerman had a relationship with members of the police department in Sanford, Fla., long before he shot unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin to death in February, newly released information suggests.
During a community forum on Jan. 8, 2011, more than a year before Martin was killed, Zimmerman, then a criminal justice student, told city officials he had ridden along with Sanford police officers on patrol. Zimmerman blasted Sanford police as lazy and criticized outgoing Police Chief Brian Tooley, who was forced from office in a scandal involving the son of an officer caught on tape beating a homeless black man.
“I would just like to state that the law is written in black and white, it can not be enforced by those who are in the thin blue line,” Zimmerman told an audience that included newly elected Mayor Jeff Triplett, according to an audio recording published by the Miami Herald. Zimmerman said he saw firsthand how bad Sanford police could be during his ride-alongs.
“What I saw was disgusting,” Zimmerman said, “The officer showed me his favorite hiding spots for taking naps, explained to me that he doesn’t carry a long gun in his vehicle because, in his words, ‘anything that requires a long gun requires a lot of paperwork, and you’re going to find me as far away from it.’” Zimmerman continued: “He took two lunch breaks and attended a going away party for one of his fellow officers.”
Zimmerman found himself at the center of another Sanford police scandal a year later. Relatives of Martin, the 17-year-old who was killed while visiting his father in a gated Sanford housing development, and a chorus of supporters across the country have accused Sanford police of biased and sloppy police work. Zimmerman initially was freed by police after saying he shot Martin in self defense. A prosecutor specially assigned to the case, working with state investigators, later charged Zimmerman with second-degree murder. He is free on bail awaiting trial.
A police station video taken three days after the shooting, released by the State Attorney’s Office with a trove of other evidence, shows Zimmerman walking unescorted through the police station. That suggests a “cozy” and “comfortable” relationship with the police, said Benjamin Crump, an attorney for Martin’s family.
“This video of Zimmerman just walking through the police department so casually underscores that people in that department have a familiarity with him,” Crump told HuffPost. “It means that he had a relationship with the Sanford police department. And it’s just unusual that all along they would say they didn’t. But he went on several ride-alongs with them and he was comfortable enough to walk unescorted through their department.”
Zimmerman had longed to be a law enforcement officer and lobbied local law enforcement officials for a job. He was a student at nearby Seminole County Community College, where former Sanford Police Chief Bill Lee, who stepped down amid the Martin scandal, was a professor and ran the police academy.
According to the Herald report, city records show that in March 2010, Zimmerman’s application to ride along with the police was approved despite a background check revealing a criminal history that included resisting arrest and assault on a police officer. (The charges were later dropped.) Zimmerman wrote on the application that he hoped the ride-along would “solidify my interest in a career in law enforcement.”
"We do not have specific dates Mr. Zimmerman may have ridden or with whom he rode, if in fact he ever did ride" with Sanford police, Capt. Robert O'Connor said in a statement. Interim Police Chief Richard Myers said it would be “inappropriate” to draw conclusions from Zimmerman’s 2010 speech before the city council.
“As a police chief, I embrace the notion that transparency helps build public trust, but in this case, the need to preserve the sanctity of a criminal prosecution, for both the prosecutor and the defense, requires us to eschew making any comments that could taint the process,” Myers said in a statement.
George Zimmerman appeared in court today before Circuit Court Judge Kenneth Lester. Huffingtonpost reports:
A Florida judge has granted bail for George Zimmerman, the Florida neighborhood watch captain accused of second-degree murder in the shooting of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin.
Circuit Judge Kenneth Lester set Zimmerman's bond at $150,000, but said he would not be released today, pending deliberations about the terms of the release.
The bail hearing featured dramatic testimony from Zimmerman, who took the stand and offered an apology to Martin's parents.
"I wanted to say that I am sorry for the loss of your son," Zimmerman said, adding that he did not know how old Martin was or that he was unarmed.
"I thought he was a little bit younger than I am," he said. "I did not know whether he was armed or not."
Assistant prosecutor Bernie De La Rionda requested that the judge set no bail or require a bond of $1 million, arguing that Zimmerman's past history of violence and the evidence against him in the shooting of Martin made him a threat to the public.
"Our position is that he will still be a danger to the community," De La Rionda said.
O'Mara asked for bail of just $15,000 and requested that Zimmerman be allowed to leave the state while on bond.
Judge Lester ordered O'Mara to confer with state prosecutors and the Seminole County Sheriff's Department on the terms of Zimmerman's confinement, and to request an additional ruling if an agreement could not be met.
Circuit Judge Kenneth Lester says Zimmerman cannot have any firearms, drink alcohol or use drugs and must observe a curfew. Zimmerman will also have to wear an electronic monitoring device. The judge says Zimmerman will not be released Friday.
In another turn of events, ABC News exclusively obtained a photo of George Zimmerman with a bloody head, which was reported to have been taken 3 minutes after he shot and killed Martin. Some speculate that this could give credability to Zimmerman argument that Trayvon "bashed" his head into the concrete. ABC News reports:
The exclusive image shows blood trickling down the back of Zimmerman's head from two cuts. It also shows a possible contusion forming on the crown of his head. The original police report that night notes that the back of Zimmerman's head was wet, and that he was bleeding from the nose and head.
Zimmerman told police that night that he shot and killed the teenager in self-defense after Martin punched him and pounced on him. Zimmerman told police that Martin then bashed his head into the concrete sidewalk during the altercation that took place in the tidy middle-class development of the Retreat at Twin Lakes in Sanford, Fla.
Zimmerman was treated at the scene by paramedics, then cuffed and driven in a police cruiser to the Sanford police station. He was questioned for hours and later released. In police surveillance video obtained last month by ABC News, Zimmerman's wounds are not apparent, and there were no bandages on his head.
Zimmerman was not admitted to a hospital or given stitches the night of the incident.
The person who took the photograph of a bloodied Zimmerman, asking not to be identified, told ABC News exclusively that they did not see the scuffle that night, but did hear it. The person recalled seeing Martin's prostrate body on the wet grass and said the gunpowder burns on Martin's gray hoodie were clearly visible.
The photographer said that after the shooting, Zimmerman asked the photographer to call his wife. When the photographer asked him what to say, Zimmerman blurted out, "Man, just tell her I shot someone."
Investigators have seen the photo.
Martin family attorney Benjamin Crump is skeptical.
"How bad could it have been if they didn't take him to the hospital [and] didn't stitch him up," he said in a statement to ABC News in response to the image. "The special prosecutor has seen all the evidence and still believes George Zimmerman murdered Trayvon Martin."
Zimmerman's attorney, Mark O'Mara, said his client has spent enough time behind bars.
"He needs to get out. He should not be in jail," O'Mara said. "I want him out because I need him out. He wants to get out. His family wants it out. It should happen."
