Five killed, 18 wounded in Colorado LGBTQ nightclub shooting

WASHINGTON, United States - At least five people were killed and 18 wounded, police said Sunday, in a mass shooting at an LGBTQ nightclub in the US city of Colorado Springs.

The attack came as partygoers appeared to gather for an event marking the Transgender Day of Remembrance, held annually on November 20 to honor the memory of trans people who were killed in acts of transphobic violence.

The shooting is the latest in a long history of attacks on LGBTQ venues in the United States, the deadliest of them in Orlando, Florida, in 2016.

"It's with a heavy heart I have to tell you that we had a shooting at a local club this evening," said Colorado Springs Police Department spokesperson Pamela Castro.

"We have 18 injured and five deceased. That number is subject to change as the investigation continues," she said. "The FBI is already on the scene and assisting."

Castro said police received an emergency call just before midnight on Saturday (0657 GMT Sunday) saying that there was an active shooting at a local club known as Club Q. 

She said medical teams and officers responded and "they did locate one individual who we believe to be the suspect inside," adding that the suspect was in custody and being treated at a local hospital. 

Club Q responded by saying it "is devastated by the senseless attack on our community." 

"We thank the quick reactions of heroic customers that subdued the gunman and ended this hate attack," it posted on Facebook Sunday.

The club had posted earlier on Saturday about an LGBTQ event starting at 8:00 pm. 

"We're celebrating Transgender Day of Remembrance with a variety of gender identities and performance styles," the post read.

An emergency medical team including 34 firefighters and 11 ambulances was dispatched to the scene of the shooting, according to Colorado Springs Fire Department spokesperson Mike Smaldino. 

"Unfortunately these are events we do train for, as far as what we call a 'mass casualty,' so that is why we had such a big response," Smaldino said.

Smaldino added that some ambulances had to carry two or three victims to multiple nearby hospitals.

The Colorado Springs Police Department said there would be an 8:00 am news conference on the shooting.

600 MASS SHOOTINGS IN 2022

The US Gun Violence Archive defines a mass shooting as a single incident in which at least four people are wounded or killed.

On June 12, 2016, a gunman opened fire inside the Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, killing 49 people and wounding more than 50 in what was then the deadliest mass shooting in modern US history. 

US President Joe Biden marked the fifth anniversary of the Orlando shooting last year, taking the rare step of saying he would designate the club as a national memorial.

Gun violence is a major problem in the United States, where more than 600 mass shootings have occurred so far in 2022, according to the Gun Violence Archive website.

Mass shootings have repeatedly reignited debate on gun control, a hot-button issue in the country, though little headway has been made in Congress on calls for reform.

Agence France Presse

Suspect in custody after 10 killed in mass shooting at Colorado grocery store

BOULDER, Colorado - A suspect was in custody on Tuesday a day after 10 people, including a policeman, were killed in a hail of gunfire inside a Colorado grocery store, marking America's second mass shooting in a week and adding to the state's history of deadly massacres.

Authorities have not yet identified the man seen bloodied and limping as he was led away from the scene in handcuffs on Monday. A news briefing was scheduled for late on Tuesday morning.

The shooting at a King Soopers outlet in Boulder, about 28 miles (45 km) northwest of Denver, drew hundreds of responding officers and sent shoppers and employees fleeing for cover.

The first officer on the scene, 51-year-old Eric Talley, was among those killed, a tearful Boulder Police Chief Maris Herold said at a Monday news conference. An 11-year veteran of the force, Talley was the father of seven children and had recently been looking for a less dangerous job, according to a statement released by his father.

Authorities gave few details and offered no possible motive for the bloodshed, which came six days after a gunman went on a killing spree in the Atlanta area, fatally shooting eight people at three day spas before he was arrested.

Witnesses in Colorado described a chaotic and frightening scene inside the store.

Ryan Borowski, 37, went in looking for something to satisfy a sugar craving. He had picked out a 12-pack of soda and a bag of chips when he heard shots ring out, sending him scurrying for the store's back exit.

"It was pretty terrifying," he said. "Fastest fire drill I've ever been in."

Sarah Moonshadow, 42, was at the checkout line with her adult son, Nicholas, when the gunfire began.

"And I said, 'Nicholas, get down.' And Nicholas ducked. And we just started listening and there, just repetitive shots ... and I just said, 'Nicholas, run,'" she said.

Moonshadow said she tried to attend to a victim she saw lying on the pavement outside the store, but her son pulled her away, telling her, 'We have to go.'" She broke down in sobs recounting their ordeal, adding, "I couldn't help anybody."

Police said the accused gunman was taken to a hospital for treatment of injuries but did not explain how he was hurt. There was no word on when he might face an initial court appearance.

Video footage broadcast by television stations showed a shirtless, bearded man in boxer shorts being led away from the store limping and in handcuffs before he was placed on a stretcher and loaded into an ambulance. One of his legs appeared covered in blood.

The killings added to a long line of mass shootings in Colorado that include some of the most shocking episodes of gun violence in modern US history.

In 2012, a young man dressed in tactical gear burst into a movie theater in the Denver suburb of Aurora during a midnight screening and sprayed the audience with gunfire, killing 12 and wounding 70. In 1999, a pair of students went on a shooting rampage at Columbine High School near Littleton, Colorado, murdering 12 classmates and a teacher before taking their own lives.

In Washington, the White House press secretary, Jen Psaki, wrote on Twitter that President Joe Biden had been briefed on the shooting. Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic leader of the House of Representatives, said the violence again underscored the need for stricter gun laws, which have stalled in Congress amid Republican opposition.

Video captured by an onlooker on Monday, apparently while the shooting was still in progress, was posted to social media and aired on TV stations. The footage shows two bodies lying in the grocery store parking lot, before the person with the camera walks inside and films a third body, as three shots are heard in the background.

The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, Local 7, which represents 32 employees at the King Soopers outlet, credited some of the grocery workers with helping customers escape through a rear exit.

It also thanked customers and emergency responders who "acted swiftly to prevent even greater loss of life."

The shooting occurred about 2 miles (3 km) from the flagship campus of the University of Colorado, in the Table Mesa area of the city that is home to a residential neighborhood and the hilltop laboratory of the National Center for Atmospheric Research.

-reuters-

Virus scare: US plane diverted after passengers upset by sneezing

LOS ANGELES - Mounting concern over the spread of coronavirus was apparently behind a US flight being diverted at the weekend after passengers became upset over someone sneezing and coughing.

United Airlines told AFP in a statement that the flight -- headed from Eagle, Colorado, to Newark, New Jersey -- was diverted on Sunday afternoon to Denver's international airport.

The plane was allowed to continue on to New Jersey after a small group of people who raised a ruckus over fears a passenger who was sneezing and coughing may be sick with the virus were taken off the flight, local media quoted officials as saying.

The airline said the incident "was in no way a medical situation."

It told local media that the passenger who was sneezing had allergies and was evaluated and allowed to stay on the flight.

"After landing safely, the aircraft was met by law enforcement" the airline said.

jz/bgs

Agence France-Presse

1 killed in Colorado shooting

Parents gather in a circle to pray at a recreation center where students were reunited with their parents after a shooting at a suburban Denver middle school Tuesday, in Highlands Ranch, Colorado, USA. At least one person was reported killed and 8 others injured, according to local reports.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Denver police arrest Uber driver after passenger is shot dead

DENVER - A driver with the ride-sharing service Uber was arrested on Friday for suspicion of first-degree murder after Denver police said he fatally shot a passenger in his vehicle.

Michael Andre Hancock, 29, was being held without bond in the Denver County jail pending the formal filing of charges, according to jail records. It was unclear if he had legal representation.

According to a Denver Police probable cause affidavit, on Friday morning a man later identified as Hancock told a motorist on the side of a highway that he had just shot a rider who tried to attack him.

Police found a sedan stopped perpendicular to traffic on a ramp and a man with gunshot wounds lying on the floor board of the front passenger seat, the affidavit said.

The Denver Medical Examiner’s Office identified the dead man as Hyun Kim, 45.

Police said they removed a semi-automatic pistol from Hancock’s waistband, and later recovered 10 spent 40-caliber cartridges on the shoulder of the highway. Hancock was arrested, but police did not provide further details.

Uber said in a statement that it was “deeply troubled” by the arrest of Hancock, a contract driver with the company for nearly three years.

“Our thoughts are with the families of those involved. The driver's access to the app has been removed, and we will continue working closely with police,” Uber said.

San Francisco-based Uber Technologies Inc has faced criticism over its vetting of drivers.

Last November, the Colorado Public Utilities Commission fined Uber $8.9 million for allowing 57 people to drive for it although they lacked valid driver’s licenses or had committed other offenses that should have disqualified them.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

At least two dead in shooting inside suburban Denver Walmart

THORNTON, Colorado - At least two people were killed and one wounded in a shooting inside a Walmart store in suburban Denver on Wednesday, police said.

Police in Thornton, Colorado, did not immediately release any information about the circumstances of the shooting or who was responsible for the gunfire.

In a Twitter post about 90 minutes after the shooting, police said investigators had confirmed that two men were dead and a woman was taken to a local hospital, but no further details were given.

The situation appeared potentially ominous from authorities' initial reports.

"We've got multiple parties down, we're still trying to ascertain what their conditions are," Officer Victor Avila of the Thornton Police Department told Reuters by telephone not long after police arrived on the scene.

About an hour after the initial alert, police said on Twitter that the threat of gunfire had ended at the store, which was surrounded by police and fire crews.

"At this time this is NOT an active shooter. Active crime scene. We will update as info becomes available," the police department said in that tweet. Confirmation of the two fatalities came about 20 minutes later.

Thornton is city of about 120,000 people roughly 10 miles (16 km) northeast of downtown Denver.

Avila said police were called to the store at about 6:30 p.m. Mountain time (8:30 p.m. ET) and that the gunshots had ceased by the time the first officers arrived at the scene.

A Walmart customer, Aaron Stephens, 44, of Thorton, told Reuters he was inside paying for groceries at a self-checkout stand when he heard gunshots and the sound of ricocheting bullets.

"The employees started screaming and the customers started screaming" as people began to flee the store, he recounted. "I ran out, too, because I didn't want to get shot."

Stephens said he did not see where the shooting had come from and did not see anyone struck by bullets.

Local NBC television affiliate 9NEWS reported that a woman whose son was in the Walmart had told her that he had heard about 30 gunshots and was still inside.

A video posted on Twitter showed the Walmart, which is situated in a large complex of big-box stores and other retail outlets adjacent to U.S. Interstate 25, apparently empty except for police officers with guns drawn.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Colorado DJ's suit against Taylor Swift dismissed in groping trial

DENVER - Pop star Taylor Swift on Friday won a preliminary round in the federal court trial stemming from her allegation that she was groped by a Colorado disc jockey, as the judge dismissed the DJ's rival claim accusing the singer of wrongfully getting him fired.

The ruling by U.S. District Judge William Martinez left intact Swift's assault and battery countersuit against David Mueller, who had asserted he was falsely accused by the recording star and ousted from his $150,000-a-year job at radio station KYGO-FM under pressure from her.

The judge previously tossed out Mueller's defamation-of-character claim against Swift, originally leaving her only to face a tort claim of interference with contractual obligations and prospective business relations.

The Grammy-winning artist behind such hits as "Fearless" and "I Knew Your Were Trouble" asserted that her representatives informed KYGO management about the alleged groping incident in 2013 but never demanded that Mueller be fired.

Martinez agreed with Swift's lawyer, J. Douglas Baldridge, that the other side had failed to show any basis to support Mueller's contractual interference claims against Swift.

But the judge left the singer's mother, Andrea Swift, and her radio station liaison Frank Bell named as defendants in Mueller's case, meaning the jury will decide if those two should bear any liability for Mueller's dismissal.

The eight-member U.S. District Court jury also will decide whether Mueller is liable for assault and battery, for which Swift is seeking a symbolic $1 in damages. She has pledged to donate any judgment she wins beyond that to charity.

The ruling came on the fifth day of the Denver trial, capped by testimony from Swift's former bodyguard corroborating her account of being groped by Mueller, testifying that he saw the DJ slip his hand under her skirt as they posed for a photo.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Taylor Swift shakes off silence with high-profile groping trial

LOS ANGELES - After keeping a low profile for months, Taylor Swift has put herself back in the spotlight in a bare bottom-groping trial, whose potential for embarrassment many celebrities would do their best to avoid.

Yet Swift, one of the biggest names in pop music, shows no signs of wanting to shake off the attention accompanying a sexual assault trial underway this week in Colorado, despite scant support from other female stars.

Instead of settling out of court, Swift, 27, is expected to take the stand and testify in the civil case against a former Denver DJ.

The DJ, David Mueller, 55, sued Swift, claiming he lost his job after she told his manager that he had grabbed her bare buttocks during a meet-and-greet session in Denver four years ago. Mueller has said he is innocent and did nothing inappropriate.

Swift countersued Mueller for assault and is seeking a symbolic $1 in damages to make the point that "you can say no when someone puts their hand on you," her lawyer told the Denver court in opening statements.

Mueller has said he is innocent and did nothing inappropriate.

Her typical strategy has been to write "a nasty song about the person," said Howard Bragman, the founder of Hollywood PR firm Fifteen Minutes. "So clearly, she wants to make a point and she believes she is in the right."

"It's wildly unusual for someone of her caliber to go through with one of these lawsuits. Ninety-nine percent of the time they are settled," said Bragman.

He said trials are unpredictable and can bring up questions over people's sex lives "and no celebrity wants to put themselves up for that kind of situation."

Swift, who has 85 million Twitter and 102 million Instagram followers, has said in depositions she wants the case to serve as an example to other women "who may resist publicly reliving similar outrageous and humiliating acts."

Yet the country-turned-pop star, who has a mixed track record on feminist issues, is not so far getting the support she might expect from her peers for taking a stand.

In January, Swift was accused on social media and by female commentators of being an opportunist feminist for not doing more to support the massive women's marches across the United States that brought the likes of Miley Cyrus, Katy Perry and Madonna onto the streets. She did not respond.

Despite donating $250,000 to Kesha in 2016 for her own sexual assault legal battles, the "Tik-Tok" singer has been silent so far about Swift's case. Lady Gaga, who has spoken about being raped when younger, has also said nothing, as has Madonna.

The Denver trial follows a difficult 12 months for the singer after a much-ridiculed 2016 summer fling with British actor Tom Hiddleston. She also feuded with Kim Kardashian, Kanye West and Katy Perry.

Previously ubiquitous on social media and red carpets, Swift subsequently dropped out of public view. A single tweet in May sending prayers to the victims of the Manchester bombing in England has been her only Twitter posting in more than six months.

Reporting by Jill Serjeant; Editing by Leela de Kretser and Lisa Shumaker

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Taylor Swift watches jury selection for trial against Denver DJ

DENVER - Taylor Swift sat next to her lawyers at a federal courthouse in Denver on Monday as jury selection began for a trial pitting the pop star against a Colorado radio personality over allegations the former disc jockey fondled her four years ago during a photo shoot.

Swift, 27, one of the top-selling U.S. singers, wore a black jacket and white top in court as she watched the proceedings.

She is expected to take the stand during the trial in U.S. District Court to testify about the incident, which resulted in broadcaster David Mueller's firing from Colorado music station KYGO-FM.

The litigation centers on Swift's allegations that Mueller slipped his hand under her dress and grabbed her bare bottom as they posed during a meet-and-greet session before her June 2, 2013, concert in Denver.

"It was not an accident, it was completely intentional, and I have never been so sure of anything in my life," Swift said of the incident during a deposition.

Mueller, 55, sued first, claiming Swift falsely accused him of the groping and pressured station management to oust him from his $150,000-per-year job at the station, according to the lawsuit.

Swift countersued for assault and battery and that became part of the same trial.

A crowd of Swift supporters was expected to attend the proceedings.

Maya Benia, 20, a fan from Albuquerque, New Mexico, had been waiting outside the courthouse since 5:30 a.m. MDT (1130 GMT). She could not stay for the trial because of a doctor's appointment but had a letter she hoped someone would relay to the singer.

"It is a thank-you to her for consistently being there for me over the years through all my hospitalizations and also a thank for survivors of sexual assault and her being able to use her voice when others couldn't," Benia said.

Mueller denies anything inappropriate occurred during the brief backstage encounter in which he stood on one side of the pop star and his girlfriend on the other. His lawsuit said Swift's accusation is "nonsense."

Mueller is suing under tort claims of interference with contractual obligations and prospective business relations. Jurors will determine what monetary damages, if any, he is entitled to if Swift is found liable.

In court filings, Swift said her representatives informed KYGO management about the incident but she did not demand Mueller be fired.

The radio station investigated and two days after the incident fired Mueller for violating the morality clause of his contract, court documents show.

The judge has placed a gag order on all parties and attorneys for both sides did not respond to messages seeking comment.

Swift, one of the most successful contemporary music artists, earned $170 million between June 2015 and June 2016 following a world tour and her best-selling "1989" album, according to Forbes Magazine.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

The Lumineers topple Kanye West's reign on US Billboard chart

Folk rockers The Lumineers knocked Kanye West off the top spot on the weekly US Billboard 200 album chart on Monday.

"Cleopatra," the second album from the Colorado-based Lumineers, best known for their 2012 hit "Ho Hey," sold 125,000 units from album and song sales and 17 million streams.

Rapper West's "The Life of Pablo," which topped the chart last week based on the strength of streaming activity, dropped to No. 4 this week with 47,000 units, comprising 1,400 physical album sales and 69 million streams.

The only other new entry on the top 10 of the Billboard 200 chart this week was "Gore" by metal rockers Deftones at No. 2, selling 71,000 units.

On the Digital Songs chart, which measures online single sales, Canadian R&B artist Drake ousted his own "Pop Style" with his "One Dance" song featuring Wizkid and Kyla, which sold 119,000 digital copies. "Pop Style" dropped to No. 5.

(Reporting by Piya Sinha-Roy; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Three dead in shooting at US family planning center

COLORADO SPRINGS, United States - Three people were killed and several wounded when a gunman opened fire at a family planning center in Colorado in a standoff that dragged on for five hours Friday before he surrendered.

A large area of snow-covered Colorado Springs was placed on lockdown into the evening, just a day after millions of Americans celebrated the Thanksgiving holiday, in the latest incident to shed a damning light on the United States' gun culture.

Mayor John Suthers paid tribute to police for getting the gunman into custody without further bloodshed at the Planned Parenthood building, where people scrambled into a safe room in a desperate bid to save themselves.

A police officer was among the dead, he said, while nine others -- among them five police -- were wounded. None of the injured were in a serious condition.

"I want to convey to the loved ones of the victims: this is a terrible, terrible tragedy that occurred here in Colorado Springs today," Suthers told reporters.

"Obviously, we lost two civilian victims, we mourn the loss of a very brave police officer."

It was not immediately clear if the Planned Parenthood family planning center had been specifically targeted.

Abortion is one of the services Planned Parenthood provides for women, and the association has become a lightning rod for criticism by social conservatives.

The women's health care giant has also been mired in a months-long scandal after anti-abortion activists released secretly recorded videos showing the organization's officials discussing use of aborted fetal tissue for medical research.

GUNFIRE RINGS OUT

Earlier, there had been fears that the unidentified gunman might have explosives with him, and police were carefully combing the scene after the siege came to an end when he surrendered.

Speaking at the scene before the standoff ended, police spokeswoman Lieutenant Catherine Buckley warned that the gunman had taken "items" and bags inside the building with him.

An unknown number of people were inside the clinic at the time of the shooting, on what had been a regular working day at Planned Parenthood, a day after Thanksgiving.

A sheriff's department SWAT team with at least one armored vehicle and several ambulances had also been on standby, as the evening drew in on the snowy scene.

The immediate vicinity was placed on lockdown and people were told to stay indoors.

Buckley said the shooter was armed with some kind of "long weapon" with a shoulder stock such as a rifle and some witnesses reported hearing automatic fire.

SPECIFIC TARGET?

Quan Hoang, the owner of a nearby nail salon, told CNN that when he heard the gunfire break out, he feared a robbery was under way at a bank in the shopping area, which would have been bustling with people looking to pick up a bargain in the Black Friday sales.

"And we see cops, SWAT, the bomb squad, a whole bunch of people just trying to take cover around the Planned Parenthood area," he said by telephone.

"An officer came back in and said, 'Is everyone safe?' We asked him questions and he said they've barricaded him inside the Planned Parenthood and he was shooting out from the windows."

A White House official said that President Barack Obama had been notified of the incident by his Homeland Security Advisor Lisa Monaco.

Vicki Cowart, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Rocky Mountains, said that her initial information was that none of her staff or patients had been killed or injured.

Cowart said that she did not believe the center had been specifically targeted.

"We're very pleased that our own security systems were operating at top-notch," she told CNN.

That included rushing into a safe room.

"They were able to hunker down and some got out early throughout the afternoon, but those that didn't were in a safe spot," Cowart said.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Sexting at US high school results in criminal probe, suspensions

DENVER - Widespread circulation of hundreds of sexually explicit photos among students at a Colorado high school via text messages has triggered a criminal investigation, multiple suspensions and the forfeiture of a football game, officials said on Friday.

Authorities in Canon City, about 90 miles southwest of Denver, said at a news conference that following a tip, nude, semi-nude or sexually suggestive images were uncovered at the 1,100-student Canon City High School.

Canon City Police Chief Paul Schultz said investigators seized a phone containing "several hundred" inappropriate photographs from a student at Canon City High School.

"We will be attempting to identify the people and make our best determination if there have been any violations of the law," Schultz said.

Canon City School Superintendent George Welsh said the district has previously dealt with sexting, the exchange of inappropriate messages or pictures over social media via a smart phone.

"There isn't a school in the United States that hasn't dealt with the issue of sexting," Welsh said. "What's different about this is that it's large scale."

Welsh said the school has suspended multiple students, but citing privacy laws, declined to provide further details.

Schultz said investigators are waiting for search warrants before viewing the images, but school officials did look at them because they are allowed wider latitude to search items on school property.

Welsh said once he became aware of the issue on Monday, he gave the district's athletic director and the school's football coach 24 hours to assure him that no football players were involved, which they could not do.

"We then made the decision to forfeit the game," he said, which was the team's final game of the season.

Fremont County District Attorney Tom LeDoux said once the investigation is substantially completed in about 30 days, his office will decide whether any criminal charges are warranted.

If any of the students are over 18, they could face adult rather than juvenile charges where the penalties are stiffer, LeDoux said, adding that each instance will be dealt with on a case-by-case basis.

Aggravating factors that could determine whether charges are filed include whether any sexual contact was involved, whether anyone was coerced into taking photos, or whether there was any threats of retaliation for reporting the incident, he said.

"We're not aware that any of those things have happened ... It's possible no criminal charges could be filed," LeDoux said.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

UFC champ Dillashaw leaves Team Alpha Male

UFC 135-pound champion TJ Dillashaw is no longer with Team Alpha Male.

In a statement he released to Ariel Helwani of MMAFighting.com, the 29-year old fighter says he decided to train full time with striking coach Duane Ludwig and Elevation Fight Team in Colorado.

For Dillashaw, it is more about what he believes is the perfect opportunity to better himself as a fighter.

"In regards to my upcoming fight camp, I will be doing my training in Colorado. The last six years at Team Alpha Male have been irreplaceable and my brothers there will forever be family to me. I thank each and every one of them for helping me along the way and being a part of this journey we've shared. This is not the end of being a part of the Team Alpha Male family, but a new chapter in my career.

"I will be spending my next full training camp with Elevation Fight Team as they've offered me an opportunity that I couldn't pass up, with an incredible coaching staff and state-of-the-art facilities.

"I want to thank everyone for the continued support as this has not been a decision I've taken lightly."

Ironically, Conor McGregor recently made mention of Dillashaw being a “snake in the grass” to Urijah Faber, adding that “The California Kid” should actually fight his now former teammate.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

LOOK: Obama shoots pool

President Barack Obama shoots pool during a stop in a bar in Denver. The photo was taken by Kevin Lamarque for Reuters.

Obama visited Texas for the first time since the influx of child migrants from Central America overwhelmed border resources. He had talks with Texas Governor Rick Perry aboard his Marine One helicopter and in a group meeting with local officials that Obama called constructive.

In a brief news conference after the meeting, Obama dismissed criticism from Perry, a potential 2016 Republican presidential candidate, that he should personally visit the border region for a first-hand look.

"This isn’t theater. This is a problem. I’m not interested in photo ops. I’m interested in solving a problem," he said.

The president, on a three-day trip out of Washington, is spending much time raising money for Democratic congressional candidates, leading to criticism that he should spend some time visiting the border. Obama said he is getting plenty of information from top advisers who are visiting the area.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

4 dead in townhouse shooting in Aurora, Colorado

AURORA, Colo. - A gunman who barricaded himself inside a townhouse after killing three people in the home was shot to death by police on Saturday in Aurora, Colorado, the same Denver suburb where 12 people where slain in a movie house massacre last July, police said.

The gunman and his three victims, as well as a woman who fled safely from the home at the outset of the violence and alerted authorities, were all believed to be related to one another, police spokeswoman Cassidee Carlson said.

But the motive for the killings was not immediately understood.

"We're trying to find out what set this guy off," she told Reuters.

A hostage-negotiation team called to the scene had sought to talk the suspect into surrendering for about five hours before police moved to shoot tear gas into the home at about 8:00 a.m. (10:00 a.m. EST/1500 GMT), prompting the gunman to open fire on officers from inside, police said.

About an hour later, the gunman began firing at police again from a second-floor window, and police returned fire, killing the suspect, according to a police statement following the incident. No police were wounded.

Officers entering the townhouse found the bodies of the gunman and three other people - two men and a woman - who were presumed to have been shot hours earlier before police were called to the scene.

"None of the officers heard gunshots until they were directed at us at about 8 o'clock," Carlson said. The woman who escaped the home also told police the victims were shot before she fled.

The names of the gunman and his three victims were being withheld until the coroner could confirm their identities and notify next of kin, authorities said.

The episode kept residents in much of the surrounding community awake overnight, as police notified neighbors of an emergency situation and evacuated several adjacent blocks.

One neighbor, Sunil Pawar, 59, said he received a reverse 911 call advising him to stay inside and away from windows before police later showed up to ring doorbells and escort residents of the townhouse development to safety.

Pawar said he opted to stay put, later hearing gunshots, followed by the voices of police calling to the gunman though a bullhorn, saying, "Sonny, we want to talk to you, pick up the phone, Sonny."

Another neighbor, Michael Ignace, 46, said he had previously spoken with the man suspected of the shooting, and "he seemed like a reasonable guy, and we talked about motorcycles."

The standoff and shooting unfolded just a few miles south of the Aurora movie theater where 12 people were killed and 58 others wounded when a lone gunman opened fire there in July during a midnight showing of the Batman film, "The Dark Knight Rises."

The suspect in that rampage, former college student James Holmes, is due back in court on Monday for a hearing in which prosecutors will seek to convince a judge they have sufficient evidence to put him on trial.

The Colorado movie theater killings had ranked as deadliest mass shooting in the United States last year until a Dec. 14 massacre at an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut, where a gunman shot 20 school children and six adults to death before taking his own life. The shooter in that case also had killed his mother at their home.

(Reporting by Keith Coffman in Aurora, with additional reporting by Daniel Trotta and Steve Gorman; Writing by Steve Gorman; Editing by Eric Walsh)

source: abs-cbnnews.com

Romney schedule for Sept. 23

BOSTON, Sept. 23 (UPI) -- Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney campaigns in Colorado Sunday, his campaign said.

Romney will attend a rally at D'Evelyn High School in Denver.

source: upi.com

Prosecutors lay 142 charges against Colorado 'shooter'

CENTENNIAL, Colorado - Colorado prosecutors charged James Holmes Monday with 140 counts of murder or attempted murder, including 12 of first-degree murder for each fatality in the Aurora cinema shooting.

Holmes, 24, was also slapped with one count of possession of an explosive device, and one sentence enhancement count.

Twelve people were killed and 58 were wounded after a gunman burst into a sold-out midnight viewing of the latest Batman film, "The Dark Knight Rises," and began shooting people at random.

Holmes faces one count of first degree murder for each victim in addition to a second charge of "murder by depraved indifference." He also faces 116 attempted murder charges.

Prosecutors have said it will be several weeks before a decision is made on whether or not to seek the death penalty. Only one person has been executed in Colorado since capital punishment was reinstated in 1976.

Holmes gained access to the movie theater via a fire exit shortly after the start of the highly-anticipated film's premier on July 20 and threw two canisters of noxious gas into the auditorium, witnesses and police said.

After firing into the air with a pump-action shotgun, the former graduate student allegedly began shooting people with a military-style assault rifle capable of firing 50 to 60 rounds a minute.

Ten victims from the theater shooting remained hospitalized -- four of them in critical condition.

Among them is Ashley Moser, 25, whose six-year-old daughter Veronica was killed in the massacre. Moser was shot in the neck and stomach and has since lost her unborn child.

There has been speculation that stress over failing an important oral exam may have been the trigger that caused Holmes, a promising neuroscience student who had won a prestigious government grant, to become unhinged.

ABC News' affiliate in Denver, KMGH-TV, reported that Holmes purchased a high-powered rifle on June 7, hours after failing the key oral test. Three days later, he dropped out of his university program.

source: interaksyon.com

Pinoy shooting victim suffers anxiety attacks

AURORA, Colorado - Seventeen-year-old Colorado shooting victim Ryan Lumba, who remains in intensive care following two surgeries that removed bullet slugs in his stomach, now struggles with anxiety attacks.

His mother, Remy Lumba, told Balitang America that her son constantly asks if the attacker is still in jail. She said she always has to remind him that the nightmare is over.

Doctors are treating Ryan’s anxiety and have urged his mother to always be by his side.

Meantime, law enforcement officials said the suspect in last week's massacre at a Colorado movie theater, James Holmes, sent a package to a university psychiatrist that contained a notebook describing the attack.

The package, which reportedly included stick figure drawings of a gunman shooting people, was sent before the shootings.

Mrs. Lumba said officials of the University of Colorado hospital gave them a heads up about this, before the news came out to help them manage Ryan’s further anxiety attacks.

Hospital help shooting victims

Meanwhile, three of five hospitals treating the wounded said they will limit or completely wipe out medical bills for the victims.

Health-One, which owns the medical center of Aurora, and Swedish Medical Center said it will limit or eliminate charges based on the individual circumstances of the patients.

Children’s Hospital Colorado, for its part, said it would use donations and its charity care fund to cover the medical expenses of the uninsured shooting victims it is treating.

For those who do have insurance, the hospital said it will waive all co-pays.

These three hospitals have treated 22 shooting victims. Some victims, many of them young, are uninsured and face mounting hospital bills.

source: abs-cbnnews.com

Colorado shooting victims brought together by love of comics

They included a sandwich maker, a cryptography expert, college students and a property appraiser. Some loved wrestling, others sportscasting, or visiting the zoo.

The 12 people killed early on Friday morning in a multiplex in Aurora, Colorado, came from all walks of life. Many were avid comic book fans who had eagerly awaited the midnight premiere of 'The Dark Knight Rises.'

The victims ranged in age from six-year-old Veronica Moser-Sullivan, who had just learned how to swim, to 51-year-old Gordon Cowden. Most were in their 20s.

Jessica Ghawi, 24, had spent the day cajoling friends to join her at the theater. She wouldn't accept excuses from those who said they'd be too tired for work after a midnight showing. "Of course we're seeing Dark Knight," she tweeted. She wouldn't take no for an answer; she was a "redheaded Texan spitfire." Sure enough, she had her way; just before midnight she was tweeting impatiently that there were still 20 minutes to wait.

Alex Sullivan couldn't wait for the movie, either. This was a big weekend for him: He'd be celebrating his first wedding anniversary on Sunday. And Friday was his 27th birthday. The Batman premiere was a present to himself.

"OMG COUNTING down till it start cant wait going to be the best birthday ever," he wrote on his Facebook page.

The Aurora multiplex was crowded for the event. Denver had been sweltering under high 30s Celsius temperatures for days. The theater offered an air-conditioned respite. And the crowd was primed for fun.

Large groups of friends came in together. Some comic-book aficionados wore costumes.

Others brought their kids; six-year-old Veronica was there with her mom, and she wasn't the only one allowed to stay up way past bedtime for the treat of watching Batman on the big screen. One young couple brought their infant son and their 4-year-old daughter.

Anguish

Anticipation turned to anguish when the gunman burst into the darkened theater, set off two smoke bombs and let loose a barrage of bullets.

Matt McQuinn, 27, was fatally shot as he dived to cover his girlfriend, Samantha Yowler, trying to shield her from the bullets, according to Robert Scott, a lawyer representing both families. McQuinn and Yowler worked together at Target. His Facebook page had a picture of them together, a close-up with a teddy bear.

Friends of Alexander Teves, who also died in the shooting, posted memories of him online; one recalled that he loved Spiderman and did a hilarious impersonation of Gollum from the "Lord of the Rings" movies.

Teves, 24, was a basketball buff. There's a video of him on YouTube participating in a fan contest during halftime of a college basketball game. Given one chance to make a three-point shot, he nailed it.

"One of the best men I ever knew," one of his friends wrote of Teves.

Similar praise poured in for Rebecca Ann Wingo, 32. Her Facebook page showcased her vibrant spirit: She liked camping, traveling, bowling and listening to local bands. She worked in a restaurant. She spoke Chinese.

The Denver Post quoted from the Facebook page of her father, Steve Hernandez: "I lost my daughter yesterday to a mad man, my grief right now is inconsolable..."

Two military men were among the dead.

John Larimer, 27, was a petty officer in the Navy who specialized in cryptology. "He was an outstanding shipmate," his commanding officer, Commander Jeffrey Jakuboski, said in a statement released by the Navy. "He will be missed by all who knew him."

Air Force Staff Sergeant Jesse Childress, 29, was killed as well. A reservist, Childress had been called to active duty as a cyber systems operator, stationed at nearby Buckley Air Force Base, the military said.

Ghawi, the 24-year-old redhead, was an aspiring sportscaster who adored professional hockey. On Saturday, journalists who had worked with her shared their shock and anguish online. They also called attention to a blog she had written earlier this summer, after a "weird feeling" in her gut had prompted her to exit a food court in Toronto minutes before a gunman opened fire, killing a shopper just steps from where she had been sitting.

"God bless you, Jessica. You are a beautiful soul with an infectious smile," posted Nate Lundy, a sportscaster with a Denver radio station where Ghawi had worked as an intern. "Miss you so much."

'Miss her forever'

Other victims included Alexander Boik, 18, a talented artist planning to enter an arts college in the fall, the Denver Post reported. Jonathan Blunk, 26, who was described by NBC News as a father of two young children and a former Navy sailor, also died in the massacre.

So did Micayla Medek, 23, a community-college student and self-described "sandwich artist" at Subway.

Medek had gone to the midnight showing with several friends in her hometown of Aurora. One of those friends called her house around 1 a.m. with news her parents could barely process.

There had been guns, the friend said. A shooting. Medek had called out "I've been shot!" She had fallen to the ground. Her friends saw her fall, heard her cough, tried to help, but were hustled out of the theater by authorities, her aunt, Jenny Zakovich, recounted.

For nearly 20 hours, the family tried to find Micayla.

Her older sister, Amanda, drove from hospital to hospital with Micayla's photo, desperate to find someone who might have seen her. Her father, Greg, pleaded for information from authorities who had set up a staging area at a local high school.

"They searched and searched and searched and searched for her," Zakovich said.

It wasn't until Friday night that authorities knocked at their door with confirmation that Micayla had died in the theater.

Greg Medek, exhausted and depleted, said he took comfort in knowing that Micayla shared his strong Christian faith. She was a hard worker, he said, a good girl, a happy girl, who "had a heart for people."

"She was the best part of my life," Micayla's father said. "You couldn't have asked for a better kid. It was a privilege to have her."

His voice broke as he added: "I'm going to miss her forever." - Reuters

source: gmanetwork.com

Colorado massacre suspect silent in first court hearing

CENTENNIAL, Colorado - The man accused of killing a dozen people in a Colorado movie theater during a showing of the new "Batman" film gave little away in his first court appearance on Monday, sitting silently in a red jailhouse jump suit and with his hair dyed bright red.

James Eagan Holmes, 24, who was detained immediately after the massacre early on Friday morning, appeared groggy and emotionless during the brief hearing, looking straight ahead and occasionally closing his eyes. He was shackled at the wrists and ankles.

About 40 members of the victim's families were seated on the left side of the courtroom. One family member seated in the front row glared at Holmes throughout the entire proceeding.

Several times when Arapahoe County District Judge William Sylvester asked Holmes a question, one of his attorneys answered for him.

Police say Holmes was dressed in body armor and toting three guns when he opened fire at a packed midnight screening of the new Batman movie at a theater complex in the Denver suburb of Aurora in the early hours of Friday. Fifty-eight other people were wounded, and many of them have serious injuries.

The former neuroscience student also left his apartment booby-trapped with explosives that police said could have destroyed the apartment complex. They conducted a controlled detonation over the weekend.

Police say they are still searching for a motive for the crime, which baffled fellow students and acquaintances. They described him as a quiet high-achiever whose past gave little inkling that anything was amiss.

At the hearing the judge set a date of next Monday for formal charges to be filed.

Possible death penalty

Arapahoe County District Attorney Carol Chambers said she would consult with the victims and families of the dead before making a decision on seeking the death penalty.

She told reporters outside the court house that the decision on the death penalty had to be made within 60 days of his arraignment, "so it's months down the line."

Chambers has prosecuted two of the three inmates who are now on Colorado's death row.

Holmes was represented by a public defender during the brief hearing before Sylvester. It was not clear if any of his family attended the hearing.

On Sunday, President Barack Obama traveled to the suburb of 325,000 to offer comfort to families of the victims. He told them their loved ones would be remembered long after the justice system was done with the killer.

The dead included war veterans, an aspiring sportscaster who had barely escaped a shooting in a Toronto mall earlier this summer, and a 6-year-old girl.

The crime meets all the elements of Colorado capital case law, including premeditation, multiple victims, and the killing of a child, said former Denver prosecutor Craig Silverman.

"If James Holmes isn't executed, Colorado may as well throw away its death penalty law," he said.

Many in Aurora have vowed to deny Holmes the publicity they believe he craves by not uttering his name.

"I refuse to say his name. In my house we're just going to call him Suspect A," Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper told a memorial on the steps of the suburb's municipal center on Sunday night. He captured a spirit of defiance voiced by citizens as well as religious and political leaders.

Holmes and his motives remained largely a mystery, with past associates saying he displayed no hints of a mental illness or violent tendencies.

He was armed with a Smith & Wesson M&P .223 semi-automatic rifle, similar to an AR-15 assault rifle, a 12-gauge shotgun and a Glock .40-caliber handgun. Police found an additional Glock .40-caliber handgun in his car. All the weapons had been bought legally.

He is in solitary confinement to protect him from other prisoners. Holmes had recently dropped out of a doctoral degree program in neuroscience at the University of Colorado's Anschutz Medical School, a few blocks from his apartment. (Additional reporting by Stephanie Simon, Keith Coffman, Edith Honan, Dan Whitcomb and Donna Smith)

source: interaksyon.com