At least one killed, several injured in Seattle mass shooting

LOS ANGELES - At least one person was killed and seven others, including a child, were wounded on Wednesday after gunfire broke out in downtown Seattle near a popular tourist area, police and hospital officials said.

Police said at least one suspect was being sought in connection with the mass shooting that took place near a McDonald's fast food restaurant, just blocks away from the Pike Place Market.

It was the third shooting in the area in less than two days, and the latest incident of gun violence that has affected churches, cinemas and other public places in the United States.

"Officers investigating shooting near 4th and Pine," the Seattle Police Department said in a tweet. "Multiple victims. The suspect has fled, and police are searching for him. Officers and medics are providing first aid to the injured."

Police chief Carmen Best told reporters at the scene that one person, a woman, had been killed and several others were wounded in the shooting that occurred shortly after 5:00 pm (0100 GMT).

Officials at Harborview Medical Center, where all the wounded were transported, said seven people were being treated at the hospital, including a nine-year-old boy.

Police ordered people to stay out of the area and shut down a subway station as they searched for one or more suspects.

Tyler Parsons, an employee at Victrola Coffee Roasters, told The Seattle Times that he was working when he suddenly saw victims falling to the ground as shots rang out.

He said several people ran into his shop to seek cover and he saw two people with gunshot wounds.

"The shooting was just kind of terrifying. Terrifying it's so close," he told the paper.

One body covered with a white tarp could be seen in TV images lying on the sidewalk in front of the McDonald's two hours after the shooting.

It was unclear if any of the victims were tourists.

Susan Gregg, a spokesperson for Harborview Medical Center, said a 55-year-old woman shot in the abdomen was rushed into surgery and the boy, who was shot in the leg, was in serious condition. The other victims -- five males -- are in satisfactory condition, she said.

Gregg added that the nature of the injuries varied from grazing wounds to life-threatening injuries.

One witness interviewed by local media said he had seen two men arguing loudly before they started shooting at one another, hitting bystanders.

Around 40,000 people died from various firearms-related incidents, including suicides and homicides, in 2017 in the US, according to government figures.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Games bus hit by gunfire, no one seriously hurt: witnesses

RIO DE JANEIRO - A bus carrying journalists at the Rio Games was hit by gunfire on a highway between Olympic venues on Tuesday, witnesses said. No one was seriously injured in the incident.

The bus was making its way from the Games basketball venue to the main Olympic park when, according to passengers, two shots were heard hitting the vehicle. Windows shattered and flying glass left two people with minor lacerations.

"We were shot at. I mean we could hear the report of the gun," said Sherryl "Lee" Michaelson, a retired U.S. air force captain who is working for a basketball publication in Rio.

Brazilian police were not immediately available for comment.

Violent street crime in Rio has left its mark on South America's first Olympic Games. On Saturday, a bullet hit the equestrian centre, missing journalists there by just a few feet. That bullet was suspected to have been fired by a gang member trying to shoot down a police blimp or drone, officials said.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Gunman kills 9 at black South Carolina church

CHARLESTON, S.C. - A white gunman was still at large after killing nine people during a prayer service at a historic African-American church in Charleston, South Carolina, the city's police chief said on Thursday, describing the attack as a hate crime.

Officers with dogs searched the streets for the suspect, whom police described as a 21-year-old white man with sandy hair wearing a sweatshirt, jeans and boots.

Gunfire erupted inside Emanuel AME Church in downtown Charleston on Wednesday night, Police Chief Gregory Mullen said.

The gunman had yet to be caught hours after the attack and was considered extremely dangerous, he said.

"To have an awful person come in and shoot them is inexplicable, obviously the most intolerable and unbelievable act possible," Charleston Mayor Joe Riley told reporters. "The only reason someone could walk into a church to shoot people praying is out of hate."

The shooting called to mind a 1963 bombing of an African-American church in Birmingham, Alabama, that killed four girls and galvanized the civil rights movement of the 1960s.

The Charleston church is one of the largest and oldest black congregations in the South, its website says. It has its roots in the early 19th century, and the current building, completed in 1891, is considered a historically significant building, according to the U.S. National Park Service.

The attack follows the April shooting of an unarmed black man in North Charleston by a white police officer. The officer has been charged with murder in that case, one of a number of deaths of unarmed black men in encounters with police that have raised racial tensions in the United States.

Soon after the shooting, a clutch of men stood in a circle in front of a hotel near the church, one of many landmark buildings in the city.

"We pray for the families, they've got a long road ahead of them," Reverend James Johnson, a local civil rights activist, said during the impromptu prayer service.

The FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and other agencies have joined in the investigation, Mullen said.

Eight victims were found dead in the church, Mullen told reporters, and a ninth person died after being taken to hospital. One other person was wounded and was being treated at a local hospital, Mullen said.

None of the victims were immediately identified. But the Reverend Al Sharpton, the New York-based civil rights leader, said in a tweet that the Reverend Clementa Pinckney, the church's pastor and a member of the state Senate, was among the dead.

After the shooting, a bomb threat was reported near the church, Charleston County Sheriff's Office spokesman Eric Watson said, and people who were gathered in the area were told by police to move back.

Mullen said that the all-clear had been given after checks following the bomb threat.

A police chaplain was present at the scene of the shooting, and a helicopter with a searchlight hovered overhead as officers combed the area.

Following the attack on the church, Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush, the former governor of Florida, canceled an appearance in Charleston that had been scheduled for Thursday morning.

"Governor Bush's thoughts and prayers are with the individuals and families affected by this tragedy," his campaign team said in a statement.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Three shot at Lone Star college near Houston, Texas

Three people were injured as gunfire rang out during an argument at a college in the US state of Texas, say police.

A sheriff's official said both people involved in the altercation at Lone Star College in the Houston area were wounded and taken to hospital.

A college maintenance man was also injured in the cross-fire.

The latest in a series of US shootings, it comes amid a push for gun control by the Obama administration.

Hiding under table

Lone Star College's official Twitter account said the incident took place at about 12:30 local time (18:30 GMT) on Tuesday.



 "Danger has been mitigated," said the statement. "Situation under control."

Harris County Sheriff's official Armando Tello told a news conference that one of the two suspects was enrolled at the college.

The two people involved in the fight are considered people of interest, he added, and officials say they are not looking for any other suspects. A handgun was recovered at the scene.

In total, four people were brought to two hospitals, including one who had a heart attack, said emergency services spokesman Mark Smith.

Witnesses told local broadcaster KHOU they had seen a man pull out a gun during an argument with another man.

"I saw two dudes basically get into an altercation and the dude that shot, he basically got angry and started shooting the other guy," Brittany Mobley said.

Students fled for safety as ambulances arrived at the scene and police swarmed over the campus.

A student who was leaving an emergency-responder class said he had helped two injured people, one who had been shot in the knee and another with a wound to the lower buttocks.

Another student, Amanda Vasquez, told KPRC television she had been waiting for an English class to begin when gunfire rang out.

"They sounded very close, the shots. Five or six gunshots," she said. "I just ducked under the table as fast as I could and hoped for the best.

"I saw one of the shooters when he was already under police control."

Richard Carpenter, chancellor of the Lone Star College System, said the shooting happened outside between an academic building and the library.

The campus, about 20 miles (32km) north of Houston, has some 18,000 students.

Several school districts in Texas have allowed faculty members to carry guns on campus. Guns are not allowed on college campuses, but the state legislature may debate a bill to allow it this year.

Last week, President Barack Obama unveiled the most sweeping gun control proposals in two decades, including calls for a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines as well as wider background checks on gun buyers.

The US gun debate gained new impetus last month after a school shooting that left 20 children and six teachers dead in Newtown, Connecticut.

source: bbc.co.uk