Police: 6 wounded in Tennessee shooting were children
Police say six people wounded in weekend gunfire in a downtown Chattanooga, Tennessee, business district were all children
ByThe Associated Press
May 30, 2022, 11:14 PM
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. -- Six people wounded in weekend gunfire in a downtown Chattanooga, Tennessee, business district were all children, police said Monday.
Five of the victims were 15 and one was 13, Chattanooga Police said in a statement.
Officers were patrolling the area Saturday night when they heard gunfire and responded to find multiple people shooting weapons and numerous people fleeing the area. Some officers provided first aid while others began securing the scene, the statement said.
The shooting involved two groups of people that appeared to be advancing toward each other at the beginning of an altercation when two individuals in one group pull guns and fired at the other group, police said.
Authorities believe one or more teens were targeted, but that some victims were hit unintentionally.
The area, dotted with residential buildings, has restaurants and shops within walking distance and is popular with tourists.
Anyone with information about the shooting should contact the Chattanooga Police Department, authorities said.
California man, 78, gets high school diploma 6 decades later
For 60 years, Ted Sams regretted missing his high school graduation
ByThe Associated Press
May 31, 2022, 2:04 AM
PASADENA, Calif. -- For 60 years, Ted Sams regretted missing his high school graduation.
Now 78, Sams can finally call himself a graduate after donning a cap and gown and receiving his diploma Friday with the class of 2022 at Southern California's San Gabriel High School.
Back in 1962 when he was a high school senior, Sams got in trouble and was suspended five days before the end of the school year. He said he missed a crucial final exam and had to make it up over the summer.
“When I went back with my grade, they wouldn’t give me my diploma because I owed $4.80 for a book," Sams told KABC-TV. “And so I just walked away and said forget it.”
The school still had Sams’ original diploma locked away in an old filing cabinet. He beamed as he walked across the graduation stage at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena and received the diploma.
“Over the years, I complained to my kids a number of times about how $4.80 kept me from having my diploma,” he said.
Sams said he plans on hanging the diploma on a wall at his home.
Cops investigate swastika painted on Black Missouri church
A black swastika was painted on the outside wall of an historically Black church in southwestern Missouri and police are investigating the vandalism as a hate crime
ByThe Associated Press
May 27, 2022, 11:43 PM
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- A black swastika was painted on the outside wall of an historically Black church in southwestern Missouri and police are investigating the vandalism as a hate crime.
Pitts Chapel United Methodist Church in Springfield reported that the swastika was spray painted on the building on May 18 or 19. The NAACP and the Missouri chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations condemned the vandalism. A county parks crew removed the swastika.
During a news conference with the NAACP at the church Friday, the pastor, the Rev. Tracy Wolff, said her congregation was particularly disturbed that their church was targeted given recent violent hate crimes nationwide, including the deadly mass shooting at a grocery store in Buffalo, New York, that investigators have said was racially motivated.
“I want to be clear that this is not simply tagging. This is not graffiti. This is not vandalism," Wolff said. "This was a hate crime, and it is unacceptable.”
Pitts Chapel is Springfield's oldest historically Black church, Wolff said. It was founded in 1847 by a group of enslaved Africans.
“Though we are historically Black, on Sunday mornings at 11 a.m., we’re becoming one of the most diverse places in town. I don’t think a lot of people know that," she said.
Police have not identified a suspect and are asking witnesses or anyone with information to contact police. In the meantime, Wolff said, the church is beefing up security.
California investigating sick and dying brown pelicans
Wildlife authorities are trying to determine why large numbers of California brown pelicans are being found sick and dying
ByThe Associated Press
May 28, 2022, 12:05 AM
LOS ANGELES -- Wildlife authorities are trying to determine why large numbers of California brown pelicans are being found sick and dying.
Hundreds of the pelicans, which are a protected species in the state, have been admitted to wildlife rehabilitation facilities in Southern and Central California since about May 13, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife said in a statement.
“The pelicans have been found emaciated and frequently with secondary injuries or broken wings. Many of these birds died shortly after arrival at a facility,” it said.
Results of postmortem examinations and testing of pelicans brought to rehabilitation facilities indicate the birds are dying from starvation-related problems, and there are no indications of disease or unusual parasites.
“CDFW is unable to provide information on the underlying cause of this event at this time,” the department said.
The brown pelicans are an important part of the Pacific Coast ecosystem, feeding on northern anchovy, Pacific sardine and mackerel.
Wildlife authorities urged the public to call a local wildlife rehabilitation facility if they see a sick or injured pelican, and also email the state Wildlife Health Laboratory. But they cautioned people to not touch or try to feed the birds.
People can use an online mortality reporting form when they find a dead pelican.
The impact of the pesticide DDT, which caused eggshell thinning, led to the listing of California brown pelicans as endangered under the federal Endangered Species Act in 1970.
After DDT was banned, the species recovered and was removed from the U.S. endangered list in 2009. It remains protected under state law.
Man gets life in prison, plus 45 years, in beheading case
A New Hampshire man convicted of killing his wife’s co-worker and forcing her to behead him was has been sentenced to life in prison plus 45 years
ByHolly Ramer Associated Press
May 28, 2022, 1:26 AM
FILE - Armando Barron looks toward the jury during the first day of his trial at Cheshire County Superior Court, on May 17, 2022 in Keene, N.H. A jury on Thursday, May 26, 2022, convicted Barron of first-degree murder for killing his wife’s cowork...
The Associated Press
CONCORD, N.H. -- A New Hampshire man convicted of killing his wife’s co-worker and forcing her to behead him was sentenced Friday to life in prison, plus 45 years.
Armando Barron, 32, was convicted Thursday of first-degree murder, which carries a mandatory sentence of life without parole. A judge imposed additional time as recommended by prosecutors for other crimes, including kidnapping, criminal solicitation and assault.
“Your actions were brutal. They were also horrific, they were selfish, and they were completely senseless,” Judge Elizabeth Leonard told Barron. “The abject cruelty, the pain and suffering and all that you inflicted on Jonathan that night is unfathomable.”
Barron was accused of assaulting his wife after discovering she had been texting with her co-worker, 25-year-old Jonathan Amerault, in September 2020. Prosecutors said he used his wife’s cellphone to lure Amerault to a park, where he beat and kicked him before forcing him into his own car and fatally shooting him.
Barron's lawyers argued that his wife shot Amerault, which she denied.
Britany Barron, 33, testified that after Amerault was shot, she was forced to drive the car 200 miles (320 kilometers) north to a remote campsite, with Armando following behind her. There, she said, she was forced to behead Amerault. Her husband eventually left her at the site, telling her to dispose of the body, she testified.
Their voices shaking with anger and sadness, Amerault’s parents both called Barron a disgusting leech Friday.
“The only good thing I see about all this heinous, heinous crime is that you are not 40 years old, 50 or 60, but only 30 years old. You have a long, long time to fade away and rot in prison,” Kenny Amerault said.
“My son Jonathan was a thousand times more of a man than this lowlife could ever even dream of being,” Justine Amerault said. “The loss of Jonathan to this world is incredibly sad.
"But the saddest part of all is that in spite of him being surrounded by so many wonderful people, this evil creature just slithered right through us all and took him from us. And the last hours of Jonathan’s beautiful life were in the company of this ugly, hideous, demented creature.”
Barron, who did not speak at the sentencing hearing, plans to appeal his convictions, his lawyer said.
The Associated Press had previously not been naming the couple in order not to identify Britany Barron, who said she suffered extreme abuse. Through her lawyer, she recently agreed to the use of her name.
