A jury found a man guilty of murdering a Cook County judge, following a seven-day trial during which prosecutors said the assailants watched the judge and his girlfriend for days before shooting and killing him in a robbery attempt.
Raymond Myles, 66, a longtime jurist at the county’s main courthouse at 26th Street and California Avenue, died from his wounds after the shooting on April 10, 2017, outside his home on the Far South Side.
The slaying, believed to be the first of a judge in more than three decades, shocked his colleagues in the local court system and resulted in a sweeping police investigation.
The trial unfolded at a branch courthouse in south suburban Bridgeview before DuPage County Judge Jeffrey McKay, who was appointed due to the potential for conflicts of interest if Myles’ fellow judges in Cook County were to hear the case.
Family members of Myles gathered in the gallery each day. His son, Raymond Myles Jr., testified during the trial’s first day, describing how he called home for a routine check-in and then learned his father had been killed.
“(I) broke down and cried,” the younger Myles said.
Wilson’s attorneys denied that he was involved in the shooting, arguing that the motive for the attack centered around Smith’s family. Smith’s father was previously married to Myles’ girlfriend, and was not happy about the divorce or her new boyfriend, they said.
“Nothing about this case is what it seems,” said Assistant Public Defender Takenya Nixon.
Myles and his girlfriend rose before sunrise each morning to go to the gym before work, and were heading out that morning when they were confronted by a gunman who took Myles’ girlfriend’s gym bag.
Prosecutors said the shooters believed the girlfriend, Venita Parrish, carried money in the bag, but it had no cash in it that morning.
It was still dark when Parrish and Myles left the home that morning, Parrish testified during the trial. That’s when she saw — in her peripheral vision — someone lurking on the side of the brick house.
“Please, hurry,” Parrish said on the recording of the 911 call. “Oh, my Lord, please hurry.”
She ran, then fell and started screaming, she said.
“He said, ‘B—-, shut up,’” she testified.
Myles rushed outside and exchanged words with the attacker before he was shot and killed. According to prosecutors, he pleaded with the shooters, saying: “You don’t have to do this.”
After his killing, court employees remembered Myles as a hardworking and friendly judge. He was a Cubs fan and wore a team jacket to work during the team’s 2016 World Series run.
“Everyone here is devastated,” then-presiding judge of the Criminal Division LeRoy K. Martin Jr. said at the time. “People know when a judge is fair.”
Myles earned his law degree from the University of Illinois and worked as a prosecutor and a private practice defense attorney before taking the bench in 1999.
For years, Myles presided over what was then known as bond court, the notoriously chaotic place for first appearances for new arrestees.
Among high-profile cases he oversaw in that role, Myles ordered William Balfour to be held without bail in the 2008 killings of three relatives of singer Jennifer Hudson and refused to grant a controversial gag order in the infamous murder of seven people at a Brown’s Chicken in Palatine.
Earl Wilson listens to pretrial motions ahead of openings in his jury trial for the 2017 fatal shooting of Cook County Judge Raymond Myles and the shooting of his girlfriend, at the Cook County courthouse in Bridgeview, Jan. 13, 2026. Assistant Public Defender Takenya Nixon is at right. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune)
Gov. Tim Walz has put the Minnesota National Guard on notice in the event of unrest following the fatal shooting of a 37-year-old woman in Minneapolis by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer.
Walz says he’s issued a warning order to prepare the Minnesota National Guard in the event of civil unrest. It’s a first step that alerts 13,000 guard members that they may need to be called upon in the event of an emergency.
Addressing reporters on the situation during a Wednesday briefing, Walz said he supported the rights of demonstrators but urged them to engage in peaceful protest.
“What we’re seeing is the consequences of governance designed to generate fear, headlines and conflict,” Walz said. “It’s governing by reality TV, and today, that recklessness cost someone their life.”
He added: “We won’t let them tear us apart. We’ll not turn against each other. To Minnesotans, they say this, I feel your anger. I’m angry. They want a show. We can’t give it to them.”
Like a number of other Democrats in Minnesota, Walz called for federal law enforcement authorities to leave the state.
“I have a very simple message, we do not need any further help from the federal government,” he said. “To Donald Trump and Kristi Noem: you have done enough.”
Meanwhile, state Department of Public Safety Commissioner Bob Jacobson urged “safe and lawful” protests and warned that actions like blocking freeways or damaging property could result in fines and arrest.
“We fully expect that the community will want to peacefully demonstrate their anger or frustration. Minnesota residents and visitors have the right to peacefully demonstrate,” Jacobson said. “Our focus is keeping demonstrators, community members, drivers and law enforcement safe, especially during moments of heightened tension or uncertainty.”
Reactions
A number of statements via social media and email from politicians ranged outrage over ICE’s actions and presence in the Twin Cities to support for federal law enforcement.
President Donald Trump, in a social media post, described the victim as a “professional agitator” and said video of the incident shows the ICE agent acting in self-defense.
“Based on the attached clip, it’s hard to believe he’s still alive” Trump said. He went on to blame “The Radical Left” for threatening law enforcement.
State Attorney General Keith Ellison, in a statement, said he was “very angry.”
“Like so many Minnesotans, I’m heartbroken. I’m also angry. Very angry. For weeks, we’ve watched the Trump administration deliberately brutalize our communities, and now an ICE agent has fatally shot one of our neighbors,” Ellison said. “The president is deliberately weaponizing the federal government against the people of Minnesota to inflict pain and instill terror. We must stand up to this horrendous injustice, and in doing so, we must not stoop to Donald Trump’s level. We’re right to be heartbroken and angry, but we cannot give Donald Trump the excuse he wants to continue escalating this violence against Minnesotans.”
Ellison said residents should “protest peacefully, organize your communities, and stand up for one another. I will continue to do everything in my power to oppose this brutality, ensure justice is served, and keep Minnesotans safe. Right now, I think nothing would keep Minnesotans safer than seeing ICE leave our state, and take their chaos, pain, and violence with them.”
U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, in a statement, said the incident was “the result of the administration sending federal agents onto our streets against the wishes of local law enforcement, including our respected (Minneapolis) Police Chief Brian O’Hara. We need full transparency and an investigation of what happened, and I am deeply concerned that statements made by (the U.S. Department of Homeland Security) do not appear to reflect video evidence and on-the-ground accounts. While our immigration enforcement should be focused on apprehending and prosecuting violent criminals to make our communities safer, these ICE actions are doing the opposite and making our state less safe.”
U.S. Rep. Betty McCollum, a Democrat from St. Paul, called on ICE agents to leave the state.
“ICE must immediately cease and desist their actions in Minnesota to allow state and local law enforcement officials to restore order, prevent further violence, and conduct a full, independent, and transparent investigation into ICE’s actions and conduct which caused this horrific shooting,” McCollum said. “Minnesotans are justified in their anger. As Minnesotans, we demand accountability and justice. We have a fundamental right to express our first amendment freedoms through peaceful protest. We must not fall into Trump’s trap of division and violence. We can show the world the best of Minnesota values – our compassion, our respect for the dignity of each of our neighbors, and our belief in justice for all.”
In a social media post U.S. Tom Emmer, a Sixth District Republican, posted on X his support for federal law enforcement.
“I pray that every federal law enforcement officer on the ground in Minnesota right now remains safe as they carry out their vital mission. Tim Walz and Jacob Frey are cowards who are inciting violence to distract from their own failures. It’s dangerous. Stay safe, @ICEgov.”
St. Paul mayor, others
St. Paul Mayor Kaohly Her said in a social media post that she was monitoring the situation in Minneapolis.
“My heart is broken for the victim, their family, and our community as a whole,” Her said. “I join Mayor Frey in demanding that ICE leave our cities immediately before they cause any further harm.”
Senate Majority Leader Erin Murphy, DFL- St. Paul, in a statement, said she was “devastated and furious.”
“A weak president sent ICE agents to Minnesota to sow chaos without regard for human life, and today’s killing is the predictable outcome,” Murphy said. “This federal government is using violence to force us into fearful silence and compliance, and a woman is dead because of it. ICE should never have been in Minnesota, and they need to leave now.
“I denounce these actions, and I will fight with all I have for our freedom and safety. I urge us all, even as we feel our rage and our grief, to remain calm; more innocent people cannot be hurt. We demand accountability — and the truth — from the President, Secretary Noem, ICE officials, and those involved in the shooting.”
Senate Minority Leader Mark Johnson, R-East Grand Forks, in a statement, said “peaceful protest is a cornerstone of our democracy and must be protected, but endangering law enforcement officers is never acceptable.”
Johnson added: “I offer my condolences to the family grieving the loss of a loved one and urge everyone to step back, de-escalate, and let investigators fully examine the facts of what occurred.”
David Titus, Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association’s interim executive director, said the association stands “firmly behind law enforcement officers, accountability under the law, and the safety of every Minnesota community.
“Irresponsible, reckless rhetoric from political leaders attacking law enforcement has real and dangerous consequences for officers on the street,” he said in a statement. “When officers are vilified, demonized, or used as political props, it fuels hostility, emboldens bad actors, and puts lives directly at risk.”
People protest as law enforcement officers attend to the scene of the shooting involving federal law enforcement agents, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Tom Baker)
Some 500 people gathered around “The Triumph of the Human Spirit” in Foley Square Wednesday night to protest the Minneapolis shooting of Renee Nicole Good.
Protestors chanted “Say her name: Renee Nicole Good” just hours after Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers opened fire at close range on the 37-year-old mother as she attempted to flee in a car.
President Trump claimed that Good, whom he called a “professional agitator,” attempted to run the agents down with her car and that officers fired in self-defense.
“What happened in Minneapolis was unbelievable,” Jordan Harald, 57, a retired film industry worker from Manhattan, told a Daily News reporter at the protest. “It’s critical that we’re here. What our country is doing is abhorrent and untenable. We have to fight and stand strong.”
Some 500 people gathered in Foley Square on Jan. 7, 2026 to protest the Minneapolis shooting of Renee Nicole Good. (Kerry Burke/NYDN)
The crowd chanted “We want ICE off our streets,” “No Justice no peace“ and “ No ICE, no KKK, no fascist USA” as protesters marched around Foley Square and streets surrounding the nearby US Immigration and Customs Enforcement building at 26 Federal Plaza.
“I’m here to support the movement,” said Carlos Bogaert, 34, a bike messenger from Queens. “I’m a proud immigrant from the Dominican Republic and I’m really frustrated about what happened in Minneapolis.
“It didn’t seem like she was endangering the agents. It was an injustice,” Bogaert said.
Some New Yorkers spoke out against U.S. adventurism in Venezuela, where President Nicolas Maduro and his wife were snatched in a military operation. They are currently being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn.
“What they did in Venezuela is illegal,” said Mattias Rich, a 32-year-old waiter from Brooklyn. “It was basically a kidnapping. I understand Venezuelans don’t like Maduro. But this is no way to handle it.”
A banner strung across the crowd read: “the fascist Trump regime must go”
“This is a symbol,” said Jessica Bloom, 68, a social worker from Manhattan. “We’re grieving the death of Renee Nicole Good. They were totally out of control. She was just scared.”
Some 500 people gathered in Foley Square on Jan. 7, 2026 to protest the Minneapolis shooting of Renee Nicole Good. (Kerry Burke/NYDN)
Some 500 people gathered around “The Triumph of the Human Spirit” in Foley Square Wednesday night to protest the Minneapolis shooting of Renee Nicole Good.
Protestors chanted “Say her name: Renee Nicole Good” just hours after Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers opened fire at close range on the 37-year-old mother as she attempted to flee in a car.
President Trump claimed that Good, whom he called a “professional agitator,” attempted to run the agents down with her car and that officers fired in self-defense.
“What happened in Minneapolis was unbelievable,” Jordan Harald, 57, a retired film industry worker from Manhattan, told a Daily News reporter at the protest. “It’s critical that we’re here. What our country is doing is abhorrent and untenable. We have to fight and stand strong.”
Some 500 people gathered in Foley Square on Jan. 7, 2026 to protest the Minneapolis shooting of Renee Nicole Good. (Kerry Burke/NYDN)
The crowd chanted “We want ICE off our streets,” “No Justice no peace“ and “ No ICE, no KKK, no fascist USA” as protesters marched around Foley Square and streets surrounding the nearby US Immigration and Customs Enforcement building at 26 Federal Plaza.
“I’m here to support the movement,” said Carlos Bogaert, 34, a bike messenger from Queens. “I’m a proud immigrant from the Dominican Republic and I’m really frustrated about what happened in Minneapolis.
“It didn’t seem like she was endangering the agents. It was an injustice,” Bogaert said.
Some New Yorkers spoke out against U.S. adventurism in Venezuela, where President Nicolas Maduro and his wife were snatched in a military operation. They are currently being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn.
“What they did in Venezuela is illegal,” said Mattias Rich, a 32-year-old waiter from Brooklyn. “It was basically a kidnapping. I understand Venezuelans don’t like Maduro. But this is no way to handle it.”
A banner strung across the crowd read: “the fascist Trump regime must go”
“This is a symbol,” said Jessica Bloom, 68, a social worker from Manhattan. “We’re grieving the death of Renee Nicole Good. They were totally out of control. She was just scared.”
Some 500 people gathered in Foley Square on Jan. 7, 2026 to protest the Minneapolis shooting of Renee Nicole Good. (Kerry Burke/NYDN)
By MICHAEL BIESECKER and JIM MUSTIAN The Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — The woman shot and killed by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer in Minneapolis on Wednesday was Renee Nicole Macklin Good, a 37-year-old mother of three who had recently moved to Minnesota.
She was a U.S. citizen born in Colorado and appears to never have been charged with anything involving law enforcement beyond a traffic ticket.
In social media accounts, Macklin Good described herself as a “poet and writer and wife and mom.” She said she was currently “experiencing Minneapolis,” displaying a pride flag emoji on her Instagram account. A profile picture posted to Pinterest shows her smiling and holding a young child against her cheek, along with posts about tattoos, hairstyles and home decorating.
Her ex-husband, who asked not to be named out of concern for the safety of their children, said Macklin Good had just dropped off her 6-year-old son at school Wednesday and was driving home with her current partner when they encountered a group of ICE agents on a snowy street in Minneapolis, where they had moved last year from Kansas City, Missouri.
Video taken by bystanders posted to social media shows an officer approaching her car, demanding she open the door and grabbing the handle. When she begins to pull forward, a different ICE officer standing in front of the vehicle pulls his weapon and immediately fires at least two shots into the vehicle at close range.
In another video taken after the shooting, a distraught woman is seen sitting near the vehicle, wailing, “That’s my wife, I don’t know what to do!”
Calls and messages to Macklin Good’s current partner received no response.
Trump administration officials painted Macklin Good as a domestic terrorist who had attempted to ram federal agents with her car. Her ex-husband said she was no activist and that he had never known her to participate in a protest of any kind.
He described her as a devoted Christian who took part in youth mission trips to Northern Ireland when she was younger. She loved to sing, participating in a chorus in high school and studying vocal performance in college.
She studied creative writing at Old Dominion University in Virginia and won a prize in 2020 for one of her works, according to a post on the school’s English department Facebook page. She also hosted a podcast with her second husband, who died in 2023.
Macklin Good had a daughter and her son from her first marriage, who are now ages 15 and 12. Her 6-year-old son was from her second marriage.
Her ex-husband said she had primarily been a stay-at-home mom in recent years but had previously worked as a dental assistant and at a credit union.
Donna Ganger, her mother, told the Minnesota Star Tribune the family was notified of the death late Wednesday morning.
“Renee was one of the kindest people I’ve ever known,” Ganger told the newspaper. “She was extremely compassionate. She’s taken care of people all her life. She was loving, forgiving and affectionate. She was an amazing human being.”
Ganger did not respond to calls or messages from the AP.
___
Mustian reported from New York.
People gather for a vigil after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer shot and killed a woman earlier in the day, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Bruce Kluckhohn)
An Oakland County resident is being held on a $1 million bond after he was charged with a drive-by shooting in Shelby Township that took place the day after Christmas, according to police and prosecutors.
KeShawn Webster, 24, of Oak Park, was arraigned Tuesday in 41A District Court in Shelby Township on two counts of assault with intent to murder and weapons crimes. Visiting Magistrate Jean M. Cloud set bond at $1 million cash.
Prosecutors said Webster allegedly fired multiple shots from a handgun into a mobile home that was occupied by two people. Neither occupant was hit by the gunfire.
A Shelby Township police vehicle restricts traffic to the Dequindre Estate Mobile Home Park following reports of shots being fired on the morning of Dec. 26. (PHOTO COURTESY OF MACOMB COUNTY SCANNER)
“Resorting to violence to resolve disputes is wholly unacceptable, and my office will give this case the thorough and deliberate attention it warrants,” Macomb County Prosecutor Peter Lucido said in a news release.
The shooting took place about 6:30 a.m. Friday, Dec. 26 at the Dequindre Estate Mobile Home Park located off Dequindre Road near Hamlin.
According to prosecutors, Webster had a dispute with one of the occupants of the mobile home.
Police were dispatched to the 48000 block of Pineview for a report of multiple gunshots fired into the residence. Officers arrived on scene and found the home had been struck by gunfire multiple times.
Police said they identified Webster as the shooter after conducting numerous interviews and serving several search warrants.
The department’s Special Investigations Unit was able to locate Webster’s vehicle in the area of Nine Mile Road and Jefferson Avenue in St. Clair Shores. Detectives set up surveillance on his vehicle and arrested Webster as he was walking to his vehicle.
“A handgun was found in his purse, and additional evidence was recovered inside of his vehicle,” police said in a news release. “The investigation also determined that this shooting was not a random act.”
In addition to the assault charges, which carry up to life in prison upon conviction, Webster was also arraigned with:
Discharging a weapon from a vehicle, a 10-year felony
Discharging a weapon in or at a building, a 10-year felony
Four counts of felony firearm, each a felony with mandatory consecutive 2-year sentences
Webster is due back in court for a probable cause conference on Jan. 13 and a preliminary exam on Jan. 20 before Judge Stephen A. Sierawski.
He is being held at the Macomb County Jail.
Shelby Township police Chief Robert Shelide issued a statement about the incident.
“A week ago — after our department arrested a violent home invasion suspect — I publicly stated that if you commit a violent crime in Shelby Township, our police department will track you down, arrest you, and hold you accountable,” he sad. “Obviously, the suspect in this case chose to ignore my warning and had to learn this lesson the hard way. Let me once again make it perfectly clear – if you are thinking about committing a violent crime in Shelby Township, think again.”
The chief added that over the past six months, his department had made arrests in seven case of violent crime.
A suspect accused of shooting up a home in a Shelby Township mobile home park was arrested Friday as he walked to his vehicle miles away.
According to a news release from Shelby Township police, officers responded about 6:30 a.m. Dec. 26 to Dequindre Estate Mobile Home Park, located off Dequindre Road near Hamlin.
“A resident had called 911 after their home was struck by gunfire originating from the street in front of the residence,” police said in the release.
When police arrived, they confirmed the home had been hit multiple times.
The news release made no mention of anyone inside the house being injured.
The scene was secured as the investigation continued throughout the day.
In an update Friday afternoon, police said investigators had developed information on the shooting suspect and vehicle information.
Detectives located the vehicle unoccupied in a parking lot in St. Clair Shores. They waited and watched the vehicle until the suspected shooter returned to the car and was taken into custody without incident, authorities said.
The investigation is ongoing, according to the release.
Shelby Township police said they were sharing the information with the public to let the community know that an arrest has been made and there is no threat to the public.
A Shelby Township police vehicle restricts traffic to the Dequindre Estate Mobile Home Park following reports of shots being fired. (PHOTO COURTESY OF MACOMB COUNTY SCANNER)
FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — A parent of a Kentucky State University student has been charged with murder in an on campus shooting that killed one student and critically injured another.
Jacob Lee Bard was at the school’s campus in Frankfort on Tuesday and fired shots at the victims at a residence hall, police said in a statement.
Investigators said the shooting was isolated, but they have not publicly shared details of the circumstances or a possible motive. The shooting killed 19-year-old De’Jon Fox of Indianapolis. A second student who was shot remains in critical condition, but his name has not been released, police said.
Bard, 48, was booked into jail on murder and first-degree assault charges. Police said Bard is from Evansville, Indiana, which is about 150 miles west of Frankfort.
Bard is being represented by a public defender at the Franklin County Department of Public Advocacy, which declined to talk about his case Wednesday.
University police officers were near the scene of the altercation that ended with the shooting and immediately arrested Bard, police said.
Investigators have watched video taken by others at the scene and surveillance footage.
Asked by reporters about alleged videos showing a fight involving Bard’s sons preceded the shooting or whether Bard might have come to campus to talk to administrators about his sons’ safety, Frankfort Assistant Police Chief Scott Tracy refused to say what may have led to the shooting.
“It’s really too early in the investigation right now to really give any details that led up to it. A lot of it would be speculation,” Tracy said Wednesday.
The shooting happened at Whitney M. Young Jr. Hall. It was the second shooting in four months near the student residence.
Someone fired multiple shots from a vehicle on Aug. 17, striking two people that the university said weren’t students. Frankfort police said one victim was treated for minor injuries and a second sustained serious injuries. The dorm and at least one vehicle were damaged by gunfire.
University President Koffi C. Akakpo said the school brought in more police officers after the first shooting and will evaluate whether more needs to be done to keep students safe once the investigation into the latest shooting is complete,
“The campus is a safe place,” Akakpo said at the news conference.
Kentucky State is a public historically Black university with about 2,200 students. Lawmakers authorized the school’s creation in 1886.
The school sits about 2 miles east of the Capitol building in Frankfort.
Law enforcement responds to a shooting at Whitney Moore Young Jr. Hall on Kentucky State University’s campus in Frankfort, Ky., Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025. (Hannah Brown/The State Journal via AP)
NEW YORK (AP) — Moments after Luigi Mangione was put in handcuffs at a Pennsylvania McDonald’s, a police officer searching his backpack found a loaded gun magazine wrapped in a pair of underwear.
The discovery, recounted in court Monday as Mangione fights to exclude evidence from his New York murder case, convinced police in Altoona, Pennsylvania, that he was the man wanted for killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in Manhattan five days earlier.
“It’s him, dude. It’s him, 100%,” an officer was heard saying on body-worn camera video from Mangione’s Dec. 9, 2024 arrest, punctuating the remark with expletives as the officer combing the bag, Christy Wasser, held up the magazine.
Wasser, a 19-year Altoona police veteran, testified on the fourth day of a pretrial hearing as Mangione seeks to bar prosecutors from using the magazine and other evidence against him, including a 9 mm handgun and a notebook that were found during a subsequent search of the bag.
Mangione, 27, has pleaded not guilty to state and federal murder charges. He appeared in good health on Monday, intently watching the video and occasionally jotting notes. The hearing, which began Dec. 1 and was postponed Friday because of his apparent illness, applies only to the state case. His lawyers are making a similar push to exclude the evidence from his federal case, where prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.
Prosecutors have said the handgun found in the backpack matches the firearm used in the killing and that writings in the notebook showed Mangione’s disdain for health insurers and ideas about killing a CEO at an investor conference.
Mangione’s lawyers contend the items should be excluded because police didn’t have a search warrant for the backpack. Prosecutors contend the search was legal and that officers eventually obtained a warrant.
Wasser, testifying in full uniform, said she was following Altoona police protocols that require promptly searching a suspect’s property at the time of an arrest, in part to check for potentially dangerous items. She was heard on body-worn camera footage played in court that she wanted to check the bag for bombs before removing it from the McDonald’s.
Wasser told another officer she didn’t want to repeat an incident in which another Altoona officer had inadvertently brought a bomb to the police station.
Thompson, 50, was killed as he walked to a Manhattan hotel for his company’s investor conference on Dec. 4, 2024. Surveillance video showed a masked gunman shooting him from behind. Police say “delay,” “deny” and “depose” were written on the ammunition, mimicking a phrase used to describe how insurers avoid paying claims.
Mangione was arrested in Altoona, about 230 miles (about 370 kilometers) west of Manhattan, after police there received a 911 call about a McDonald’s customer who appeared to resemble the suspect.
Wasser said that prior to responding to the McDonald’s she had seen some coverage of Thompson’s killing on Fox News, including the surveillance video of the shooting and images of the suspected shooter.
Wasser began searching his bag as officers took him into custody on initial charges of forgery and false identification, after he acknowledged giving them a bogus driving license, police said. The same fake name was used by the alleged gunman used at a Manhattan hostel days before the shooting.
By then, a handcuffed Mangione had been informed of his right to remain silent — and invoked it — when asked if there was anything in the bag that officers should be concerned about.
According to body-worn camera video, the first few items Wasser found were innocuous: a hoagie, a loaf of bread and a smaller bag containing a passport, cellphone and computer chip.
Then she pulled out the underwear, unwrapping the gray pair to reveal the magazine.
Satisfied there was no bomb, she suspended her search and placed some of the items back in the bag. She resumed her search at the police station, almost immediately finding the gun and silencer. Later, while cataloging everything in the bag in what’s known as an inventory search, she found the notebook.
A Blair County, Pennsylvania, prosecutor testified that a judge later signed off on a search warrant for the bag, a few hours after the searches were completed. The warrant, she said, provided a legal mechanism for Altoona police to turn the evidence over to New York City detectives investigating Thompson’s killing.
As he has through the case, Assistant District Attorney Joel Seidemann described Thompson’s killing as an “execution” and referred to his notebook as a “manifesto” — terms that Mangione’s lawyers said were prejudicial and inappropriate.
Judge Gregory Carro said the wording had “no bearing” on him, but warned Seidemann that he’s “certainly not going to do that at trial” when jurors are present.
Luigi Mangione appears in Manhattan Criminal Court, Monday, Dec. 8, 2025, in New York. (Sarah Yenesel/Pool Photo via AP)
New York City reached a record-tying 12 days with no murders — a streak only ended when a 38-year-old man was shot in the stairwell of a Bronx NYCHA building, police said Monday.
Gregory Stewart was shot in the head about 9:05 p.m. Sunday inside a Sotomayor Houses building on Watson Ave. near Rosedale Ave. in Soundview, cops said. Medics rushed the victim to Jacobi Medical Center but he could not be saved.
Stewart’s murder ended a stretch of 12 days, beginning Nov. 25, that saw no new recorded homicides citywide. The only other time the city is known to have gone that long with no murders was in 2015, which also saw a 12-day stretch with no homicides, according to NYPD stats.
“Right strategy. Great execution. That’s how you set record after record,” NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said in a statement Monday. “Thank you to the members of the NYPD who have sacrificed so much this year to drive down violent crime to record lows.”
A man was taken into custody in Sunday’ slaying but has not yet been charged. The victim lived in the Wakefield section of the Bronx, according to cops.
The last known murder in the city before Sunday’s homicide was the stabbing death of 80-year-old Lev Vayner inside his apartment on Overlook Terrace near W. 184th St. in Washington Heights on Nov. 24.
The suspect, 45-year-old Alon Riabichev, whom Vayner was kindly letting crash with him, called 911 around 3:15 a.m. and confessed to having killed Vayner, according to prosecutors. Riabichev is charged with murder.
38yr old Gregory Stewart was pronounced dead at Jacobi Hospital after he was shot in the head inside of 1744 Watson Avenue in the Bronx on Sunday December 7, 2025. 2107. Police took a Person of Interest into custody. Photos taken on Monday December 8, 2025. 0903. (Theodore Parisienne / New York Daily News)
A suspect has been arrested upstate for the Midtown Manhattan shooting that wounded Jets player Kris Boyd last month, law enforcement sources said Monday.
The 20-year-old suspect was not immediately charged but sources say he is expected to face charges of attempted murder after he is transported to Manhattan from Amherst, a Buffalo suburb where a U.S. Marshals task force nabbed him.
The suspect lives in the Bronx and has four prior arrests, including one last year for reckless endangerment and a 2018 robbery arrest as a juvenile delinquent that was sealed, law enforcement sources said.
The gunman early on Nov. 16 was part of a group of men who mocked the stylish clothes Boyd and his friends were wearing when they arrived at Sei Less, a W. 38th St. Asian fusion hot spot popular with the well-heeled.
Boyd and his friends, including fellow Jets players Irvin Charles and Jamien Sherwood, ignored the taunts, police said, but left the club after a short while and were mocked again by the same group, sparking an argument that got physical.
Boyd was shot in the chest, the bullet travelling into his lung, as the fight escalated.
NYPD
Police released suveillance images of a man who they believe fired shots that wounded Jets cornerback Kris Boyd in Midtown. (NYPD)
The shooter and his accomplics ran off, police said, with the shooter later identified after cops released surveillance footage of him in the hopes someone would recognize him.
The suspect’s name has not been publicly released as detectives worked to establish probable cause to charge him.
Boyd was rushed to Bellevue Hospital and later released but was returned to the hospital over Thanksgiving after facing setback in his recovery, he posted on social media,
Jets Cornerback Kris Boyd is in critical condition after he was shot in the abdomen on West 38th Street between Broadway and 7th Avenue in Manhattan on Sunday Nov. 16, 2025. (Theodore Parisienne/New York Daily News; Getty)
Editor’s note: This story has been updated after the governor of West Virginia updated his earlier report that they had died.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Two West Virginia National Guard members who deployed to the nation’s capital were shot Wednesday just blocks from the White House in a brazen act of violence.
The West Virginia governor initially said the troops had died, but later walked back the statement to say his office was “receiving conflicting reports” about their condition. The governor’s office did not immediately respond to questions about the attack and the condition of the troops.
A suspect who was in custody also was shot and had wounds that were not believed to be life-threatening, according to a law enforcement official who was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
“We are in ongoing contact with federal officials as the investigation continues,” Gov. Patrick Morrisey said.
Law enforcement was reviewing surveillance video from the scene and believed the suspect approached the soldiers and pulled out a gun, said another law enforcement official who was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke to AP on condition of anonymity.
At least one of the soldiers exchanged gunfire with the shooter, the official said. Investigators were trying to determine the gunman’s motive, including whether the suspect was targeting the troops for any specific reason, the official said.
The shooting happened roughly two blocks northwest of the White House.
Social media video shared in the immediate aftermath showed first responders attempting CPR on one of the soldiers and treating the other on a glass-covered sidewalk. Other officers could be seen steps away restraining an individual on the ground.
Stacy Walters said she was in a car near the scene car when she heard two gunshots and saw people running. Almost instantly, law enforcement swarmed the area. “It’s such a beautiful day. Who would do this, and we’re getting ready for the holidays?”
Emergency medical responders transported all three people to a hospital, according to Vito Maggiolo, the public information officer for the DC Fire and Emergency Services.
The presence of the National Guard in the nation’s capital has been a flashpoint issue for months, fueling a court fight and a broader public policy debate about the Trump administration’s use of the military to combat what officials cast as an out-of-control crime problem.
More than 300 West Virginia National Guard members were deployed to Washington in August. Last week, about 160 of them volunteered to extend their deployment until the end of the year while the others returned to West Virginia just over a week ago.
Police tape cordoned off the scene where fire and police vehicle lights flashed and helicopter blades thudded overhead. Agents from the Secret Service and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were on scene, as National Guard troops stood sentry nearby. At least one helicopter landed on the National Mall.
President Donald Trump, who was in Florida for Thanksgiving, warned in a statement on social media that the “animal” who shot the guardsmen “will pay a very steep price.”
“God bless our Great National Guard, and all of our Military and Law Enforcement. These are truly Great People,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “I, as President of the United States, and everyone associated with the Office of the Presidency, am with you!”
In Fort Campbell, Kentucky, Vice President JD Vance urged “everybody who’s a person of faith” to pray for the two Guardsmen. He cautioned that much remained unknown, including the motive of the shooter.
“I think it’s a somber reminder that soldiers, whether they’re active duty, reserve or National Guard, our soldiers are the sword and the shield of the United States of America,” Vance said as he delivered a Thanksgiving message to troops.
A spokesperson for Mayor Muriel Bowser said local leaders were actively monitoring the situation. Bowser had spent the morning at a Thanksgiving event at the Convention Center and then held a news conference to explain why she was not seeking reelection.
Trump issued an emergency order in August that federalized the local police force and sent in National Guard troops from eight states and the District of Columbia. The order expired a month later, but the troops remained.
The soldiers have patrolled neighborhoods, train stations and other locations, participated in highway checkpoints and also have been assigned to trash pickup and to guard sports events.
Last week, a federal judge ordered an end to the deployment but also put her order on hold for 21 days to allow the Trump administration time to either remove the troops or appeal the decision.
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Governor Patrick Morrisey had previously reported their deaths in a social media post.
U.S. Marshalls and National Guard troops are seen after reports of two National Guard soldiers shot near the White House in Washington, Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
CARBONDALE, Kan. (AP) — Four law enforcement officers were shot Saturday morning while responding to a domestic violence call at a home in a rural area south of Topeka, and a 22-year-old male suspect died of gunshot wounds at the scene.
The suspect’s 77-year-old grandfather also was wounded in the gunfire but he and the law enforcement officers are all expected to recover, the Kansas Bureau of Investigation said.
The shooting occurred around 10:30 a.m. Three Osage County sheriff’s deputies and one Kansas Highway Patrol trooper were shot, the KBI’s director and the patrol’s superintendent said.
Two deputies underwent surgery at a Topeka hospital and were in good condition, the KBI said, and the third deputy was discharged. The trooper was transferred from the same hospital to the University of Kansas Medical Center in Kansas City, Kansas.
“After being on scene less than 10 minutes, gunfire erupted,” patrol Superintendent Erik Smith said during a news conference at the Carbondale City Library.
Carbondale is a town of about 1,300 people about 16 miles south of Topeka, the state capital, off Highway 75.
The shooting stunned neighbors John and Heather Roberts, who live about a mile north of where it occurred on the same two-lane road. They never sensed any problem in any of the family members, such as drugs, alcohol abuse or violence, and they said the suspect’s grandmother gave Christian books to area children she knew.
They said it is not uncommon to see law enforcement vehicles on the road outside their home because they live at the line between Osage County, home to Carbondale, and Shawnee County, home to Topeka, and vehicles turn around there or the counties exchange prisoners.
John Roberts said he was putting siding on his barn when two law enforcement vehicles flew down the road in the morning.
“Both of them were running, I would say, well over 100 miles an hour as they went by,” he said. “Then the city of Topeka officers started going by. That’s when I started to really get concerned.”
He said the suspect visited the shop he has at his home to return tools and was “a good kid.” Roberts added that many families in the area own guns because hunting is a common hobby, and that was the case with this family.
“I love the family. They’re great people,” Heather Roberts said, adding that she and her husband were praying for the wounded officers too.
She said every time the suspect visited their home, he would give her a hug and he was “very respectful.”
“I don’t know what snapped in him today, but his grandparents loved him very much,” she said.
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Dura reported from Bismarck, North Dakota.
Kansas Bureau of Investigation Director Tony Mattivi speaks at a news conference about a domestic violence incident that resulted multiple casualties, Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025, at the Carbondale City Library in Carbondale, Kan. (AP Photo/John Hanna)
A Pontiac teen recently acquitted of homicide is headed to prison for related convictions of armed robbery and using a firearm to commit the crime.
Sentenced Oct. 13 by Oakland County Circuit Judge Daniel O’Brien, Christian Harris, 19, will spend 13-50 years behind bars for the 2023 armed robbery of Armani Terrell Baker, 22, of Waterford.
Harris got an additional two years behind bars for felony firearm in connection with the armed robbery.
Christian Harris booking photo
Harris was 17 years old at the time of the incident and charged as an adult. His first trial ended in a mistrial last year after the jury deliberated for three days and failed to reach a unanimous verdict. The retrial concluded this past Sept. 8.
The Oakland Press has reached out to the Oakland County Prosecutor’s Office and the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office with questions about any further legal activity or investigation regarding Baker’s homicide but hasn’t heard back yet.
The other man charged for related offenses, Jeremiah Rodriguez — age 18 at the time of the incident — made a deal with prosecutors and pleaded guilty in September to an added count of accessory after the fact. Charges of conspiracy to commit armed robbery and possession of a firearm in the commission of a felony were dismissed. Last month, O’Brien sentenced Rodriguez to 14 days in jail with credit for 14 days served, and three years probation.
Trial is scheduled in Oakland County Circuit Court for a former Wayne County official and her husband accused of pulling guns on a customer following a physical fight at a Farmington Hills gas station.
Jury selection is scheduled to begin Feb. 23, 2026 for the cases against Alicia Bradford and her husband, Larry Bradford of Farmington Hills. Both face charges of assault with a dangerous weapon/felonious assault and using a firearm during the commission of a felony in connection with a New Year’s Day 2025 incident.
Alicia Bradford (Wayne County)
According to police reports and security video obtained under Michigan’s Freedom of Information Act, the charges stem from an incident that happened just before 1 a.m. on Jan. 1 at a gas station on Orchard Lake Road.
A fight broke out between Larry Bradford and another customer who got involved after Bradford began arguing with the gas station clerk, accusing him of charging tax on a bottle of Mountain Dew, police said. Larry Bradford left the store and returned with a 9mm handgun and pointed it at the customer, demanding he get on his knees and apologize, and struck him. Alicia Bradford then entered the store armed with a firearm and pointed it at the customer, according to police.
In this still frame from surveillance video, Wayne County parks director Alicia Bradford points a handgun at an unidentified customer (far right, face digitally obstructed) after the man and Bradford's husband, Larry Bradford, got into a verbal and physical confrontation on Jan.1 over the price of a bottle of pop. (Farmington Hills Police Dept. via FOIA)
At the time of her arrest, Alicia Bradford was Wayne County’s parks and recreation director. She was suspended without pay after the Oakland County Prosecutor’s Office filed charges against her, and then resigned from her job in February.
Alicia Bradford and Larry Bradford are out of custody on $50,000 personal bonds, which require no cash or surety to be posted.
Assault with a dangerous weapon/felonious assault carries a penalty of up to four years in prison. Using a firearm in the commission of a felony is punishable by up to two years in prison.
The Oakland County Sheriff’s Office failed to establish a timely incident command and was late to dispatch fire crews in response to the Oxford High School shooting, according to an independent investigative report released Monday.
The office did not establish a formal incident command at Oxford High School until 25 minutes after a teenage gunman who went on a murderous rampage was in custody, according to an after-action review of the emergency response to the 2021 school shooting.
The 275-page report found no evidence of neglect or dereliction of duty by individual responders, but noted that failing to quickly establish an initial command and promptly integrate with other public safety agencies can lead to severe consequences.
“Successful incident command operations in the first five minutes of a critical event often determine response success. These operations include not only ‘sizing up’ a scene, but also a brief description of initial actions, and instructions for additional responding personnel,” investigators wrote in the report’s executive summary.
Nearly 560 emergency personnel responded to the scene from more than two dozen agencies. But poor communication and inadequate training hamstrung some EMS, police and fire workers, investigators found.
Survivor accounts from the attack revealed a chaotic scene in which nearly 1,600 students and dozens of staff were fleeing the sprawling school building while emergency responders tended to the wounded and dead and police searched for the student gunman.
Although multiple ranking OSCO officers were present, the report says there was a 25-minute gap before a lieutenant assumed the role of incident commander.
“During this 25-minute period, although critical objectives were met and the shooter was apprehended, there was some confusion about where resources should be directed and coordination with public safety officials such as fire/EMS was disjointed,” the report says. “Once command was established, law enforcement agencies were aligned with the roles needed to complete the building clears, secure the interior of the building, and create a perimeter around the outside of the building.”
Release of the Guidepost Solutions report follows a Detroit News investigation that revealed complaints from fire department officials that their crews were dispatched late to the attack. The News also reported that the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office declined to participate in a third-party review of its department’s response as recently as January 2024, a claim that Sheriff Michael Bouchard has denied.
Oakland County government officials approved $500,000 to hire a review firm three weeks after The News’ report. Guidepost was tasked with conducting a comprehensive report evaluating the multi-agency response to the shooting and the recovery effort that followed.
The shooter, Ethan Crumbley, a sophomore at the school at the time, fired his weapon 33 times in the attack and killed Hana St. Juliana, 14; Madisyn Baldwin, 17; Tate Myre, 16; and Justin Shilling, 17.
The report determined that, despite the misteps in response, the victims’ injuries were “inherently fatal” and that a quicker emergency response could not have saved their lives. The conclusion was based on information from a medical examiner’s report and analysis by an independent medical expert.
“Our review determined that the nature and extent of Madisyn, Tate, and Justin’s single gunshot wounds to the head were inherently fatal,” the report says. “Hana sustained multiple gunshot wounds, with resulting abdomen and chest injuries, which were collectively inherently fatal. Even with immediate medical intervention, the experts’ consensus is that the outcomes would not have changed.”
Despite the shooter being apprehended just two minutes after the sheriff’s department arrived on scene, and OCSO ranking personnel arriving on scene within the first seven to nine minutes after the shooting began, incident command was not formally established until Lt. Todd Hill arrived at 1:20 p.m. and initiated command at 1:25 p.m., the report found.
“This constitutes a time gap of approximately 27 minutes after the SRO (school resource officer) and OCSO Deputy 1 arrived on scene, approximately 25 minutes after the shooter was in custody, and approximately 24 minutes after OCSO dispatch confirmed the suspect’s arrest,” the report says. “Lieutenant Hill ultimately established incident command inside the lobby of OHS by a bench across from the administration offices.”
Guidepost found breakdowns in communication regarding the locations of officers and victims early in the response. The first two officers to enter the schools, “while understandably focused on the apprehension of the shooter,” did not provide updates on their movements, victim locations or their conditions via radio, the report says.
“Best practices suggest that, as the first responders on the scene, they are the ‘de facto’ command and should not only announce their entry point but also provide information about what they saw as they came upon the victims in the hallway. Also, due to a lack of effective communication, some efforts were duplicated. Injuries were reported multiple times and OHS surveillance depicted numerous deputies clearing the same hallways.”
A lack of training, for both law enforcement and firefighters, was identified in the report as a challenge.
At the time of the shooting, sheriff’s deputies and supervisors were not sufficiently trained in incident command and unified incident command, Guidepost found. Since that time, the sheriff’s office has instituted programs on those concepts, the report says.
“During this review numerous fire department members indicated that, when on scene at OHS, they did not feel that they were adequately prepared to deal with the chaos and pressures of an active assailant situation,” the report says.
“Departmental training was limited to mass casualty scenarios within EMS continuing education programs. There was insufficient or even non-existent training on the use of ballistic protective gear at the fire department, which was frequently stored away and never utilized by personnel,” the report says. “For many OFD members, the day of the shooting was the first time they donned ballistic vests and helmets.”
Guidepost recommended that fire department chiefs mandate bi-annual active assailant training with the sheriff’s department.
Oakland County Executive David Coulter said he was briefed Monday morning by Guidepost officials and had not yet read the entire report.
“I appreciate the report. It is comprehensive. I think it’s fair,” Coulter said. “We engaged with Guidepost because we’re committed to taking an honest look at how we respond to these kinds of emergency, tragic events, and to see where there could be lessons that we can learn from them, and it certainly appears that there are areas that could be strengthened.”
Coulter said there was a very successful and courageous response by first responders and a lot of things done right.
“And I continue to be proud of the people who responded on that horrible day,” he said.
Dispatch delay found
In its report, Guidepost identified a delay in dispatching the Oxford Fire Department in response to early 9-1-1 calls that came in at 12:52:32 with a definitive report of injury.
At 2:19 minutes into the call, at 12:54:51, the caller confirmed a victim was shot, the report says. At 12:52:59, information regarding shots fired was dispatched to all OCSO units. Oxford Fire Department was not dispatched until 12:59:56, Guidepost says.
“Best practices suggest dispatch should be within 15-30 seconds of receipt of a call, and within no more than 60 seconds. The call data reviewed indicates that the call takers recognized this incident as a confirmed active shooter event well before the decision to dispatch the fire department,” the report says.
“OCSO follows the practice of waiting to dispatch fire departments until confirmation of an injured party is established. Although OCSO asserts that this is based upon directions from fire departments, we suggest that in low occurrence-high threat events such as active shooter incidents, especially those at schools, it is logical that all necessary resources be dispatched even before confirmation of injuries.”
The Guidepost report critiqued the response and offered recommendations to improve emergency preparedness and response to incidents, including a recommendation to Oakland County to ensure that a formal after-actio review is conducted for all multi-agency critical events in the county.
In interviews with The Detroit News in 2024, Oxford Fire Chief Matthew Majestic and Addison Fire Chief Jerry Morawski said they self-dispatched their crews when the high school came under attack.
While both chiefs said the dispatch delay did not impact their treatment of victims as fire and EMS crews staged outside the school until police worked to secure the scene, Majestic told The News then that the delay cost his department valuable time to develop a plan ahead of treating victims, four of whom died. It’s an aspect of the tragedy he has struggled with for years.
“Had they toned us out, we could have been staging and ready and organized,” Majestic told The News in 2024. “I know we would have reviewed the maps, probably made changes to who is responding and where. … We would have had more people on the scene. … We could have made a better-educated triage. … You took away that opportunity of building a plan.”
The role of school resource officers
Guidepost, a New York-based investigations, regulatory compliance, monitoring and security consulting firm, found there was no protocol during the shooting for detailing responsibilities of the school resource officer in relation to non-police school security. School resource officers (SROs) are armed, certified police officers.
The issue stands out because the SRO at Oxford High School was not required to remain on campus and was not present at the time the shooting began, having left earlier for an investigation at Oxford Middle School and a stop at the substation. On the same day, the school security officer was absent on pre-approved leave.
“Consequently, a part-time armed hall monitor was the sole armed individual at OHS. Going forward, expectations must be clearly delineated regarding SROs and school security,” the report says. “There should be protocols in place between the district/school and OCSO about alternative security measures when school security is unavailable.”
Investigators did identify “certain breakdowns in command, coordination, communication, and training, which demonstrate the need for improved rapid response protocols, rescue task force (RTF) training, and enhanced tactical medical readiness.”
Fire and emergency response
In the area of fire and emergency services responses, the report says both command and communications were “hindered” during the incident when fire command at the scene moved all fire communications to a different radio channel.
“This was intended to facilitate information-sharing among all responders. However, fire personnel within OHS were unaware that the radio channel was changed and repeatedly called command on the wrong channel, receiving no response,” the report says. “Dispatch did not intervene to redirect units to the correct channel or have command switch channels.”
Guidepost recommended that dispatch be alert for misrouted communications and proactively redirect personnel to the correct channel, and that fire departments review and revise policies and practices of switching radio channels during critical incidents. The report added: “When a switch occurs, it should be announced by dispatch with a ‘tone out’ to alert all on the channel.”
The report also found that in the absence of clear dispatch protocols, fire and EMS personnel were not informed when the shooter was in custody, delaying their entry into OHS by approximately four and a half minutes.
“The computer-aided dispatch (CAD) system did not utilize specific call types for active assailant incidents, and there was no county-wide operating procedure to guide a coordinated response. We recommend that pre-determined CAD call categories be implemented for active assailant events, not only to streamline dispatch practices but also to ensure that fire and EMS are made aware of developments as they occur,” the report says.
Records from the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office show Oxford EMS staging outside the high school at 1:00:53 p.m. and transporting the first victim out of the high school at 1:06:32 p.m., 15 minutes after the shooting began.
Guidepost investigators recommended fire departments reconsider their staging practices to provide “greater clarity and coordination” and move to a unified county-wide policy. At the time of the shooting, the policy of fire and EMS departments from both Oakland and Oxford was to “stage” their response by waiting nearby until the scene is declared safe, the report says.
“This creates confusion for both personnel within the department as well as law enforcement, who remain unsure when firefighters and EMS members will enter a scene to render aid,” the report says. “We recommend that Oxford Fire Department (OFD) as well as other departments across Oakland County reconsider staging practices. This requires agencies to evaluate best practice recommendations to forgo staging during active assailant events and clarify whether dispatch instructions to stage are mandatory or advisory.”
Outdated dispatch system
Guidepost described the sheriff’s department’s Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) system as outdated, saying it heavily relies upon manual entry by dispatchers for the transfer of information. It recommends CAD systems be updated to transition from manual to automated entry and that CAD should flag high-risk keywords such as “shot,” “injured,” “weapon,” “gun,” and “active shooter” to trigger response protocols.
The day of the attack, 911 calls were rerouted from Oxford County to Lapeer County. A total of 248 emergency calls would flood sheriff’s dispatch in the first 60 minutes after the attack.
“For example, one call from OHS administration, which proved to be the most valuable for tracing the direction of the suspect, was rerouted to Lapeer. Active shooter incidents can often tax phone systems, as they were not designed for the volume that often occurs after a tragedy. We recommend that public safety organizations establish county-wide policies for handling misrouted 9-1-1 calls and build relationships with local phone service providers to understand how large-scale incidents affect call coverage and routing,” the report said.
Reunification practices
The emergency operations plan for Oxford Community Schools had identified Meijer, a half mile from the school, as the reunification location. Hundreds of students fled there. The report says many Oxford High Schooll families reported a positive experience with the reunification process, the approach fell short in providing sufficient communication and emotional support to the families of the victims.
“The families of Madisyn, Tate, and Hana came to the reunification center with the expectation of reuniting with their children. However, after two hours and no more students arriving from the school, the parents were ushered into a store breakroom where they were informed that their children were killed,” the report says.
Guidepost investigators wrote that in discussions with Madisyn’s mother, Nicole Beausoleil, Buck Myre, and Steven St. Juliana, the families did not approve of the manner or means by which the information was relayed.
“While they understood that there was no perfect way to convey this information, Nicole Beausoleil felt that the words were emotionally disconnected and significantly contributed to the continued trauma suffered. All agreed that OCSO’s delayed disclosure of their children’s passing, repetition of additional buses coming, and overall silence gave the impression that officers were not being forthcoming,” the report said.
Guidepost suggested the reunification process could be improved by broader staff training and formalized protocols.
Ambulances travel on Ray Road near Oxford High School on Tuesday afternoon, Nov. 30, 2021. Scores of police, fire, and EMS personnel responded to a shooting that killed four students and wounded seven others, including a teacher, inside the school. (Todd McInturf, The Detroit News)
In the wake of a shooting that killed right-wing firebrand Charlie Kirk on Wednesday at a Utah college campus, political figures in Michigan offered condolences while reflecting on the dangers associated with life in the public eye.
Robert Lulgjuraj, a Republican candidate seeking Michigan’s 10th Congressional District seat in the U.S. House, said he looked at Kirk as an “inspiration,” given that the two were less than a year apart in age (Lulgjuraj is 32 years old; Kirk was 31) and both are outspoken in their Christian beliefs and willingness to engage in discourse with individuals with opposing political views.
He called Wednesday “an evil day in American history” but said the killing wouldn’t affect his approach on the campaign trail.
“I assure you it’s not going to silence this movement or my campaign,” Lulgjuraj said.
The killing also won’t deter state Sen. Mallory McMorrow, D-Royal Oak, in her campaign for a U.S. Senate seat. She called his death “chilling.”
“But we decided on our team that it’s all the more important we bring people together publicly — It’s the only way we get out of this as a country,” she told The Detroit News via text.
The shooting, which happened around noon on the campus of Utah Valley University, brought to mind the February 2023 shooting on the campus of Michigan State University that killed three students, said Josh Cowen, an MSU professor who is running as a Democrat to represent the state’s 7th District in the U.S. House.
“My first thought was, ‘Man, this happened at another campus, another place of learning and debate,” Cowen said. “(Kirk) was famous for going into places and having debates, and he was killed for that. With political violence on the rise in this country, we all need to take a step back and look at what’s going on.”
The deans of Michigan’s congressional delegation, U.S. Reps. Tim Walberg, R-Tipton, and Debbie Dingell, D-Ann Arbor, issued a rare joint statement Thursday to say they were horrified by Kirk’s shooting and “deeply disturbed” by the rise in political violence taking place across the U.S.
“Silencing voices through violence erodes our foundational principles. Instead, we must do more to protect every American’s freedom to have passionate disagreement, rigorous debate, free expression, and an open exchange of ideas without the threat of harm,” the lawmakers said. “All Americans must do their part to stop the escalation of violence.”
News of the shooting broke while the Michigan House was still in session on Wednesday in Lansing. Voting stopped on the House floor for a time of prayer as House sergeants began closing shutters over the chamber windows as an additional security measure.
State Rep. Bradley Slagh, R-Zeeland, led a prayer from the House floor for Kirk and his family.
House Majority Leader Bryan Posthumus, R-Rockford, said the decision was made to end the daily session after the prayer out of respect for Kirk as well as safety concerns. He noted it was the first political assassination to occur while lawmakers were in session.
“We decided that’s what would make sense to do in this scenario,” Posthumus said.
State Sen. Jim Runestad, chairman of the Michigan Republican Party, said he was “devastated” to learn of the fatal shooting.
“For over a decade, Charlie energized the youth of America at college campuses across the country, challenging students to dream big about their future, and inspiring generations of future leaders, legislators, and constitutional conservatives. His wisdom and dedication to upholding our constitutional rights will be dearly missed,” Runestad said in a statement.
Kirk’s killing unfolded less than a half-hour before a separate incident in which a student at Evergreen High School in Colorado opened fire at the school, injuring at least three other students.
End Gun Violence Michigan, a nonprofit that backs gun law reform, said the incidents share a commonality: easy access to firearms.
“It is simply far too easy for those who wish to commit heinous violence to access powerful weapons,” Ryan Bates, executive director of the gun control group, said in a statement. “Our leaders need to take action now to address the national crisis of gun violence before another tragedy strikes.”
The shooting comes amid a spike in political violence across the U.S. In June, a Democratic Minnesota state lawmaker and her husband were shot and killed in what authorities have described as a politically motivated attack. Also that month, a man shouting pro-Palestinian slogans firebombed a Colorado gathering held in support of Israeli hostages in Gaza.
Those incidents followed the July 2024 assassination attempt of President Donald Trump at an outdoor campaign rally in rural Pennsylvania. There was also an arsonist’s attack on the residence of Democratic Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, who is Jewish and had defended Israel’s right to defend itself in the wake of the Oct. 7, 2023, attack by Hamas but who had criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s conduct of the war in Gaza.
“The wave of political violence gripping our nation is un-American, and unpatriotic,” Runestad said. “No American should fear for their life because of their faith or their political views.”
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, herself the target of an alleged 2020 kidnapping plot by political extremists, ordered U.S. and state flags lowered to half-staff in accordance with a Trump order.
“I am thinking of Charlie Kirk, his family, and the community at UVU after the horrific shooting that took place earlier today,” Whitmer said in a statement. “Political violence of any form is unacceptable and must be condemned.”
Other Michigan officials remembered Kirk for his unapologetic brand of activism.
On social media Wednesday, Walberg said, “No one has fought for free speech and challenged ideas on campuses like Charlie.” U.S. Rep. Lisa McClain, R-Bruce Township, posted “Rest in peace, conservative warrior.”
Senate GOP Leader Aric Nesbitt, R-Porter Township, called the killing “an act of terrorism, plain and simple.”
“People tried to shame Charlie,” Nesbitt said in a statement. “They tried to kick him off campuses so he couldn’t speak. And, finally, they tried to silence him permanently. Unfortunately, they did.”
Staff Writers Melissa Nann Burke and Beth LeBlanc contributed.
FILE – Michigan State Sen. Mallory McMorrow speaks at the Democratic National Convention, August 19, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File)
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