Month: March 2024

Police are investigating after three people were found shot to death in two overnight crime scenes in a neighborhood near Dallas Love Field.
Police also say they have learned of some type of criminal activity that was taking place but haven’t said what they think that might be.
The first report of a shooting came in just before midnight in the 7700 block of Harry Hines Boulevard. 911 calls about a truck that hopped a curb and broke a fence brought police to the area.
Officers found a pickup truck there with blood inside the vehicle. They began searching for whoever had been in the vehicle and learned a badly injured man had already been taken to the hospital. He later died from his gunshot wounds.
Police pulled the registration information on the truck, which led them to a house three blocks away in the 2300 block of Gilford Street. At the home, they found a window that had been shot out and two additional dead men inside the home.
Salvador Garcia heard the gunfire and then huddled over his 2-week-old twins.
“I remember two different guns, two different sounds,” he recalled. “So I think that was two guns, two different guns.”
The bullet holes appeared to come from inside the home.
Midday, grief-stricken family members with a growing sadness showed up, including the mother of one of the victims who didn’t want to talk publicly. She said her son lived in the home. They did not know the other two who were killed.
“At this time, it appears that these two incidents are related. There is no suspect in custody. We have learned also that there was some sort of criminal activity that was occurring. So this was not a random shooting,” said Kristin Lowman with the Dallas Police Department. “We just want to assure the public right now that there is no apparent danger and detectives right now are working to locate the suspect and learn more about what happened today.
Neighbors who did not want to talk on camera also reported hearing gun fire, but they all told the same story of never seeing anything out of the ordinary at or near the home or any kind of activity that might lead to this kind of gun violence.
The names of the three men who died have not yet been released

U.S. Border Patrol agents arrested five child sex offenders in five different sectors over the weekend, officials said. 

U.S. Border Patrol Chief Jason Owens said USBP agents in the sectors of Yuma, Tucson, El Paso, Del Rio, and Rio Grande Valley arrested five child sex predators.

Their criminal histories, Owens said, included sexual assault of a person 15 years old and aggravated sexual assault of a child.

Their apprehension has highlighted concerns over some 1.8 million “gotaways” at the southern border since the start of fiscal year 2021. A “gotaway” refers to someone who is seen illegally entering the U.S. and is not apprehended or turned back.

The arrest of five sex predators at the border came as the FBI warned Monday of a “wide array” of dangerous threats coming from the U.S. border, including drug trafficking, violent gangs, and smugglers with ties to ISIS.

Asked by Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., at a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing to comment on these threats, Wray said there were dangerous individuals entering via the southern border.

“From an FBI perspective, we are seeing a wide array of very dangerous threats that emanate from the border. And that includes everything from drug trafficking – the FBI alone seized enough fentanyl in the last two years to kill 270 million people – that’s just on the fentanyl side,” he said.

DEWHURST, Wis. (AP) — Nine people were killed Friday in a crash involving a semitrailer and a van at a western Wisconsin highway intersection.

Preliminary reports about the early morning crash indicated the semitrailer traveling on State Highway 95 collided with the van traveling on County Highway J, southwest of the small city of Neillsville, Clark County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy James Hirsch said in a Facebook post.

The van entered the intersection and was struck by the semitrailer, he said. Eight of the nine people in the van, including the driver, died at the scene, while an injured passenger was taken to a nearby hospital, he said.

The driver was the only occupant of the semitrailer and also died at the scene, Hirsch said.

An investigation is ongoing.

“Our hearts and prayers go out to the families and loved ones of all those involved, as well as the first responders who worked quickly to provide support at the scene,” Gov. Tony Evers posted on X.

The names of everyone involved in the crash will be released after family members are notified, according to the sheriff’s office.

Highway 95 was closed for hours. Overhead video footage showed both vehicles on their sides.

The area of the crash is about 50 miles (80 kilometers) southeast of Eau Claire.

Torrential rains have triggered flash floods and a landslide on Indonesia’s Sumatra island, killing at least 19 people and leaving seven missing, officials said .

Tons of mud, rocks and uprooted trees rolled down a mountain late Friday, reaching a river that burst its banks and tore through mountainside villages in Pesisir Selatan district of West Sumatra province, said Doni Yusrizal, who heads the local disaster management agency.

Rescuers by Saturday pulled out seven bodies in the worst-hit village of Koto XI Tarusan and recovered three others in two neighboring villages, Yusrizal said.

Rescuers retrieved six bodies in Pesisir Selatan and three more in the neighboring district of Padang Pariaman, bringing the death toll to 19, the National Disaster Management Agency said

The agency said in a statement that at least two villagers were injured by the flash flood and rescuers were searching for seven people who are reportedly still missing.

It said more than 80,000 people had fled to temporary government shelters after the flood and landslide buried 14 houses, while 20,000 houses were flooded up to their roofs in nine districts and cities in West Sumatra province.

“Relief efforts for the dead and missing were hampered by power outages blocked roads covered in thick mud and debris,” Yusrizal said.

Heavy rains cause frequent landslides and flash floods in Indonesia, where millions of people live in mountainous areas or near floodplains.

Two Ohio women allegedly propped up a dead man in their car during a visit to the bank to withdraw hundreds of dollars from his account before they dropped him off at the hospital.

Karen Casbohm, 63, and Loreen Bea Feralo, 55, are now facing felony charges after dropping off the body of Douglas Layman, 80, at Ashtabula County Medical Center emergency room on Monday and leaving, according to Ashtabula Police Chief Robert Stell and Ashtabula Prosecuting Attorney Cecilia Cooper.

Medical personnel had no idea who Layman was when the women dropped him at the emergency room.

“They left without providing any information to the hospital. They just left him,” Stell told Fox 8.

One of the women called the hospital a few hours later and provided some personal information about him, and authorities were able to identify him, Stell said in a press release. Officers were then dispatched to Layman’s home and spoke to the two women, who said he had died at his home in Ashtabula.

Casbohm and Feralo were taken into custody on Wednesday and were each charged with gross abuse of a corpse and theft.

“This is very unusual,” Cooper told Fox 8.

The women, who were not related to Layman but lived at his house, found the man dead inside his home but decided not to call 911 and instead attempted to take the money from his bank account.

According to officials, the women are accused of taking Layman’s body out of the home and propping him up in the passenger seat of their car with the help of a third unidentified individual, and driving through a bank drive-thru to withdraw around $900. 

Police said the women had propped Layman up, so the bank teller could see him and that the bank previously allowed them to withdraw money from Layman’s account, as long as he was in the vehicle.

The cause of Layman’s death is unknown.

Stell told Fox 8 the case remains under investigation and the two women could face additional charges.

Casbohm appeared in court for her arraignment this week and a judge set her bond at $5,000. Feralo is scheduled to appear for her arraignment.

If convicted, they could face up to a year in prison on each charge.

Both women have previous criminal histories.

Casbohm has been convicted of theft, soliciting, criminal trespass, receiving stolen property, possession of drug paraphernalia and attempted drug abuse, while Feralo has been convicted of reckless assault, possession of drug paraphernalia, criminal trespass, driving under the influence, theft and attempted possession of drugs.

A couple who met on a train, commuted by train to date each other and shared their first kiss on a train have tied the knot in a very similar fashion.

Leah, 38, and Vince Smith, 39, held their entire wedding on board a special Great Western Railway (GWR) train today, which set off from London Paddington station and took the wedding party all the way to Swansea.

“It’s been amazing. GWR has been so fantastic and everything they’ve done, the set-up, is brilliant. It’s like a dream come true,” Mr Smith told the PA news agency.

The journey encompassed all the usual matrimonial traditions – from the wedding vows and family photos to a three-course meal with speeches – after the locomotive played a pivotal part in their relationship.

The couple, from Farncombe near Guildford, Surrey, first met in 2016 on board a GWR train from Wokingham to Reading as they travelled for their first date together, had their first kiss on a train, and used the service to visit and date each other.

The pair, who have been together for eight years, wanted to feature a small nod to the train operator when tying the knot so they contacted the social media team at GWR to see if they could provide a centrepiece for their wedding table.

“GWR got back to us really quickly and .. you could see that they were trying to push for something special for us, and obviously it eventually manifested into this amazing day,” Mr Smith said.

Starting on Friday morning, Ms Smith had her hair and make-up done in the Queen Victoria’s lounge on platform one at Paddington station while Mr Smith got ready at the old GWR boardroom at the station.

“I think that part is quite special because it is a section of Paddington that remained after Second World War bombing,” he said.

“I boarded the train and then obviously got set up with the minister and everything in the front carriage waiting for Leah to come on board,” Mr Smith said.

Ms Smith said: “When everyone was on the train I walked down the platform with my dad and my two eldest kids, and there were loads of people clapping and cheering, and it was very surreal.”

From there, the ceremony unfolded in front of 14 guests and the couple exchanged the rings as the train made its way towards Reading.

“We were wobbling all over the place while the ceremony was taking place but it was funny,” Mr Smith said.

Ms Smith’s father, who was a signalman on GWR’s sister network South Western Railway for 51 years, gave his daughter away along with the couple’s son.

She said their families thought the train ceremony was a “fantastic” idea, adding: “My dad, in particular, was very, very excited about it, as you can imagine.”

Traditional wedding photos followed, as well as a three-course meal in a Pullman dining car along with speeches and a champagne toast as the train passed through Berkshire, Wiltshire and Somerset.

The wedding guests departed the train at Cardiff while the newly-weds travelled on to Swansea, where GWR arranged a hotel for them to stay for the night.

For the couple, there is a “sentimental” aspect of holding their wedding on a train given it has played a pivotal role in their relationship.

Explaining their first date, Ms Smith said: “We went for a coffee and then a pizza, and just got on really, really well. On the way back, Vince was getting off at Wokingham.

“He went to leave and then ran back and kissed me. I knew from that first date we had something special.”

Mr Smith added: “On top of that, Leah’s dad has been in the industry for 50 years so she’s always had a place in her life for trains and always has journeys aboard on trains, and it’s been the same since we’ve been together.

“Whenever we have a holiday, the first thing we always look out for is steam train routes or picturesque train journeys, so it’s always been an important aspect of our activities.”

The couple’s honeymoon plans are not train-centric but they hope to stay on a refurbished steam train carriage for a couple of nights this year.

Riley Gaines made an appearance on Joe Rogan’s podcast Thursday and talked about her experience going against Lia Thomas at the 2022 NCAA swimming championships.

Thomas became the first transgender athlete to win a national title in NCAA women’s swimming.

Gaines has been outspoken against Thomas’ foray into women’s swimming and testified on Capitol Hill how uncomfortable it was to be around the swimmer in the locker room.

As Gaines recalled the NCAA championships on the “Joe Rogan Experience,” the podcast host asked whether Thomas “has sex with girls.”

“At the time, again, this is what I know based off what his teammates have told me and what’s really been public knowledge based off what they post and different things,” Gaines said. “At the time of the national championships, he was still dating women and active with women.

“But now, again, based off of social media, he is engaged to another man who claims to be a woman. So two men, but they call themselves lesbians.”

Gaines, who is the host of OutKick’s “Gaines for Girls” podcast and the leader of the Riley Gaines Center at the Leadership Institute, further talked about tying with Thomas in the NCAA championships and how officials refused to give her a trophy, opting to give one to the Penn swimmer instead.

Since graduating, Gaines has been outspoken in the fight for fairness in women’s sports and serves as an ambassador at the Independent Women’s Forum.

Fox News Digital contacted Thomas seeking a response to Rogan and Gaines’ comments.

Six people, including a mother and her four kids, were slaughtered in a “mass killing” inside a Canadian home overnight, cops said.

Febrio De-Zoysa, 19, allegedly used an “edged weapon” to attack the family in their Barrhaven neighborhood townhouse shortly before 11 p.m., according to Ottawa Police Chief Eric Stubbs.

Police identified the victims as 35-year-old Darshani Dilanthika Ekanyake and her young children: Inuka Wickramasinghe, 7; Ashwini Wickramasinghe, 4; Rinyana Wickramasinghe, 2; and 2-month-old Kelly Wickramasinghe

Family friend Amarakoonmubiayansela Ge Gamini Amarakoon, 40, was also killed.

One person — the husband and father of the young victims — who was found alive inside the home was rushed to hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries, police said.

The family were newcomers to Canada originally from Sri Lanka, Stubbs said.

“I want to emphasize this was a senseless act of violence perpetrated on purely innocent people. I know our whole community is shocked and mourning this event,” said the police chief.

De-Zoysa was arrested at the scene without incident, cops added. 

Stubbs clarified in the afternoon that the incident was not a shooting as initially believed: “This was a mass killing, not a mass shooting.”

He added that police didn’t believe it was a domestic-related incident, but did not reveal a motive

Police said De-Zoysa — who is also a Sri Lankan national and is in Canada as a student — was an acquaintance of the family and was living in the home at the time of the killings.

Cops had never dealt with either De-Zoysa or his alleged victims before being called to the murder scene.

He was charged with six counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder.

A cruise ship’s voyage to Mexico and the Bahamas turned into a rescue mission when the boat spotted a small vessel in the waves.

On Sunday, Royal Caribbean’s Icon of the Seas, the new world’s largest cruise ship that launched in January, rescued 14 people who had been stranded at sea for over a week.

Icon passenger Alessandra Amodio told PEOPLE that the cruise ship was in the midst of an eight-day Caribbean itinerary when they spotted the individuals.

“I was in the lunch buffet with my family when we heard a coded announcement over the loud speakers,” Amodio told PEOPLE, adding that the announcement came at around 3 p.m. local time. “A few minutes later people started gathering at the windows and then the captain came on and announced that they had found a distressed vessel and we would be turning around to investigate. We all rushed to the windows and in the nearish distance we could see in the waves a tiny boat waving either a large white flag or sheet.”

Shortly after, the ship turned around and pulled up next to the boat and “deployed a small zodiac-type rescue boat,” she recalls.

“Eventually we saw Royal Caribbean crew helping about two people from the distressed boat onto the rescue boat before returning to the vessel. They then made a few more trips to safely bring everyone on board.”

According to Amodio, they later found out that the passengers on the small boat had been “lost at sea for eight days.”

“We got a final announcement once they were all on board safely telling us there was 14 people on board,” she said, adding that passengers clapped and cheered upon hearing everyone had been rescued safely.

“Our first reaction was shock, I’ve been on six or so cruises and I’ve never experienced anything even close to this,” Amodio continued. “During the rescue everyone was more shocked and the general consensus was that this wasn’t something anyone ever thought would be happening. It was crazy to see, even knowing where they were in the water, once they dropped the flag, they were hard to spot. Just seeing this small boat you knew was filled with people surrounded by the vastness of the water was enough to freak you out. “

The ship was on its first full day of sailing and it was between Cozumel, Mexico and western Cuba when the incident happened.

“We weren’t told by the captain or crew what happened to them,” Amodio added of the rescued individuals. 

The cruise liner, which departed from Miami, Florida, was headed to Roatán, Honduras, and Royal Caribbean’s private Bahamian island, CocoCay, during its voyage.

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Royal Caribbean told PEOPLE in a statement, “On March 3, 2024, Icon of the Seas encountered a small vessel adrift and in need of assistance. The ship’s crew immediately launched a rescue operation, safely bringing 14 people onboard. The crew provided them with medical attention, and is working closely with the U.S. Coast Guard.”

A U.S. Coast Guard spokesperson told Newsweek that the rescue occurred in Mexico’s search-and-rescue area of responsibility.

The Icon of the Seas made its maiden voyage out of South Florida in late January. The ship departed from Port Miami and docked at ports including Puerto Costa Maya in Mexico, Basseterre in St. Kitts & Nevis and Charlotte Amalie in St. Thomas.

Along with the world’s largest pool and water park at sea, Icon also boasts eight “neighborhoods” to explore and an open-air “Central Park.”

The record-breaking vessel overtook Royal Caribbean’s Wonder of the Seas, which formerly held the title of largest cruise ship in the world.