Skip to main content

Game Of Friends, Rivals And Allies Begins As Parties Prep For UP Polls 2027

The game in Uttar Pradesh politics has only just begun, but the real drama is yet to unfold. With the UP assembly elections scheduled for February 2027, political parties have already started their preparations. The BJP is currently engaged in a series of meetings. And with the elections in mind, the UP cabinet was recently expanded, resulting in the induction of six new ministers and the granting of independent charge to two others. The BJP intends to contest the elections in alliance with the Rashtriya Lok Dal, Apna Dal, Nishad Party, and the Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party. Through this coalition, the BJP aims to successfully navigate and balance the complex caste equations of UP. As a counter-strategy to this, Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav has introduced the 'PDA' formula - an acronym representing the coalition of Pichhda (backward classes), Dalit, and Alpsankhyak (minorities). The Opposition bloc INDIA's precise configuration in UP remains unclear. Altho...

US Shooter Identified As Trans, Resented Going To Christian School: Cops

Video released on Tuesday showed Nashville, Tennessee, police officers storming a private Christian grade school on Monday before confronting and fatally shooting an attacker who killed three 9-year-old students and three adult staff members.

The six minutes of harrowing footage, edited together from the body-worn cameras of two responding officers and released by the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department, showed officers clearing several first-floor classrooms before heading upstairs to the second floor as gunfire is heard.

The officers run down a hallway - past what appears to be a victim lying on the ground - and into a lounge area, where the suspect is seen dropping to the floor after being shot.

Police have identified the shooter as Audrey Elizabeth Hale, a 28-year-old former student at the Covenant School. Investigators are examining what they called a "manifesto" that Hale left behind, hoping to learn what motivated the latest in a long string of U.S. mass shootings.

Monday's violence marked the 90th school shooting – defined as any incident in which a gun is discharged on school property – in the U.S. this year, according to the K-12 School Shooting Database, a website founded by researcher David Riedman. Last year saw 303 such incidents, the highest of any year in the database, which goes back to 1970.

During a previous press briefing, Metro Nashville Police Chief John Drake said Hale self-identified as transgender, although Drake offered no further clarity. Drake and other officials repeatedly referred to the suspect with female pronouns, though Hale used male pronouns on a LinkedIn page that listed recent jobs in graphic design and grocery delivery.

Drake said Hale had a detailed, hand-drawn map of the school showing various entry points, Drake said. Hale was armed with two assault-style weapons, one of them a rifle, as well as a 9mm pistol, authorities said.

Drake told NBC the manifesto indicated that Hale planned to carry out additional shootings at other locations. He said the Covenant School was singled out for attack but that the individual victims were targeted at random.

Investigators believe Hale harbored "some resentment for having to go to that school" as a child, Drake said without elaborating.

The three children were identified as Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs and William Kinney. Also shot dead were Katherine Koonce, 60, the head of school; Mike Hill, 61, a school custodian; and Cynthia Peak, 61, a substitute teacher.

Scruggs' father, Chad, is a pastor at the Covenant Presbyterian Church, which is connected to the school. In a statement given to ABC News, he said the family was heartbroken.

"Through tears we trust that she is in the arms of Jesus who will raise her to life once again," the statement read.

'GET YOUR HANDS AWAY FROM THE GUN!'

Nashville police began receiving calls about a shooter at 10:13 a.m., spokesperson Don Aaron told reporters. The suspect was pronounced dead by 10:27 a.m.

"The police department response was swift," Aaron said.

The body camera footage showed officers rapidly searching for the shooter, in contrast to videos showing officers in Uvalde, Texas, waiting inside Robb Elementary School for more than an hour last May as a gunman inside a classroom continued an attack that claimed the lives of 19 children and two adults.

In 2018, a number of officers responding to a school shooting in Parkland, Florida, remained outside the building rather than immediately pursuing the suspect, according to a state commission's investigation. Seventeen students and staff members died in that attack.

Both incidents prompted fresh scrutiny of police protocols for active shooters, which call for officers to engage the suspect at once to prevent loss of life.

The start of the Nashville police video shows an officer retrieving a rifle from his trunk as a staff member tells him that the school is locked down but that two children are unaccounted for.

"Let's go! I need three!" the officer yells as he uses a key to unlock a door and enter the building, where alarms can be heard ringing.

The video shows officers passing by bulletin boards and cubbies as they clear one room after another. When the officers reach the second floor, one says, "We've got one down," before they race down the hallway to confront the shooter.

Officer Rex Engelbert and Officer Michael Collazo - whose body cameras provided the footage - both fire several rounds at the suspect. The video shows the assailant still moving on the ground as another officer repeatedly yells, "Get your hands away from the gun!"

Police previously released surveillance footage showing the shooter arriving at the school and gaining entry by shooting through a glass door. The suspect is seen stalking through empty hallways as emergency lights flash, brandishing a rifle and entering rooms, seemingly looking for people.

The Covenant School, founded in 2001, serves about 200 students from preschool to sixth grade in the Green Hills neighborhood of Tennessee's state capital, according to the school's website.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)



from NDTV News- Special https://ift.tt/4AYOUyb
via IFTTT

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

US Teen Who Slapped Teacher In Classroom Faces Kidnapping, Assault Charges

A US high school student, who attacked two teachers in school premises, has been hit indicted on assault and kidnapping charges, according to a report in Fox News. The outlet said that the attacks took place at Parkland High School in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. A video of 17-year-old Aquavis Hickman hitting one of the teachers in the classroom in April had gone viral on social media, leading to a barrage of comments. Hickman is being tried as an adult and his case has been moved from a juvenile court to a superior court. Watch the video: NEW: North Carolina high school student who went viral for hitting his teacher has been smacked with felony charges & is being charged as an adult. This is how it's done. 17-year-old Aquavis Hickman has been indicted on assault and kidnapping charges for two separate… pic.twitter.com/JOsO0bFiKX — Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) May 5, 2024 "A grand jury was convened last week, last Monday, comprised of members of this community and...

Watch: PM Modi And Some BTS Moments From His Radio Show Mann Ki Baat

The 100th episode of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Mann Ki Baat will air this Sunday. Ahead of the milestone, a video shows what goes behind recording the popular monthly radio programme. In the video, PM Modi is seen walking into a building, from where Mann Ki Baat is broadcast, and interacting with the staff there. PM Modi then enters a room to start the 30-minute programme, which was launched in 2014. The first episode of the Prime Minister's Mann Ki Baat aired on October 3, 2014. Now, the 100th episode is scheduled to be broadcast tomorrow at 11 am. This time, the PM's address will also be broadcast live at the United Nations headquarters in New York. The episode will be broadcast on more than 1,000 radio stations including TV channels, private radio stations, and community radios. “Get ready for a historic moment as the 100th episode of PM Modi's "Mann Ki Baat" is set to go live on April 30th in Trusteeship Council Chamber at @UN HQ!” the Permanent M...

BJP MP Varun Gandhi Files Case Against Man For Comments On His Father

BJP leader Varun Gandhi on Saturday filed a defamation case in a local court here against a Varanasi man for allegedly making derogatory remarks on his father on Twitter. The Pilibhit MP on Saturday came to the court premises with three advocates around 3 pm and filed a defamation case before Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate (II) Abhinav Tiwari. The court recorded his statement and fixed April 25 as the next date for hearing, an advocate said. Gandhi in the complaint said that his father Late Sanjay Gandhi was a well known politician of the country and he was respected all over the country and still is today. He told the court that on March 29, 2023, Vivek Pandey, a resident of Bhojubir of Varanasi district, had made indecent remarks against Sanjay Gandhi through his social media Twitter @vivekkumar IND. According to Mr Gandhi, the accused identified himself as the General Secretary of Nationalist Hindu and Kisan Morcha. Mr Gandhi also said that he was informed about the twee...