Shooting at Upscale Florida Mall Leaves Two Dead

(CNN)A former employee at a Florida gym opened fire on former co-workers during a dispute Saturday,leaving two people dead, officials said.

The shootings at the Equinox Fitness Club at the upscale Shops at Merrick Park mall in Coral Gables occurred after an argument between Abeku Wilson, the former employee, and Janine Ackerman, the general manager, police said.

Wilson was fired from the club on Saturday and escorted off the property. He later returned with a handgun, killing Ackerman, 35, and fitness manager Marios Hortis, 42. Another victim was critically wounded, police said.

Wilson, 33, then turned the gun on himself and died at the scene, police said.

"Our sense of loss is too profound for words," the club said in a statement on Sunday.

Police gather outside of the Shops at Merrick Park after a shooting. 

"Initially we thought it was an active shooter ... but there was a Coral Gables police officer at the mall at the time who was able to quickly determine it was a targeted shooting," said Miami-Dade Police Officer Alvaro Zabaleta.

The gunfire sent shoppers running for cover, according to witnesses. The mall was on lockdown for a time until police secured the scene. 

In videos posted on social media shortly after the shots rang out, an automated recording is heard: "Emergency -- evacuate or seek shelter." Sirens blare in the background. 

Tim Hartog, general manager of the Yard House restaurant, said the business was on lockdown.

Shots rang out at the Shops at Merrick Park mall in Coral Gables on Saturday. 

"We had everyone underneath tables and got everyone to the back," he said. "There's police everywhere." 

Susan Amat tweeted from the restaurant's kitchen: "Pray for safety for everyone at Merrick Park right now - everything is locked down - we're in kitchen of Yard House. Go Coral Gables Police!"

Anais Michelle said she was walking into the mall with her mother when she saw people coming down from the third level, some crying about a shooting at the gym. Michelle said they hid in the back of a store.

The shooting started about 1 p.m., witnesses told CNN affiliate WPLG. Police said the area was secure about 40 minutes later.

Article Source: http://www.cnn.com/2017/04/08/us/florida-mall-shooting/index.html

Two arrested in Cincinnati Nightclub Shooting

Police offficers investigate the crime scene at a Cincinnati nightclub.

Jackie Davis, Deondre Davis' father, was by his son's bedside in the hospital when he learned he was one of the suspects. "We were so excited that they had (arrested) someone and to see my son's face come across was devastating," Davis told reporters outside the hospital. "I'm still puzzled on how my son is accused," he added.

Davis described his son as a "nice, well-rounded kid" who always smiles. 

According to his attorney, Carl Lewis, Deondre Davis is unresponsive, sedated and on a ventilator and is expected to undergo surgery on Friday.

"He's innocent until proven guilty," Lewis said. The attorney mentioned he had represented Davis in the past for "minor matters," such as traffic charges for allegedly driving without a license.

It was not clear whether Beckley has an attorney. He is scheduled for arraignment Friday.

The shooting was not related to terrorism, authorities said. But Cranley said that made little difference to clubgoers.

"If you were in that bar or restaurant and people start shooting in a crowded room, what difference does it make to you what the motivation of the shooter was?" Cranley said. "We live in a city and a country where you should be able to go out and have a good time and not be terrorized by gun violence."

Cincinnati Police Chief Eliot Isaac addresses reporters after Sunday morning's fatal shooting.

'A lot of chaos'

Cameo is in the former home of a gay bar called Adonis, which closed in 2012.

It is in the city's East End area, on the Ohio River Scenic Byway near Cincinnati Municipal Lunken Airport, where it sits amid used auto parts yards and marinas.

"We, including myself, are all asking how this could have happened," Jay Rodgers, Cameo's owner, said in a statement. He pledged the club would "continue to cooperate with the police investigation and assist in any way in bringing the perpetrators to justice.

Cameo hires off-duty police officers for extra security. Two officers were stationed at the club's entrance and another two in the parking lot, authorities said.

Officers in those situations are allowed to provide security only outside the clubs, Isaac said. Clubs are responsible for their internal security.

To get in, clubgoers had been searched with an electronic wand to detect hidden weapons. 

A man who was inside told CNN affiliate WLWT he heard the DJ calling for security, although the music hadn't stopped.

"It was just a lot of chaos, obviously, when the shots went off," Cincinnati Police Department Capt. Kimberly Williams said. "People (were) just trying to get out of harm's way." 

To leave the club, some patrons had to flee past injured people on the floor.

Police found a "chaotic crime scene" as they looked for witnesses, many of whom took off when the shooting started, said Cincinnati Assistant Police Chief Paul Neudigate.

The packed parking lot and the crowds trying to drive away hindered fire rescue teams, Assistant Fire Chief Roy Winston said.

Members of the ATF and local police work at the Cameo nightclub Sunday.

"You had a mass group of people leaving the scene," Winston said.

Some of the injured drove themselves to area hospitals, police said.

One patient was treated for a gunshot wound and released from Anderson Hospital, said Nanette Bentley, hospital spokeswoman. Another person walked into West Hospital with a non-gunshot injury and was treated and released, Bentley said.

'Just going to have a good time'

Cranley, the mayor, said his city is "deeply saddened by this tragedy" and urged community members to work together.

Cincinnati Mayor John Cranley said his city is now one more community struck by "unacceptable" gun violence

"People were just going to have a good time and ended up getting shot," he said. "That is totally unacceptable."

He added, "This is a tragedy that has struck other communities and now it has struck Cincinnati. Our hearts are broken but our spirit is not."

The Cameo nightclub allows admission to anyone over age 18 on Friday nights. Saturday nights are for those who are 21 and above and promoted as "grown and sexy" night.

Cameo has a history of violent incidents, WLWT reported.

"We are aware of it. It (the club) has had some challenges in the past," Neudigate said.

Multiple assaults were reported at Cameo from 2014 to 2016, affiliate WXIX reported.

Article Source: http://www.cnn.com/2017/03/26/us/ohio-nightclub-shooting/index.html

How the Westminster Attack Unfolded

London (CNN)London was struck by a terror attack on Wednesday that killed four people and left dozens injured in the city's deadliest attack in over a decade. Here's how it unfolded: 

Around 2:40 p.m. - Attacker strikes

The assailant drives a vehicle over Westminster Bridge into a crowd, injuring dozens, including three police officers.

The car drives on and crashes into perimeter railings surrounding the Houses of Parliament.

Attacker runs around the corner, approximately 50 meters, then through Parliament's gates, where he stabs an unarmed policeman.

Police open fire on attacker, who is shot dead.

London Ambulance Service receives reports of an incident on Westminster Bridge.

2:46 p.m. - Emergency response

First ambulance crew arrives at the scene. Prime Minister Theresa May is evacuated from Parliament around the same time.

2:47 p.m. - House of Commons is informed

The sitting House of Commons is suspended and Members of Parliament are also placed in lockdown.

David Lidington, Leader of the House of Commons, tells MPs a police officer was stabbed and the assailant appeared to have been shot. He adds that an air ambulance is removing casualties from scene. 

MPs are told to remain in the chamber and stay away from windows.

3:00 p.m. - Full lockdown 

Westminster is put on lockdown by police, including roads, Parliament buildings; the Westminster Underground station is also secured. TV images emerge of a car crashed into the railings.

3:32 p.m. - 'Terrorist incident' 

London Metropolitan Police calls the attack a "terrorist incident."

Authorities tell public to avoid the expanded area around Parliament. The gates of Buckingham Palace are closed as well as Downing Street and Horse Guards Parade. 

The London Eye Ferris wheel, a sightseeing destination on the South Bank, is suspended with tourists still inside the capsules.

5:19 p.m. - Woman pulled from Thames

A woman is pulled from the River Thames alive but with injuries, she was found near Westminster Bridge, where the attack occurred, a Port of London Authority spokesman tells CNN. 

5:50 p.m. - Three deaths confirmed

Three people have died, Britain's most senior counter-terrorism police officer Mark Rowley announces in a news conference. He confirms the attacker was also killed. 

"Our strength as a city is our ability to stand together at such terrible times," Rowley says. "My thoughts are with all those who have been affected by today's attack -- and as a service we have lost one of our own as he acted to protect the public and his colleagues.

"This is a day that we had planned for -- that we all hoped would never happen -- but sadly it is now a reality."

5:50 p.m. - Parliament evacuated

Hundreds of people are evacuated from Parliament to nearby Westminster Abbey, Britain's Press Association news agency reports. A Metropolitan Police superintendent says it will take around 90 minutes to process everyone. Authorities add that people will be assessed to see if they have any information.

6:23 p.m. - Parliament defiant

UK Parliament tweets that both the House of Commons and House of Lords will open and sit as usual on Thursday despite the attack.

7:25 p.m. - Lockdown lifted 

MP Stephen McPartland tweets: "We have just been released from Parliament." The House of Commons later confirms to CNN that the Palace of Westminster is no longer in lockdown.

8:53 p.m. - UK PM speaks

Prime Minister Theresa May condemns "sick and depraved terrorist attack," in a briefing. She makes her remarks after meeting with COBRA, the UK's emergency cabinet committee.

10:29 p.m. - Slain cop identified

Mark Rowley announces that the death toll has risen to four, including one police officer, and 40 were injured in the attack. He later revises the death toll back to three.

He announces the officer killed was Keith Palmer, 48, a husband and father and a 15-year veteran. 

At Scotland Yard, headquarters of London's police force, flags were flying at half-staff on Wednesday evening, in honor of Palmer and the other victims.

THURSDAY 6:03 a.m. - Seven arrested in police raids

Police raided an apartment in Birmingham and other locations overnight, Britain's Press Association reports early on Thursday morning. 

Seven people were arrested at six addresses following enquiries in London and Birmingham, acting deputy police commissioner Mark Rowley tells journalists. Rowley adds that police believe the attacker acted alone and was inspired by international terrorism.

9:26 a.m. - First victim identified 

Aysha Frade is identified as one of the victims killed in the attack near Parliament Square, a spokesperson for the Foreign Ministry in Spain tells CNN. 

The 43-year-old British teacher with Spanish origins, had been living in London for several years with her Portuguese husband, according to Ramon Garcia Vasquez, the mayor of the Spanish town of Betanzos.

2:08 p.m. - Utah man also died in attack

American tourist Kurt Cochran is identified by family and his church as the second victims who died in the London attack. Cochran was in London celebrating his 25th wedding anniversary with his wife Melissa. 

His wife suffered a broken leg and rib as well as a cut to her head but she is expected to recover from her injuries, her brother Clint wrote on social media. 

12:39 p.m. - ISIS claims responsibility 

ISIS claims responsibility for Wednesday's Westminster attack but does not offer evidence of any connections to the assailant. ISIS-affiliated news agency, Amaq, reports that the attacker was a "soldier of Islamic State." 

CNN Terrorism analyst Paul Cruickshank said the language used by ISIS doesn't necessarily mean that the group is claiming it had connections to the attacker. He says this type of language has been used in the past by the group for attacks it believes it helped inspire. 

3:33 p.m. - Police name attacker 

London Metropolitan Police formally identify the perpetrator as 52-year-old Khalid Masood. 

A statement says Masood, who was born in Kent, a county in the south-east, had previous convictions for violence. It adds that he is thought to have been living in the West Midlands in central England. 

He has never been convicted of any terrorism offenses, according to the police statement. Speaking before Masood was named, Prime Minster Theresa May said the attacker was known to authorities for links to violent extremism. 

He was investigated "some years ago" by security services, but was regarded as a "peripheral figure," May said in the House of Commons. 

9.17 p.m. - Death toll rises to 4

A man who was being treated at a local hospital has become the fourth fatality of the rampage, according to London Metropolitan Police.

The 75-year-old man had been receiving medical treatment following the attack and his life support was withdrawn this evening, said police.

Fort Lauderdale Airport Shooting Suspect

(CNN) Esteban Santiago needed help after he returned from a tour in Iraq a changed man, his brother said Saturday. 

But Bryan Santiago said his brother didn't get the help he needed.

Esteban Santiago's aunt said her nephew talked about the destruction he witnessed. About the killing of children. Visions that haunted him. 

"His mind was not right," Maria Ruiz Rivera told CNN in a phone interview from her home in New Jersey. "He seemed normal at times, but other times he seemed lost. He changed."

Bryan Santiago, who lives in Puerto Rico, said his brother asked authorities for help. 

"And they did nothing. They had him hospitalized for four days, and then they let him go. How are you going to let someone leave a psychological center after four days when he is saying that he is hearing voices?"

Esteban Santiago is suspected of killing five people Friday at Florida's Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, authorities have said. 

Relatives said he had been different since his tour in Iraq, where he was deployed with the Puerto Rico National Guard from April 2010 to February 2011.

'He had visions all the time'

"He talked about all the destruction and the killing of children. He had visions all the time," said Ruiz, speaking in Spanish during the interview. 

Bryan Santiago said he believes the shooting rampage resulted from mental issues that appeared after Iraq.

Bryan Santiago, in an interview in Peñuelas, Puerto Rico, said he talked with people who know his brother and they told him he didn't get the treatment he needed. 

The Santiago brothers hadn't talked lately, Bryan said. 

Ruiz said she also lost contact with her nephew.

"He stopped calling," she said. "He wouldn't respond to my messages. I would call and text. He seemed distant." 

On Friday, Ruiz said she heard her nephew's name during a TV news report on the Fort Lauderdale shooting. 

"Who would have imagined that he could do something like this?" she said. "I don't say that because we're family. I say it because he wasn't like that."

Argument with girlfriend leads to charges 

In January 2016, Esteban Santiago was arrested and charged with assault and criminal mischief after an argument with his girlfriend in Anchorage, Alaska, according to court documents that CNN obtained. 

At the time, Santiago allegedly yelled at his girlfriend while she was in the bathroom, according to the complaint. He then broke down the bathroom door.

The woman told investigators that Santiago strangled her and struck her in the side of the head, the complaint said. Santiago left before police arrived. 

Anchorage municipal prosecutor Seneca Theno said Santiago pleaded no contest to criminal mischief and assault charges. Under a deferred prosecution agreement, the charges would have been dismissed if he complied with the conditions. He was due back in court on March 28. 

His record included two earlier minor offenses: no proof of insurance and a taillight violation in 2015.

Santiago was employed by an Anchorage security company, a law enforcement official said.

Ruiz said her nephew lived with his girlfriend and their child.

Hearing voices

Several months ago, Santiago's strange behavior came to the attention of agents at the FBI's Anchorage office. The suspect allegedly told authorities at the time that an intelligence agency was telling him to watch ISIS videos, according to law enforcement officials.

Santiago brought a loaded pistol magazine into the FBI office, Anchorage Police Chief Chris Tolley said. He left his gun and child in the car. Police called the girlfriend to pick up the child and kept the pistol for safekeeping, Tolley said. 

Marlin Ritzman, who heads the FBI office in Anchorage, said the FBI looked into Santiago's background and found no ties to terrorism.

The FBI asked police to take Santiago to get a mental health evaluation and Santiago voluntarily checked himself in.

"His erratic behavior concerned FBI agents," George Piro, the FBI's special agent in charge in Miami, said Saturday. 

Anchorage police returned the gun when Santiago came to the police station in December to get it, Tolley said. 

Investigators believe it was the same gun that was found at the scene of Friday's shooting, law enforcement sources told CNN.

Emerged from the airport bathroom shooting

Santiago flew to Florida on a Delta Air Lines flight from Alaska via Minnesota, officials said. He had declared his handgun in a firearms carrying case, a lieutenant with the Anchorage airport police said.

At the Fort Lauderdale airport, he picked up the carrying case at baggage claim, went into a bathroom stall and loaded a magazine, according to a federal criminal complain citing three crimes he is alleged to have committed.

Authorities are still trying to figure out why Santiago shot and killed five people.

Piro said Saturday that investigators "continue to look at the terrorism angle" as a possible motive. 

"We have not ruled out anything," he said. "We continue to look at all avenues, all motives." 

Santiago was cooperating with investigators, who had interviewed him for several hours, according to Piro. The interview concluded early Saturday.

Santiago is in federal custody and will appear Monday in court in Broward County, officials said. 

The three federal charges have the death penalty as the maximum sentence, if Santiago is convicted.

Discharge for unsatisfactory performance

Santiago joined the Puerto Rico National Guard in December 2007, said Lt. Col. Candis Olmstead of the Alaska Army National Guard. 

After service in Iraq from April 2010 to February 2011, Santiago received the Iraq Campaign Medal with a campaign star, a combat-related honor, CNN's Barbara Starr reported.

He served in the US Army Reserve before joining the Alaska Army National Guard in November 2014, Olmstead said.

The suspect was later given a general discharge from the Alaska Army National Guard in August for unsatisfactory performance.

Santiago was not on the radar for possible terrorism ties, according to a law enforcement official and a Department of Homeland Security official.

He had no significant foreign travel that was ever flagged, another official said.

Article Source: http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/06/us/fort-lauderdale-airport-shooting-suspect/index.html

Attack in Nice, France

(CNN) A day after a terrorist mowed down dozens of people celebrating Bastille Day in the coastal French city of Nice, investigators dug into the life of the man they say was the killer: A 31-year-old delivery driver and Nice resident who was born in Tunisia.

Authorities said Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel drove a rented, refrigerated truck weighing about 20 tons into crowds along a roughly 2-kilometer stretch of Promenade des Anglais on Thursday night, killing 84 people -- including 10 children and adolescents -- and injuring 202 others.

The attack ended when police shot into the truck, killing Bouhlel, French prosecutor François Molins said Friday.

Of the injured, 52 were in critical condition, and 25 were in a coma, Molins said. President Francois Hollande described the most seriously injured as being "between life and death."

Staff at the Lenval Hospital in Nice said 28 children remained hospitalized.

Hollande, addressing his country following its third major terrorist attack in 18 months, described the assault as an "unspeakable act" and vowed that France would "be able to overcome all trials." 

"We have an enemy who is going to continue to strike all the people, all the countries who have freedom as a fundamental value," Hollande said.

Photos: Bastille Day terror: Harrowing images of truck attack in Nice

Bouhlel was identified by fingerprints after his identification card was found in the truck, Molins said. Authorities began searching an apartment building where Bouhlel apparently lived, and Molins said Bouhlel's ex-wife had been detained.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, and authorities did not release information about a motive.Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said that so far, the investigation has not uncovered any evidence of jihadism. But Molins said the attack fits with calls that "terrorist organizations regularly give out on their videos and elsewhere."

Bouhlel was known to police because of allegations of threats, violence and thefts over the last six years, and he was given a suspended six-month prison sentence this year after being convicted of violence with a weapon, Molins said.

Bouhlel's father, who lives in Tunisia, has revealed that his son showed signs of mental health issues -- having had multiple nervous breakdowns and volatile behavior, said CNN terrorism analyst Paul Cruickshank. 

The man was "entirely unknown by the intelligence services, whether nationally or locally," Molins said. 

"He had never been the subject of any kind of file or indication of radicalization," Molins said.

Dead in the street

The attack was launched on a popular street that would normally be packed with tourists and residents on a sunny afternoon in July.

But on Friday, screens blocked off more than a mile of the famous boulevard along the Mediterranean as authorities removed bodies and evidence from the bloody attack.

Just before the carnage Thursday night, hundreds, if not thousands, had gathered on the promenade to watch a colorful display of fireworks and live music for the national holiday.

But as the last firework fizzled, gunfire rang out -- authorities and witnesses say the driver shot from the cab of the truck -- and the truck accelerated down the crowded street.

Bouhlel began the attack at about 10:45 p.m., driving the truck into people, Molins said. At one point, he fired a gun several times at three police officers close to a hotel, the prosecutor explained said.

Officers gave chase for about 300 meters until they shot him, Molins said.

The truck was rented on Monday and was supposed to have been returned Wednesday, Molins said, without saying who rented it. Surveillance video shows that about two hours before the attack Thursday, Bouhlel rode a bicycle to pick up the truck east of the city, the prosecutor said.

After Bouhlel was shot, police found a handgun and some ammunition in the truck's cab, as well as a replica handgun, two replica assault rifles, a cell phone and various documents, Molins said. In the trailer was the bicycle and some empty pallets.

Crews covered the dead in the street with blue sheets so emergency vehicles could both avoid running over them and spot them for evacuation.

Slowly, authorities are putting names to the bodies. Four members of one family have been identified as killed, according to the mayor of the Herserange municipality in the suburbs of Longwy, where the family lived. Michael Pellegrini, 28, was a professor of economics at a private school in Longwy, in northeastern France. Pellegrini died along with his mother, Véronique Lyon, and his grandparents, Francis and Christiane Locatelli.

Three Germans are among the dead, Mayor Reinhard Naumann of Berlin's Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf district said in a statement. They were all women -- two students and a teacher from the Paula-First-School.

"They were just about to graduate at our school, completing the German A levels. We mourn with the parents of the school, their relatives and their friends," the statement said. "We stand with them side by side and we will provide all the necessary support that is now needed."

Americans Sean Copeland, 51, and his son, Brodie, 11, of Texas also were killed in the attack, a statement from the family said. U.S. officials confirmed that at least two Americans were killed in the attack, but did not name them.

Apart from those confirmed dead, three Australians, two Chinese and one British national were injured, officials said.

Learn to live with terrorism

Hollande declared a national mourning period from Saturday to Monday.

France was just preparing to lift its state of emergency, which was put into place in the wake of the November terror attacks in Paris that killed 130 people, the deadliest attack in France's history. 

The state of emergency would have expired later this month, but Prime Minister Manuel Valls said Friday that a bill to extend it would be submitted to parliament by Tuesday.

"France has been struck once again in her flesh, on the 14th of July, on the day of our national celebration," Valls said. The attacker wanted to "harm the very idea of national unity," he said, adding grimly that France will have to "learn to live with terrorism."

Tired of attacks

Nice is just the latest city to be hit by a terror attack. Istanbul, Orlando, Baghdad, Brussels and Dhaka in Bangladesh are among targets hit in recent months. 

One user claimed "Je suis Nice," modifying the phrase that was adopted when staff at the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo were gunned down in a coordinated shooting in January 2015.

Landmarks around the world were once again lit up in blue, white and red, as they were after the deadly attacks in the French capital in November.

Leaders around the globe have denounced the brutal incident. 

Witnesses describe horror

According to witnesses and a blurry cell phone video, the white truck rolled purposefully toward the crowds just after the fireworks display finished. The video shows the vehicle accelerating as people scattered in front of it and a few people chased it from behind.

The truck plowed through the crowds for more than a mile before police were able to intervene and fatally shoot the driver.

Andy McArdy told CNN he saw the truck driving at high speed along the promenade and the driver "was firing a machine gun while driving." He said everyone ran, many into a restaurant. 

"They didn't know where to go, they were looking for an exit -- they were hoping they'd find an exit out the back. They had to stay there for a couple of hours, but people wouldn't even come out -- they were so frightened -- until the police came and said it was OK to come out," he said.

Eric Dartell was eating at a restaurant on the street where the attack was launched. 

"You can see wreckage all along the way: a body, bicycles, street lamps and debris everywhere," he said.

American Dominique Molina, who was watching from a balcony, said the fireworks had just ended and the crowd on the beach was dispersing. 

"People were flooding the streets, just walking away from the show, and I heard a lot of loud noises and people were screaming and so to the west, a big moving truck was driving on the promenade, just barreling over people and hitting -- running people over." She estimated the truck moved at 20 to 25 mph.

Article Source: http://www.cnn.com/2016/07/15/europe/nice-france-truck/