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Michigan Shooting | Uber Driver Accused of Killing 6

KALAMAZOO — Stoic, cooperative and conversational: That's how police describe Jason Dalton's demeanor when they say the Uber driver admitted killing six people and wounding two others in a Saturday-night shooting spree here.But they still have no idea what why the 45-year-old married father of two might have fired at least 30 rounds across three crime scenes Saturday night from a 9mm semi-automatic handgun, shooting victims ranging from 14 to 74 years old.

"We're not any closer to motive than we were the day of the incident," Kalamazoo County Undersheriff Paul Matyas said Monday after Dalton's arraignment on six murder charges and 10 other felony counts. "He's had no (prior) police contact for any reason under the sun. By all accounts, he's an average guy, with a family, and leading an average life."That family went public Monday, condemning the alleged actions and offering their condolences for the victims and their families in a statement to the Free Press.

"This type of violence has no place in our society, and we express our love and support for everyone involved. We intend to cooperate in every way that we can to help determine why and how this occurred," according to the statement, which said the family is in "shock and disbelief" and "devastated and saddened" for those affected.
His eyes nearly invisible behind his glasses' frames, Jason Dalton sat motionless Monday afternoon when arraigned on the charges connected to the shooting spree, which officials say occurred while he continued to take Uber fares.

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U.S. Department of Justice suing Ferguson

WASHINGTON — The Department of Justice filed a civil rights lawsuit against Ferguson, Mo., on Wednesday, less than a day after the city rejected an agreement to overhaul its beleaguered criminal justice system and address allegations of widespread abuses by its police department.“Their decision leaves us no further choice,” Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch said at a news conference announcing the suit.

The federal and local authorities had spent months negotiating a settlement that would have prohibited police officers from making arrests without probable cause, installed a federal monitor and barred officers from using stun guns as punishment. But after city officials raised concerns about the cost of the settlement, the Ferguson City Council voted, 6 to 0, on Tuesday night to change the terms — knowing that the Department of Justice had promised to respond with a lawsuit.

The lawsuit came one day after the Ferguson City Council voted to change a proposed consent decree to reform the police and courts. The council said the package, which had been negotiated between the DOJ and city officials, cost too much.
In a news conference, Lynch said the DOJ was sensitive to the city's cost concerns throughout the months-long negotiation. She also said, "There is no price for constitutional policing."
Lynch was adamant that the council's move to amend the agreement constituted a rejection.
"A few weeks ago, the Department of Justice and Ferguson's own negotiators came to an agreement that was both fair and cost-effective — and that would provide all the residents of Ferguson the constitutional and effective policing and court practices guaranteed to all Americans. As agreed, it was presented to the Ferguson City Council for approval or rejection. And last night, the city council rejected the consent decree approved by their own negotiators. Their decision leaves us no further choice."

TOP NEWS IN WEEK

BMX Champion Dave Mirra Dies At 41

Dave Mirra, the BMX champ and former host of MTV’s Real World/Road Rules Challenge, has died of an apparent suicide, police in Greenville North Carolina said in a statement. He was 41 years old.
Mirra won 24 X Games medals — the most ever for any competitor until skateboarder Bob Burnquist passed him in 2013. He nabbed the first of his 14 gold medals in 1996 and his final one in 2005. Mirra’s success as a biker led to a BMX videogame series, Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX. He also raced for Subaru’s rally car racing team.

Mirra was born in New York on April 4, 1974. His career began in 1992 and was almost ended a year later, when he was hit by a drunk driver, according to his website. But he still was able to compete in the inaugural X Games in 1995.

That same year, he followed in his brother’s footsteps and moved south to Greenville, which eventually became a hotbed for bikers, earning the nickname “Pro-Town, USA” for its high concentration of BMX pros living there.

“We mourn the loss today of a great friend and wonderful human being who touched the lives of so many around the world with his gift,” Greenville Mayor Allen Thomas said in a statement. “He called Greenville, North Carolina home and was as humble a guy talking with kids on a street corner about bikes as he was in his element on the world stage. A young life with so much to offer was taken too soon.”

In 2004 and 2005, Mirra hosted two seasons of MTV’s Real World/Road Rules Challenge series: The Challenge: The Inferno and The Inferno II. His hosting successor was fellow biker and friend T.J. Lavin, who on Thursday shared an Instagram photo of himself, Mirra, and two other friends, paired with the caption “Really love you guys.”

Mirra is survived by his wife, Lauren, and two children.

Greenville Police are investigating Mirra’s death. Police Chief Mark Holtzman and Mayor Thomas will address the media Friday, at 9 a.m. ET at GPD headquarters.

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Obama slams anti-Islam rhetoric during first visit to US mosque

President Barack Obama made his first visit to a US mosque on Wednesday, in an effort to allay the fears of Americans accustomed to pop-culture portrayals of Muslims as terrorists, and to reassure Muslim American youth about their place in the nation.

Obama, declaring that attacks on Islam were an attack on all religions, decried the “inexcusable political rhetoric” against Muslims from Donald Trump and other Republican presidential candidates.

We have to understand that an attack on one faith is an attack on all our faiths,” he said at the mosque outside of Baltimore, which he said had received threats twice in the past year. “When any religious group is targeted, we all have a responsibility to speak up.”

Trump, the Republican front-runner, called for a temporary ban on Muslims entering the United States after authorities described a California couple who killed 14 people last December as radicalized Muslims inspired by Islamic State militants.

Obama’s visit was aimed at showing Americans another side of Islam. Before he spoke, Cub Scouts who attend a school run by the mosque carried the American and Maryland state flags into the prayer hall, a plain room save for a three rows of window panes, 99 in all, each depicting one of the names of Allah in Arabic.

“Think of your own church or synagogue or temple, and a mosque like this will be very familiar,” said Obama, who, following Islamic custom, took off his shoes to enter the hall. The children led the audience, with some men in prayer caps and most women in head scarves, in the Pledge of Allegiance. A man and a woman recited a verse from the Koran about tolerance and inclusion.

Obama, a Christian, outlined the tenets of Islam, and gave a brief history of Muslims in America. He noted that founding father Thomas Jefferson specifically mentioned Muslims when he spoke about the American right to freedom of religion.

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Dallas County Patient Gets Zika Virus From Sex

DALLAS, TX --

Harris County Health officials making changes after a new case of the Zika virus in Dallas County was found to be transmitted by sexual intercourse.

According the Dallas County Health Department, the patient was infected with the virus after having sexual contact with an ill individual who returned from a country where Zika virus is present. No other information was released about the transmission.

"Now that we know Zika virus can be transmitted through sex, this increases our awareness campaign in educating the public about protecting themselves and others," said Zachary Thompson, DCHHS director. "Next to abstinence, condoms are the best prevention method against any sexually-transmitted infections."

"I thought that was a really big gap in the warning, so that's why I talked about it myself," said Dr. Noreen Khan-Mayberry, a toxicologist who predicted the Zika virus would be eventually spread via sex. "The virus become systemic. It gets in to the blood stream and it gets into all bodily fluids so semen is a bodily fluid."

The CDC reported two other cases of Zika spread through sexual contact. One was in 2008 and the other was in 2013.

The Harris County Health department will now ask all new patients who test positive for Zika to abstain from having unprotected sex.

"For some period of time, we are going to ask them to use precautions, yes," said Dr. Dr Umair Shah with the Harris County Health Department.

The most common symptoms of Zika virus are fever, rash, joint pain and conjunctivitis (red eyes). The illness is usually mild with symptoms lasting several days to a week.

• About 1 in 5 people infected with Zika virus become ill (i.e., develop Zika).


• The most common symptoms of Zika are fever, rash, joint pain, or conjunctivitis (red eyes). Other common symptoms include muscle pain and headache. The incubation period (the time from exposure to symptoms) for Zika virus disease is not known, but is likely to be a few days to a week.


• The illness is usually mild with symptoms lasting for several days to a week.


• Zika virus usually remains in the blood of an infected person for a few days but it can be found longer in some people.


• Severe disease requiring hospitalization is uncommon.


• Deaths are rare.

SPORTS NEWS

Gotta See It: Wideman plows into referee after scary hit

Daniel Goffenberg Daniel Goffenberg Calgary Flames defenceman Dennis Wideman defended his collision with linesman Don Henderson that knocked the official on to the ice in Wednesday night's game against the Nashville Predators. There was no penalty on the play. "I was just trying to get off the ice.

Dennis Wideman the NHL veteran and assistant captain of the Calgary Flames put a brutal cross-check from behind on linesman Don Henderson in Nashville's 2-1 win last night. Wideman later stated that he has apologized to the ref on the ice and that it was a complete accident.

He also stated that that he couldn't avoid. Henderson was rattled by the hit but was able to stay in the game.