Police officer shot inside home they were responding to for help
Karl Merton Ferron/Baltimore Sun Staff
(RALEIGH, NC) — A police officer has been seriously injured after a suspect opened fire at authorities from inside a home, officials said.
Officers were called to a home in the Renaissance Park neighborhood of Raleigh, North Carolina, just after 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Raleigh Police Deputy Chief of Operations Rico Boyce said.
Once at the scene, someone inside the home opened fire at responding officers, causing officers to return fire before striking and fatally wounding the suspect, police said.
One officer was shot during the exchange and was transported to a local hospital with serious injuries, Boyce said.
The incident was contained to the home, and the emergency alert that was sent to those in the area has since been lifted, Deputy Chief Boyce continued.
“I have been briefed by Chief Patterson concerning the shooting of a Raleigh police officer tonight. The officer is being treated at the hospital now. Anna and I are praying for a complete recovery,” North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein posted on social medi
Police did not give any further details behind the motivation of the shooting or the identities of those involved.
(WASHINGTON) — New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy is throwing his support behind proposed federal legislation that would address unmanned aircraft systems as the state deals with an ever-growing spate of drone sightings. The bill would grant the Department of Homeland Security and Department of Justice more authority over the unmanned aircraft.
Murphy wrote to President Joe Biden and congressional leaders Thursday calling for more federal resources and the passing of the legislation in light of the unexplained drones sightings within the state’s airspace in recent weeks.
“As New Jersey works alongside our federal partners to identify the source of these UAS, the clock is ticking on the authorization language that enables us to do so,” Murphy wrote. “On December 20th, the U.S Department of Homeland Security and the FBI’s counter-UAS authority will lapse alongside the continuing resolution currently funding the federal government. State and local law enforcement entities lack the authority and capability to counter and mitigate UAS, which would significantly hamper our ability to understand what is happening, so it is of utmost importance that this language is reauthorized in a timely manner.”
“It is also clear that this is not a job the federal government can do on its own and I would encourage you to empower state and local law enforcement entities with the ability to use advanced detection and mitigation technology,” he continued. “Senators [Gary] Peters (D-MI) and [Ron] Johnson (R-WI) have pending legislation, the ‘Safeguarding the Homeland from the Threats Posed by Unmanned Aircraft Systems Act of 2023’ (S.1631) that would accomplish these goals.”
The legislation would allow Homeland Security and the DOJ personnel who are tasked with the safety, security or protection of people, facilities or assets “to detect, identify, monitor, track, and mitigate a credible threat … that an unmanned aircraft system or unmanned aircraft poses to the safety or security of a covered facility or asset,” according to the legislation.
Some of the specific actions also include: warning the operator of the unmanned aircraft system; disrupting control of the unmanned aircraft system; seizing or exercising control of the unmanned aircraft system; seizing or otherwise confiscating the unmanned aircraft system; and even using reasonable force, if necessary, to disable, damage, or destroy the unmanned aircraft system, according to the legislation.
The final section, on disabling, damaging or destroying the drones echoes the sentiment expressed by several politicians, including Democratic Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal and other local officials, that local officials should be able to shoot down any unknown drones to study where they are coming from.
The Department of Homeland Security has warned against that, saying, “Shooting down a drone can pose safety risks to people and property on the ground. Debris from a downed drone can cause injury or damage, especially in populated areas.” Anyone who unlawfully shoots down a drone can also be fined up to $250,000 and face up to 20 years in prison, according to the DHS.
The legislation suggests launching a pilot program for state, local, tribal or territorial agencies to enroll in, allowing them authority over drones for a period of up to six years. Government agencies that are a part of the pilot program will need to report to Congress their usage of the authority, including any privacy or civil liberties complaints.
The secretary of transportation and the attorney general may also provide regulations and shall issue guidance in relation to action stemming from the proposed legislation. They are also to coordinate with the Federal Aviation Administration and the secretary of transportation before carrying out any action.
“I wrote to [Biden] to express my concerns about reports of unmanned aircraft systems in and around NJ airspace. Since existing laws limit the ability of state and local law enforcement to counter UAS, more federal resources are needed to understand what is behind this activity,” Murphy said in a statement.
In his letter to Biden, Murphy wrote that unmanned aircraft systems have introduced additional risks to pubic safety, privacy and homeland security while state and local law enforcement “remain hamstrung by existing laws and policies to successfully counteract them, leaving action around UAS squarely on the shoulders of the federal government.”
“New Jersey residents deserve more concrete information about these UAS sightings and what is causing them. The continued reporting of UAS activity has raised more questions than answers and prompted an outcropping of conspiracy theories across social media and other platforms,” Murphy said.
(NEW YORK) — The jury in the Daniel Penny trial will begin deliberations over whether he committed criminally negligent homicide when he placed Jordan Neely in a chokehold on a subway car last year, after the jury was deadlocked on the more serious charge of manslaughter last week.
At the request of prosecutors on Friday, Judge Maxwell Wiley dismissed the second-degree manslaughter charge – which carried a maximum 15-year sentence – and directed the jury to turn to the lesser charge of criminally negligent homicide, which has a four-year maximum sentence. Neither crime has a minimum sentence.
“What that means is you are now free to consider count two. Whether that makes any difference or not, I have no idea,” Wiley said before sending the jury home for the weekend.
Prosecutors allege that Penny killed Neely, a 30-year-old homeless man who had previously been a Michael Jackson impersonator, when he placed him in a six-minute-long chokehold on a subway car in May 2023, holding Neely for at least 51 seconds after his body went limp. Assistant district attorney Dafna Yoran argued Penny knew his actions could kill Neely but continued to hold him in a chokehold for “way too long” and “didn’t recognize his humanity.”
The city’s medical examiner concluded Penny’s chokehold killed Neely. The defense argued Neely died from a genetic condition and the synthetic marijuana found in his system.
Penny has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Defense attorney Steven Raiser told jurors that Penny “acted to save” subway passengers from a “violent and desperate” Neely, who was acting erratically and “scared the living daylights out of everybody.” Raiser argued that Neely was fighting back, and Penny continued to hold on because he feared he would break free, though he didn’t intend to kill Neely.
Last week, the jury spent more than 23 hours across four days deliberating whether Penny, a 26-year-old former Marine and architecture student, committed second degree manslaughter before repeatedly signaling that they could not reach a unanimous verdict.
Wiley ultimately granted prosecutors’ request to dismiss the first count while Penny’s defense attorneys unsuccessfully pushed for a mistrial, arguing that continued deliberations could lead to a “coercive or a compromised verdict” by “elbowing” jurors to convict on the lesser charge.
Manslaughter would have required proving that Penny acted recklessly and grossly deviated from how a reasonable person would behave, while proving criminally negligent homicide requires the jury to be convinced that Penny engaged in “blameworthy conduct” that he did not consider would lead to the risk of death.
(NEW YORK) — Prosecutors on Long Island plan to announce a “significant development” in their case against accused Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex Heuermann on Tuesday, according to the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office.
The architect and father has pleaded not guilty to charges stemming from the murders of six women whose remains were found in a remote spot along Ocean Parkway near Gilgo Beach and parts of eastern Long Island.
Prosecutors have also linked him to the death of several other unsolved killings — including that of Valerie Mack, a New Jersey woman whose remains were discovered in Manorville and near Gilgo Beach. Like the other women, the prosecutors have said she was also involved in sex work.
Prosecutors named Heuermann a suspect in Mack’s death in June based on evidence allegedly found on an electronic device seized from Heuermann’s home in Massapequa Park on Long Island. Prosecutors have said Heuermann kept detailed notes about serial killings, body disposal and torture pornography.
A spokeswoman for Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney declined to comment.
Heuermann, 61, is scheduled to appear in court in Riverhead at 9:30 a.m.
