Tag: wounded

NRA/Biker Jamboree in Waco, Texas – 192 arrested, 9 dead

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Click to enlarge — AP Photo/Jerry Larson

Texas police announced on Monday that 192 people will face organized crime charges following the Waco bike-gang shooting where nine people were killed and 18 were injured.

Nine people were shot to death after rival biker gang members opened fire at the Twin Peaks Sports Bar and Grill in Central Texas on Sunday. The incident initially started as a fist fight, which then turned into a battle with knives, clubs and chains, and later, guns.

One witness described the scene as a “war zone.”…

According to police, three rival biker gangs began fighting at the Waco restaurant while multiple officers were out in the parking lot arranging protection for residents. The fight started in the restaurant and spilled outside…

The officers were in the area because they had anticipated possible trouble at the restaurant — which has been the scene of ongoing tensions between bikers in recent weeks…

Police immediately secured the scene. District attorney Abel Reyna told police two weeks ago that trouble had been brewing among the biker gangs for some time.

“Thank goodness the officers were here, and took the action that they needed to take to save numerous lives,” Swanton said.

The officers at the scene engaged the gunmen in the fight — firing their weapons, as well. However, Waco police said no officers were wounded in the gun battle…

No doubt the NRA will provide legal aid for the bikers involved in the shoot-out. Gangs like these are only defending the same rights and policies that concern the NRA – nowadays. Although they don’t get the same cut in gun sales profits the NRA does.

NYC Police protocol questioned after 9 bystanders shot

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The encounter was breathtakingly brief: a surveillance video showed a gunman outside the Empire State Building on Friday pulling a pistol, pointing it at two police officers, their firing at him and his falling to the sidewalk.

All the yelling and cries of pain occurred out of camera view, just north of where the gunman, Jeffrey T. Johnson, collapsed and died: nine bystanders were struck, cradling bloody arms or lying on the sidewalks and curbs.

The police commissioner, Raymond W. Kelly, confirmed on Saturday that all nine were wounded by police bullets, bullet fragments or shrapnel from ricochets. Mr. Kelly also confirmed that the shooter, Mr. Johnson, never fired another shot after killing a former co-worker, Steven Ercolino, moments earlier…

It was the second time in two weeks that police officers fired fusillades on the crowded streets of Midtown — 28 shots fired between the two episodes — and with it, there were once again questions of police protocol in urban settings. In the first shooting, no bystanders were struck when officers fired 12 shots at a man with a knife just south of Times Square…

In many police shootings, stray shots are almost inevitable; a study based on New York’s annual firearms discharge reports indicated that officers hit their targets 34 percent of the time…

The patrol guide, the department’s manual, states that officers should not fire their weapons when, “in their professional judgment, doing so will unnecessarily endanger innocent persons.”

Of the nine bystanders wounded, at least two remained hospitalized in stable condition on Saturday…

Most folks understand the danger of the job. Most folks can see the difficulty of getting into a shootout with a suspect in a heavy duty urban situation. That doesn’t excuse the overkill we see again and again, with dozens of wild shots.

RTFA for anecdotal tales of other shootouts in NYC, decisions offered by the city that sometimes make sense, sometimes nothing but covering blue butt.

US navy shoots up a “threatening” fishing boat off UAE coast

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USNS Rappahannock

An Indian fisherman was killed and three people were wounded when a US navy ship fired at their boat off Dubai in the southern Gulf, a United Arab Emirates official said.

“The firing has led to the death of one Indian national and serious injury of three Indian nationals,” Tarek al-Hedan…told the official WAM news agency…

Lieutenant Greg Raelson, a spokesman for the US navy’s Bahrain-based 5th Fleet, said that sailors aboard the USNS Rappahannock opened fire on the boat after it ignored warnings…”US ships have an inherent right to self defence against potential threats…

The Rappahannock – with a crew of 81 civilians and three military officers – was headed into the UAE port of Jebel Ali when the small motor boat came within 8km of it, the navy said.

Dozens of police and other Emirati officials crowded around the boat after it docked following the incident at a small Dubai port used by fishermen and sailors. The boat was removed from the port shortly afterward.

Rescue workers were seen carrying one person in a body bag off the white-hulled boat and placing it in an ambulance as fishermen looked on…

Gangsters always think someone’s out to get them. Shoot first and ask questions later is an honored dicho in American history. Even when it leads to dead civilians.

Take a look at this map and decide for yourself which nations look like the aggressors in the region. The various icons denote US military bases – and those belonging to their most loyal flunkies.

18 killed in Taliban attack on police station in Pakistan

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Daily life in Bannu: Selling food originally donated to flood victims
Daylife/AP Photo used by permission

Eighteen people were killed and 15 wounded when a suicide bomber ploughed his explosives-laden car into a police station in northwest Pakistan Wednesday.

The bomber’s car struck Miryan police station on the outskirts of the town of Bannu and badly damaged a nearby mosque.

District police chief Mohammad Iftikhar told AFP that most of those wounded were police officers and paramilitary personnel. “The target was the police station and the mosque is nearby. Police and paramilitary personnel were praying inside the mosque,” when the bombing took place, he said.

“There are some civilians also but most of the victims are security personnel,” he added…

The attack was immediately claimed by the Pakistani Taliban, who said it was to avenge US drone strikes in Pakistan’s tribal belt, which borders Afghanistan…

The suicide attack came as US Vice President Joe Biden was visiting Pakistan and delivered a bold message of support for Washington’s key anti-terror ally, telling the country that America is “not the enemy of Islam”…

The United States wants Pakistan’s army to do more to combat extremists on the border, including by launching a ground offensive in the district of North Waziristan, where it says key Taliban leaders reside.
The army has stalled on a ground operation, saying its troops are overstretched.

Looking at this from New Mexico, I don’t see a whole boatload of difference between death in Mexico and death in Pakistan. Sure, there’s a higher standard of living along our own border and the United States hasn’t started firing missiles from the drones we fly around border country [yet]. But, bandits killing almost indiscriminately – with little fear of retribution or capture – have the same look and feel regardless of language and politics.

I guess Mexico retains sufficient democratic infrastructure – and hasn’t the incredibly corrupt secret police like the ISI in Pakistan – but, bandits killing each other, murdering coppers and innocent civilians, still seems to be the same national sport.

Crooks w/screwdrivers + woman w/gun = 1 dead, 1 wounded

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Picking up the pieces

The victim of a home invasion fought off two attackers early Thursday by shooting both in the head, killing one, police said.

One of the intruders, Darreon Carter, 18, died in a Tulsa hospital. The other, Daniel Holman, 23, is in critical condition, police said…

Capt. Travis Yates said the woman was walking through a dark parking lot about 3:50 a.m. at the Brighton Park apartments in the 4800 block of South Darlington Avenue after a trip to a fast-food restaurant. As she opened her apartment’s door, the men demanded money and forced their way inside.

The woman initially cooperated, but when one intruder told her to undress, she pulled a snub-nosed revolver from her purse and shot him, police said.

A struggle for the gun broke out, and her boyfriend tried to help, police said.

Although she took blows to her head, the woman was able to shoot the other intruder. She fired five shots in all, Yates said.

“It seemed to be a courageous act, protecting their home and their life,” he said. “They were shaken up, but it was sort of impressive — they weren’t hysterical…”

Medics took both men to St. Francis Hospital, where Carter died. Holman remains in critical condition with bullet wounds to his head and stomach, police said.

We call this castle law in the Rockies. Your home is your castle. Attack at your own risk.

Red Cross says Israel ignores wounded civilians

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Survivors of the Srebrenica Massacre protest before the U.S. Embassy in Sarajevo
Daylife/Reuters Pictures

The Red Cross has accused Israel of failing to fulfil its obligation to help wounded civilians in Gaza.

The first of what is promised to be a daily ceasefire – on Wednesday – allowed aid agencies into the territory for the first time in days.

The International Committee of the Red Cross accused Israel of failing in its international obligations after its staff were met with “shocking” scenes.

One medical team found 12 bodies in a shelled house, and alongside them four very young children, too weak to stand, waiting by their dead mothers, the ICRC said. Aid workers had been denied access to the site for days, it added.

“The Israeli military must have been aware of the situation but did not assist the wounded. Neither did they make it possible for us or the Palestinian Red Crescent to assist the wounded.”

Meanwhile Amnesty International accused both sides of using civilians as human shields. “Israeli soldiers have entered and taken up positions in a number of Palestinian homes, forcing families to stay in a ground floor room while they use the rest of their house as a military base and sniper position”.

The only shock is that the Red Cross spoke out. They work so hard at maintaining access to disaster scenes, their policy is to continue in silence as long as possible. There had to be flagrant departure from accepted standards to prompt this criticism.

The whole world is watching.