CHEROKEE COUNTY, Ga. (Fox5 Atlanta) - The man accused of murdering eight people including six Asian women at massage parlors in metro Atlanta has pleaded guilty to charges of murder, aggravated assault, & more in a Cherokee County court Tuesday morning.
Standing in handcuffs in front of a Cherokee County judge, Robert Long said that he accepted a plea deal with prosecutors that would declare him guilty.
Long is accused of killing 49-year-old Xiaojie "Emily" Tan, 44-year-old Daoyou Feng, 33-year-old Delaina Ashley Yaun Gonzalez & 54-year-old Paul Michels at Youngs Asian Massage near Acworth on March 16. Long also shot & wounded a fifth person, investigators said.
Long was charged with four counts of malice murder, felony murder & 11 counts of aggravated assault. He also faces criminal attempt to commit murder, aggravated battery, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony & first-degree criminal damage to property.
While in the courtroom in front of survivors of the shooting, Long pleaded guilty to all 23 charges.
According to prosecutors, Long admitted to investigators that he was drunk & said he was planning to go to the massage parlor due to a sex addiction before shooting himself.
"My hope is that I would hate myself enough at that point & possess enough self-loathing to end my life," Long told the court.
A public transit employee opened fire on co-workers at a Northern California rail yard Wednesday, killing more than a half-dozen people before taking his own life, authorities said.
Calls of shots fired came about 6:34 a.m. PT near 100 W. Younger Ave. in downtown San Jose, drawing a large law enforcement response, the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office said.
The shooter was identified as Samuel Cassidy, an employee of the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA), law enforcement sources said. He shot and killed himself at the scene, according to sources.
At least eight people were killed, not including the shooter, sheriff's Deputy Russell Davis said.
"This is a horrific day for our city and it is a tragic day for the VTA family, and our heart pains for the families and the co-workers because we know so many are feeling deeply this loss of their loved ones and their friends," San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo told reporters at the scene.
Santa Clara County Sheriff Laurie Smith said her deputies and San Jose police officers arrived quickly after the initial 911 calls.
“When the shots were still being fired, our teams, with San Jose PD, are entering the building while shots were still going off. We attempted rescues," Smith said. "We have some very brave officers and deputies."
Citing an "active shooter," deputies told the public at 7:12 a.m. PT to steer clear of the neighborhood, about 50 miles south of downtown San Francisco.
Even hours after the shooter died, a bomb squad was clearing the area in case he left explosives behind.
“We received information that there are explosive devices that are located inside the building,” Davis told reporters at the scene. “ We’re trying to clear out every room, every crevice of that building.”
The dead suspect is believed to be the only shooter involved, according to officials.
"Public safety is assured at this point," Davis said.
At about the same time gunfire erupted at the VTA yard, San Jose firefighters rushed to a home about 10 miles away that was engulfed by flames, officials said.
That home, near 1100 Angmar Ct., is the suspect's, law enforcement sources said. Investigators believe there was ammunition inside the home and firefighters smelled an accelerant when they arrived, sources said.
"We're trying to figure out, exactly, if there's a connection" between the fire and shooting, Davis said.
The Younger Avenue address is a light rail yard of the VTA, which provides bus, rail and various shuttle services to the booming Bay Area suburb and technology hub.
Davis called the shooting scene a VTA "control center" which is a "hub that stores multiple VTA trains and a maintenance yard as well."
The shooting happened "on the VTA light rail yard but it did not happen in the operations control center," VTA Board Chairman Glenn Hendricks said.
Hendricks added he was proud of transit workers who stayed on the job and kept moving commuters even in the face of Wednesday's mass shooting.
"A horrible tragedy has happened today," Hendricks said. “I could not be more proud of the VTA organization. As I drove here, I saw VTA buses out on the road."
The suspect was described as a "substation maintainer," law enforcement sources said. And state public employee records showed a VTA employee named Samuel Cassidy, with that same position, who made $114,426.17 in 2019 wages, the last data available.
The shooting scene is at the center of regional law enforcement operations, as the rail yard is within a half-mile of the San Jose Police Department, the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office and District Attorney headquarters.
The shooting comes amid a yearlong rise in nationwide gun violence and record firearm sales.
White House principal deputy press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the federal government is keeping in close contact with law enforcement in San Jose.
"We will continue to stay in close contact with them and offer any assistance as needed," she said. "We still don't know all of the details ... but what's clear, as the president has said, is that we are suffering from an epidemic of gun violence in this country, both in mass shootings and in the lives that are being taken in daily gun violence that doesn't make national headlines."
If you or someone you know needs mental health support, contact the National Alliance on Mental Illness Helpline at 1-800-950-NAMI (6264) or info@nami.org. If you or someone you know is at risk of suicide, please call the U.S. National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255, text TALK to 741741 or go to SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources for additional resources.
ATLANTA (AP) — Shootings at 2 massage parlors in Atlanta and 1 in the suburbs left 8 people dead, many of them women of Asian descent, authorities said Tuesday. A 21-year-old man was taken into custody in southwest Georgia hours later after a manhunt.
Atlanta Police Chief Rodney Bryant said 3 people were killed at a spa in northeast Atlanta, while a 4th person was killed at another spa across the street. He said all 4 victims were female, & “It appears that they may be Asian.”
Atlanta police officers responding to a call of a robbery in progress at 1 spa around 5:50 p.m. found 3 women dead from apparent gunshot wounds, police said. While they were at that scene, they learned of a call reporting shots fired at another spa across the street & found a woman who appeared to have been shot dead inside the business.
Earlier, around 5 p.m., 5 people were shot at Young’s Asian Massage Parlor in Acworth, about 30 miles north of Atlanta, Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Capt. Jay Baker said. Two of the victims were dead & 3 were transported to a hospital where 2 of them also died.
Authorities were not immediately releasing the gender or race of the victims, Baker said.
A man suspected in the Acworth shooting was captured by surveillance video pulling up to the business around 4:50 p.m. Tuesday, minutes before the shooting, authorities said. Baker said the suspect, Robert Aaron Long, of Woodstock, was taken into custody in Crisp County, about 150 miles south of Atlanta.
Baker said they believe Long is also the suspect in the Atlanta shootings.
With 2 shootings at massage parlors in Atlanta & the knowledge of the Acworth shooting, Atlanta police said they dispatched officers to check nearby similar businesses & increased patrols in the area.
Cydney Poitier delivers visuals for "Defiant Ones" off of his "Point of View" album. The Exit 8-produced gem features Cydney's Gas Face Records label mate, Hiku (the nature boy).
Directed and shot by Benny for GFR Films and Gas Face Records.
Watch these two barbarians of the rap game come together to stomp out all the competition, in this next level black and white montage of scenes filmed by Benny "The director" for GFR films in the iconic Rock n Rock Heaven located near downtown Orlando Florida. (Salute Freddy)
Make no mistake, this is just the beginning of something truly amazing from both a production standpoint and love for the culture, these two are here to take no prisoners with the help of Exit 8 beats and Gas Face Records behind them they have formed an unstoppable alliance to teach anyone who dares opposes them, that this is how the game is meant to be played from now on!!!
Posted by ChasinDatPaper on February 10, 2021 at 12:18pm
Eight minority correctional officers at a Minnesota county jail filed a racial discrimination lawsuit claiming they were barred from guarding the former Minneapolis police officer charged in George Floyd's death.
The suit, filed Tuesday in state district court, alleges that a superintendent at the Ramsey County Adult Detention Center, or ADC, in St. Paul reassigned officers of color to another floor when the former officer, Derek Chauvin, was arrested on murder charges in May.
The suit says the officers — who identify as African American, Hispanic, Pacific Islander & mixed-race — were "segregated & prevented from doing their jobs by defendant solely because of the color of their skin."
The officers also claim that Chauvin received special treatment from a white lieutenant.
"When Officer Chauvin arrived, they were prepared to do the jobs they had done every single day up to that point, until, that is, Superintendent Lydon's order prevented them from doing so," the officers' attorney, Lucas Kaster, said at a news conference Tuesday, referring to jail Supt. Steve Lydon.
“Segregation has no place in society or the workplace & on May 29, 2020, eight Ramsey County correctional officers experienced blatant discrimination based on their race and skin color,” said Lucas Kaster, an attorney for the guards. “Ramsey County’s segregation order caused immediate & lasting harm to the correctional officers & the jail environment.”
The guards allege Ramsey County violated the Minnesota Human Rights Act by discriminating against them because of their race & by creating a hostile work environment. The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages, including damages arising from loss of past & future income & benefits & damages for mental anguish & suffering. Some of the guards went on leave & missed pay due to the discrimination, & one no longer works as a guard, the lawsuit says.
Chauvin is now out on bail & scheduled to go to trial in March.
A prison officer who was caught smuggling drugs into Erlestoke Prison in Wiltshire, England where she worked has had her sentence increased.
The increased sentence follows an intervention by the Solicitor General, Rt Hon Michael Ellis QC MP.
Hannah Gaves, 27, was a prison officer at HMP Erlestoke in January 2019. After receiving information that Gaves was smuggling illicit items into the prison, she was searched and found to be in possession of some cannabis, cigarettes and 6.05g of crack cocaine.
Gaves admitted possession of the cigarettes and cannabis but denied knowledge of the cocaine.
But Lord Justice Davis said: "That was not the whole truth because, when she was searched, not only was a quantity of cannabis and five packets of tobacco (found) ... in addition, and hidden in her underwear, was a lump of a white substance wrapped in cling film."
In a police interview, she stated that she felt under pressure from an individual who would harm her if she did not smuggle in the contraband. She refused to name the individual concerned.
Gaves pleaded guilty to possession with intent to supply Class A and B drugs, as well as attempting to bring List C prohibited articles into a prison.
She was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment on August 28 at Salisbury Crown Court.
The sentence was referred to the Court of Appeal by the Solicitor General under the Unduly Lenient Sentence (ULS) scheme. Today, the sentence was found to be unduly lenient and increased to four years’ and eight months’ imprisonment.
After the hearing at the Court of Appeal the Solicitor General, Rt Hon Michael Ellis QC MP, said: “Gaves intentionally smuggled contraband into prison with the intention of supplying dangerous drugs.
“She betrayed the trust inherent in her office. The decision by the Court of Appeal to increase her sentence today was the right one.”
A 15-year-old boy has been arrested in a shooting that left eight people injured last week at a Wisconsin mall, authorities said Sunday.
Wauwatosa Police Chief Barry Weber said in a news conference that the teenager was arrested Saturday night with a gun alleged to have been used in the shooting. Weber did not identify the teen or say what charges he may face.
Several other people were arrested in connection with the shooting, said Abby Pavlik, a spokeswoman for the police department, but she did not provide details.
Authorities said the shooting followed an altercation between two groups at Mayfair Mall in Wauwatosa, outside Milwaukee, on Friday afternoon. Among the wounded was a teenager.
Pavlik could not say whether the injured teenager was the suspected shooter, adding that several people in the two groups were wounded. Four bystanders were also injured, Weber said.
He said the shooter fled the mall as tactical teams cleared the space of patrons and worked to contain its 1.2 million square feet, a process that took several hours.
Pavlik did not say where the suspect was arrested.
(CNN) At least two people were killed and eight others injured in an early Sunday shooting at a Greenville, South Carolina, nightclub, police said.
A deputy with the Greenville County Sheriff's Office noticed a disturbance at the club, Lavish Lounge, shortly before 2 a.m. When he pulled into the parking lot, he heard gunshots and called for emergency assistance, Lt. Jimmy Bolt said.
The Greenville Police Department and South Carolina Highway Patrol responded and found four gunshot victims inside, Bolt said. The officers did not fire their weapons, he said.
A dispatcher later learned that other victims were being transported to the hospital in personal vehicles, Bolt said.
The eight surviving victims are listed in "various conditions," he said.
There are no suspects in custody. Investigators remain on the scene.
The nightclub was hosting a "very, very, very, large crowd" for a concert when the shooting erupted, Greenville County Sheriff Hobart Lewis said, according to CNN affiliate WYFF.
"There's a lot of shell casings inside," Lewis said. "Everything is turned over. There are a few chairs in there, food on the floor, some bottles busted. You can tell somebody left in a hurry. There are some pretty large amounts of blood."
In an interview with CNN, Lewis said investigators were looking into whether members of the music group performing at the club were involved. The club promoted a performance by Greensboro, Georgia, rapper Foogiano beginning at 9 p.m. Saturday night, but it was not clear if other acts also played.
Hours before the concert, Foogiano, who four months ago celebrated signing with Atlanta hip-hop star Gucci Mane's label, posted to Instagram, "Greenville y'all ready!? tonight bout to be a f**king movie."
The sheriff’s office was looking for two suspects, but couldn’t provide names or descriptions.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- The family of a Louisville EMT killed in what's been alleged to have been a botched Louisville Metro Police raid has filed a lawsuit against the officers involved, claiming she did "nothing to deserve to die at their hands."
Breonna Taylor was shot multiple times after officers used a battering ram to get into her home on Springfield Drive in south Louisville about 1 a.m. on March 13 in order to serve a warrant.
Attorneys say police had the wrong home and that the suspect they were looking for was already in custody before the raid. Nothing illegal was found in Taylor's home.
The officers burst into the home without knocking and "blindly fired" into it, spraying bullets into Taylor's house and neighboring apartments "with a total disregard for the value of human life," according to the lawsuit. Taylor, 26, was shot eight times.
Taylor's boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, thought they were being robbed, according to his attorney, and fired at officers when they rushed in, hitting LMPD Sgt. John Mattingly in the leg.
The suit names Mattingly and officers Brett Hankison and Myles Cosgrove as defendants. The officers are currently on administrative reassignment while the shooting is investigated. LMPD does not talk about pending litigation.
Walker was charged with attempted murder of a police officer.
Police initially said Taylor was a suspect but have not talked much about the case since, saying it is under investigation. However, both Chief Steve Conrad and the police union criticized a judge for releasing Walker on home incarceration.
The lawsuit was filed late last month by local attorney Sam Aguiar. Now, civil rights attorney Ben Crump has joined the legal team. Crump is best known for representing the families of Michael Brown, Tamir Rice and most recently, Georgia jogger Ahmaud Arbery.
In an interview Monday evening, Aguiar said he hoped the litigation would spur a federal investigation of the incident and more answers from LMPD, which he said has been less than forthcoming about the case.
"I think that when the city and the mayor's office and the administration in the police department go out and flaunt transparency, it is incredibly hypocritical," Aguiar said. "Whether it's the mayor or Chief Conrad or somebody, an effort needs to be made to bring in the (Department of Justice) into situations like this to come in with an impartial eye and investigate these officers."
Bianca Austin, Taylor’s aunt, has said Walker had just accepted a job to work at UPS.
"These two were not drug dealers," she said. "It just don’t make sense to us at all."
Police have said they repeatedly knocked on the door and announced their presence but were eventually forced to bust through a door, where they were met with gunfire.
Police say there is no body camera footage from the raid as officers in LMPD criminal interdiction division do not wear body cameras.
The department has not responded to a question about why that division does not wear body cameras.
The lawsuit claims the person police were looking for was arrested at his home, with drugs and firearms, before the other officers raided Taylor's apartment.
A woman who lives next door said she woke up to the sound of gunshots and Walker yelling for help, according to an affidavit filed in court records. The woman said she never heard police announce themselves.
“All she heard was a ram (breaking through the door) and gunfire,” according to court records.
Walker, according to the lawsuit, called 911 as officers "fired shots into the home from outside." Walker believed they were being robbed, according to the suit.
"The officers failed to use any sound reasonable judgement whatsover when firing more than 25 blind shots into multiple homes and causing the wrongful death of Breonna," the suit claims.
The lawsuit argues police unlawfully entered the home, used excessive force and committed assault. The suit is seeking a jury trial and unspecified monetary damages.
In March, Jefferson Circuit Court Judge Olu Stevens ordered Walker's release from jail into home incarceration. The union representing LMPD officers called the move "a slap in the face to everyone wearing a badge."
The judge's decision also sparked sharp criticism from Conrad.
"I certainly understand the need to make sure we are releasing those people who don't pose a risk to our community from the jail, especially as we face the outbreak of COVID-19," Conrad said in a statement. "However, it's hard for me to see how a man accused of shooting a police officer falls into that low-risk category, and I am very frustrated by Mr. Walker's release to home incarceration."
Meanwhile, Loralei HoJay, a college student from just outside of New York City, has launched a Change.org petition demanding justice for Taylor and her family. Though HoJay has never been to Louisville, she felt she had to do something to point out what she perceives as an injustice.
"The power that we have is in numbers," she said. "We have to keep this up together if, you know, we really do want to get justice for Breonna and for her family."
38 Spesh has teamed up with Tanboys photographer 1000WORD$ for an upcoming release titled "1000 Words," entirely produced by 38 Spesh.
Features on the project include Nems, Bodega Bamz, Flee Lord, The Musalini, Axel Leon, Asun Eastwood, $ha Hef, Vic Spencer, Nature, Rome Streetz, Rasheed Chappell and more.
A "predatory" young woman who posed as a teenage boy to sexually assault girls as young as 13 after grooming them online has been jailed for eight years.
Gemma Watts, 21, traveled across the UK in disguise by train to meet the girls, who believed she was their boyfriend and close to their own age.
She was sentenced at Winchester Crown Court on Friday after pleading guilty to seven sexual assault and grooming charges.
The offenses relate to four girls, including a 13-year-old from Hampshire and two 14-year-olds and a 16-year-old from Surrey, Plymouth and the West Midlands.
But police believe there could be up to 50 victims.
Watts was "adept at both manipulating people and the continuing subterfuge", prosecutor Barnaby Shaw told the court.
One of her teenage victims, in an impact statement read to the court, said her "heart exploded" and her "world stopped" when police revealed Watts' true identity to her.
She said she has self harmed and considered suicide since then and added: "She is in my head."
Watts, from Enfield in north London, tied her hair into a bun and wore a baseball cap, baggy tracksuit bottoms and a hoodie to convince the girls she was 16-year-old "Jake Waton".
Using her own picture on Jake's Snapchat and Instagram accounts, she targeted girls by liking their profiles.
From her mother's home, where she lived, she shared skateboarding videos, used teenage slang and flattered her victims with complimentary messages, calling them "babe" and other pet names.
She would exchange messages with them, including intimate photographs, using WhatsApp, Snapchat or text and speak over the phone before meeting in person.
Watts, once a promising soccer player, was so convincing she even spent time as Jake with some of the girls' parents.
All of her victims believed they were going out with a teenage boy until police revealed she was an adult woman.
Sentencing her, judge Susan Evans QC said: "There was, it seems to me, planning and in some way predatory behavior. Their age, as you plainly knew, made it more likely that they would be sexually naive, enabling you to get away with your deception.
On today's episode of journalist Doc Hicks TV, we introduce the final chapter of the Edrick ED Boyd Interview. In this episode we discuss his peaks and valleys growing up in the 1960s and how he over came it. Plus he talks about the fun times he had in the early 1980s creating "The 50 Boyz" after he moved from new york back to Detroit. Ed Boyd also discuss how he felt about Big Meech ans southwest t getting 30 years for running the Black Mafia Family also known as BMF.
King Lord from South Philly by way of 8th and Butler. He Speaks On Growing up down 8th and Butler Back When It Was At It’s Height As A Major Drug Block then Moving Down South Philly when it was a War Zone at that time. He then goes on to explain him getting locked up at 15 Years Old Charged As a Adult which led to him Serving 8 Years In Prison. He also describes his transition from Jail back to the world, leaving the streets to pursuit music + More.
In this clip, Benny the Butcher opened up about his rough upbringing in Buffalo, NY in the late 1980s and early 1990s' He spoke about his mother battling a drug addiction yet still managing to raise 8 children. Benny the Butcher also touched on the passing of his older brother and the circumstances around his killing.
The Million Dollaz Worth of Game show, a weekly podcast with rapper Gillie Da King and social media influencer and disruptor Wallo267 (who are also first-cousins) targeting their combined social media presence of over 1.3 million followers.
Gillie and Wallo’s audiences have been demanding a podcast and this is the delivery. For their audience, the Million Dollaz Worth of Game show bridges the gap between social media and reality tv, satiating the hunger for original and authentic content.
Follow On Instagram: @mdollazworthofgame @wallo267 @gilliedaking
Danny Trejo sat down for his first-ever VladTV, and he started out detailing growing up in California and hanging out with his uncle Gilbert. Danny revealed that Gilbert let him try weed when he was 8 and then letting him try heroin when he was 12. Danny went on to speak about becoming a drug mule for Gilbert and trying drugs, which you can hear more about below.
Sean Evans is back in the hot seat for a look back at Season 8—from Gordon Ramsay all the way through to Scarlett Johansson! Watch our intrepid Hot Ones host tackle #ShaqGate, break down his favorite interviews, and unveil another tear-jerker of a season-ending montage. Thanks for watching, spice lords!
Keak Da Sneak recounted the night he was shot 8 times while sitting in his car, and he explained that when he tried to drive away from the scene, he couldn't feel his legs. Keak went on to reveal that he passed out when the ambulance arrived, and he woke up in the hospital with his mother praying over his bed. To hear more, including the progress he's made in therapy.
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