Murders, Attempted Murders and Homicides

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    The Rapper Silentó Gets 30 Years in Prison for Fatal Shooting of His Cousin

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    The songwriter, whose real name is Ricky Hawk, pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and three other charges in relation to the killing.Silentó, the rapper known for his viral hit “Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae),” was sentenced to 30 years in prison on Wednesday after pleading guilty to charges related to the fatal shooting of his cousin.The rapper, whose real name is Ricky Lamar Hawk, pleaded guilty but mentally ill to voluntary manslaughter, aggravated assault, possessing a firearm while committing a crime and concealing the death of another, District Attorney Sherry Boston of DeKalb County said in a statement.Mr. Hawk, 27, was arrested in connection with the shooting of his cousin, Frederick Rooks III, 34, in the early hours of Jan. 21, 2021, after the police found him bleeding from multiple gunshot wounds in a residential neighborhood in Decatur, Ga., seven miles northeast of Atlanta, according to a police report. Emergency workers pronounced him dead on the scene.Several people nearby heard gunshots, and security footage from doorbell cameras showed a white BMW S.U.V. fleeing the scene a few minutes after the gunfire, according to the district attorney’s office. A relative of Mr. Rooks told officers that he was last seen with Mr. Hawk, who had picked him up in a vehicle that matched the description.After he was taken into custody on Feb. 1, 2021, Mr. Hawk told investigators that he had shot Mr. Rooks, according to the district attorney’s office. Mr. Hawk initially faced a murder charge, which was dropped as part of the plea agreement on Wednesday.His lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment.On the day of his arrest, Mr. Hawk’s publicist at the time said that he had been “suffering immensely from a series of mental health illnesses” in recent years.Mr. Hawk became famous in 2015 while he was still in high school through his single, “Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae),” which started a social media dance craze. Tutorial videos have millions of views, and the official music video has been watched about 1.9 billion times on YouTube.In 2019, Mr. Hawk went on the interview show “The Doctors” and described his struggles with depression.“Depression doesn’t leave you when you become famous,” he said. “It just adds more pressure.”“I don’t know if I can truly be happy,” he added on the show. “I don’t know if these demons will ever go away.”With a plea of guilty but mentally ill, the state’s Department of Corrections is responsible for evaluating and treating Mr. Hawk’s mental health needs, according to Georgia law. More

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      Austria School Shooting: What to Know

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      Several people have been killed in a mass shooting at a high school in Graz, the country’s second-largest city, police said.At least nine people were killed on Tuesday in a mass shooting at a high school in Graz, Austria, the city’s mayor said. The assailant was also found dead, the police said.The mass shooting is the deadliest attack in recent Austrian history and one of the deadliest recent school shootings across Europe.Here’s what you need to know:What happened?What’s known about the suspect and the victims?How rare are mass shootings in Austria?Are guns common in Austria?What happened?Students and at least one adult were killed, Mayor Elke Kahr of Graz said in comments to the Austria Press Agency, the national news agency. The shooter, who police said acted alone, died at the scene, Ms. Kahr said.Police said they received reports of a shooting around 10 a.m. local time on Tuesday and responded with heavy force. Specially trained COBRA units, Austria’s version of SWAT teams, arrived at the scene, as did a police helicopter.The school was evacuated in the late morning, with students sent to a nearby stadium. By noon, police said that there was no further threat.Austrian schools were closed on Monday for the Pentecost holiday, so students had just returned to classes after the long weekend.What’s known about the suspect and the victims?Austrian officials have not yet identified any of the victims. They have also not released any details about the shooter or a possible motive.How rare are mass shootings in Austria?There were two mass shootings in Austria between 2000 and 2022, both since 2010, according to an analysis published in 2024 by the Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government, a think tank based in Albany, N.Y. During that period, there were 109 mass shootings in the United States, according to the institute’s records.Graz, Austria’s second-largest city after the capital, Vienna, last experienced a mass attack in 2015. In that incident, a man with a history of domestic violence killed three people after driving a car into crowds and then attacking bystanders with a knife.Austria has also had terrorism-related violence in the past few years.In 2024, security officials thwarted a plot to attack people at a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna. In 2020, a gunman killed four people and wounded 23 others in Vienna. The man had previously been arrested on suspicion of trying to join ISIS.Are guns common in Austria?Austrian civilians are among the most heavily armed in the world, according to a 2017 estimate from the Small Arms Survey, a research group based in Geneva.Austrians hold about 2.6 million guns, only about 837,000 of which are registered, according to the survey. Austria ranked 12th in the world in gun holdings per person.That’s about 30 firearms for every 100 civilians. The United States had about 120.5 guns for every 100 people during that same time, the survey showed.Pump-action shotguns are prohibited in Austria, which has a population of 9.2 million. Official authorization is required to legally acquire a handgun, a semiautomatic firearm or a repeating shotgun. More

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      2 Killed in Shooting on Las Vegas Strip

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      The police said the shooting, which was captured on video, was an isolated incident, and that the gunman and the victims had “previously engaged in conflict over social media.”A gunman shot and killed two people on a busy Sunday night on the Las Vegas Strip near the fountains outside the Bellagio hotel, the Las Vegas Police said.The police said in a statement early Monday that they had identified the shooter but were still seeking to arrest him. The shooting was an isolated episode, the police added.The gunman and the victims knew each other and “had previously engaged in conflict over social media,” the police said.The shooting happened around 10:40 p.m. Pacific on the 3600 block of Las Vegas Boulevard, close to the Bellagio Resort & Casino, the police said.Officers were patrolling the area, the police said, when they heard gunshots. When officers arrived at the scene of the shooting, they found two people “suffering from apparent gunshot wounds,” the police said.Medical personnel arrived shortly afterward and the two victims died at the scene, the police said.The shooting happened around 10:40 p.m. Pacific time, the police said, near the Bellagio hotel.KTNVFootage that was circulating online Monday, verified by Storyful, shows a man firing a gun and people running for cover.The police did not immediately identify the victims. The Clark County Coroner’s office did not immediately respond to a request to provide details about the victims. More

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      Colombian Senator Miguel Uribe Is Shot at Campaign Event

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      The condition of Miguel Uribe, who belongs to a conservative party and was seeking to be its presidential nominee, was not immediately clear.A conservative Colombian senator, presidential hopeful and grandson of a former president was shot from behind at a campaign event on Saturday in the capital, Bogotá, according to his party.The shooting of the senator, Miguel Uribe Turbay, 39, by unknown perpetrators comes amid escalating political tension in the country as the country’s leftist president, Gustavo Petro, tries to introduce changes to labor regulations that Mr. Uribe and other conservatives oppose.Conflict between armed groups also continues to plague the country, though it has taken place mostly in the countryside.Mr. Uribe’s condition and a motive for the shooting were not immediately clear.In a statement, his party, the Democratic Center, called the event “an unacceptable act of violence.”“We energetically reject this attack that not only endangers the life of a political leader, but also threatens democracy and freedom in Colombia,” the party added.President Petro also expressed his concern and said that he was canceling a trip to France because of the attack.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Atentado contra Miguel Uribe en Colombia: esto sabemos

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      Se desconoce el estado de salud de Miguel Uribe, militante de un partido conservador que aspiraba a ser candidato presidencial.Atacantes desconocidos dispararon por la espalda a Miguel Uribe, senador de Colombia y aspirante a la presidencia, en un acto de campaña el sábado en la capital, Bogotá, según indicó su partido.No estaba claro de inmediato cuál era su estado.Su partido, el conservador Centro Democrático, calificó el suceso de “acto de violencia inaceptable” en un comunicado.“Rechazamos enérgicamente este ataque que no solo pone en peligro la vida de un líder político sino que también atenta contra la democracia y la libertad en Colombia”, añadió el partido.Uribe había declarado su intención de presentarse como candidato de su partido a las elecciones presidenciales del próximo año.No se tenía información sobre si había algún detenido en relación con el tiroteo, ocurrido en Fontibón, un suburbio del oeste de Bogotá. El ministro de Defensa colombiano condenó el atentado en X y ofreció una recompensa de hasta 3000 millones de pesos colombianos, o 728.000 dólares, por cualquier información que condujera a la captura de los autores del ataque.Dijo que había ordenado al ejército, la policía nacional y los organismos de inteligencia “desplegar todas sus capacidades para esclarecer con urgencia los hechos” y que pronto celebraría una reunión para determinar la estrategia a seguir.“Nos duele este atentado. Nos moviliza a redoblar esfuerzos por proteger la vida, garantizar la participación política libre y hacer justicia”, añadió.El presidente Gustavo Petro también se pronunció en X.“Mi solidaridad a la familia Uribe”, escribió. “No sé cómo mitigar su dolor”.Esta es una historia en desarrolloSimón Posada More

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      Hunt for Father Accused of Killing 3 Daughters Expands in Washington Forest

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      Travis Decker is a former member of the military who has enough wilderness survival skills to live in the woods on his own for weeks or months, the authorities said.The National Guard is joining the search in Washington State for a man the police say killed his three young daughters.More than a hundred law enforcement officers are combing parts of central and northern Washington State for the man, Travis Decker, who the police say has wilderness skills that could help him survive for weeks on his own.The police say Mr. Decker kidnapped the three girls — Olivia Decker, 5; Evelyn, 8; and Paityn, 9 — on May 30. They were found dead on Monday near a campsite roughly 70 miles east of Seattle. Each child had a plastic bag over her head, according to an affidavit from the police in Wenatchee, Wash., where the girls lived with their mother.Travis Caleb DeckerWenatchee Police DepartmentLarge swaths of wilderness around where the girls’ bodies were found have been closed to the public as the manhunt has intensified. The U.S. Forest Service closed some trails, roads and campsites in the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest. On Thursday, the National Park Service closed parts of the Lake Chelan National Recreation Area, a part of the North Cascades National Park Service Complex to the north of the national forest.On Friday, Gov. Bob Ferguson pledged to support the investigation by sending National Guard resources and emergency funding.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      ‘Devil in the Ozarks’ Escapee Is Caught Near Arkansas Prison

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      Grant Hardin, who came to be known as the “Devil in the Ozarks,” was captured on Friday, nearly two weeks after his May 25 escape from a high-security prison.A former Arkansas police chief and convicted murderer known as the “Devil in the Ozarks” was captured on Friday, less than two miles from a high-security prison from which he escaped on May 25, the authorities said.The fugitive, Grant Hardin, was caught about 3:45 p.m. not far from the Calico Rock North Central Unit, ending an intense manhunt that began nearly two weeks ago when he slipped out of the prison dressed in a fake law enforcement uniform.Mr. Hardin, 56, who had previously served as the police chief in Gateway, Ark., for a short time, disappeared about 15 to 20 minutes before an inmate count.Grant Hardin worked in several law enforcement positions before he was convicted of rape and murder. Arkansas Department of CorrectionsOfficials had described Mr. Hardin, who was serving a decades-long sentence for first-degree murder and rape, as extremely dangerous.In 2017, he was arrested in connection with the shooting death of James Appleton just outside Gateway, where Mr. Appleton had worked in the water department.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Boulder Attack Suspect Appeared to Live a Low-Key Life in Colorado Springs

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      The suspect came to the U.S. in 2022 and lived with his family in a suburban neighborhood. He was a ride share driver, and his daughter was embraced by her school community.Mohamed Sabry Soliman told the police that he had tried to disguise himself as a gardener on Sunday afternoon when he headed toward a group that was walking in downtown Boulder, Colo., to remember the hostages being held in Gaza, the authorities said.Mr. Soliman, a 45-year-old born in Egypt, carried flowers he had bought from a Home Depot store, according to a Boulder police detective. He wore an orange vest. And he had strapped on a backpack sprayer, the kind that gardeners often use to apply fertilizer or pesticide.But the sprayer was full of gasoline.The fiery weekend terror attack that the authorities say Mr. Soliman soon carried out — in a plot he said he had hatched himself — injured 12 people, who were burned by two homemade Molotov cocktails that the authorities say he threw into the crowd. Mr. Soliman yelled “Free Palestine” during the attacks, the authorities said, and later told the police he “wanted them all to die” because he believed the demonstrators were “Zionists” supporting the occupation of Palestine.Before Sunday, Mr. Soliman appeared to have lived a prosaic life in Colorado Springs, where he drove for a ride share service and was raising five children with his wife in a worn stucco apartment amid the dry, windy suburban stretch east of town. He told the police he had assembled his dangerous arsenal of explosives from everyday household goods.But the assault resonated far beyond Boulder. It came roughly two weeks after another supporter of the Palestinian cause killed two Israeli embassy workers in Washington, D.C., sending fresh waves of fear through Jewish communities around the world whose members were left wondering if anywhere was safe for them as Israel’s war in Gaza grinded on.Mr. Soliman was arrested minutes after the attack and was being held on a $10 million bond. Police officers found him on a patch of grass near the Boulder courthouse, shirtless and screaming at the crowd, holding two Molotov cocktails. At least 14 other Molotov cocktails were found near him in a black plastic container.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      The Boulder Attack is the Latest on the Jewish Community

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      The attack in Boulder, Colo., follows the murders of two Israeli embassy aides in Washington and an arson at the home of the Jewish governor of Pennsylvania.The attack on an event in Boulder, Colo., for Israeli hostages on Sunday afternoon was the latest on the Jewish community, following two others in recent weeks involving assailants who expressed anger over the war in Gaza.On May 21, two people were fatally shot outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C., after which the suspect shouted “Free Palestine.” In April, a man set fire to the residence of Gov. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, who is Jewish. The suspect later said the fire was a response to Israeli attacks on Palestinians.“As the American Jewish community continues to reel from the horrific antisemitic murders in Washington, D.C., it is unfathomable that the Jewish community is facing another terror attack here in Boulder, on the eve of the holiday of Shavuot no less,” Colorado’s governor, Jared Polis, said in a statement. “Several individuals were brutally attacked while peacefully marching to draw attention to the plight of the hostages who have been held by Hamas terrorists in Gaza for 604 days. I condemn this vicious act of terrorism, and pray for the recovery of the victims.”Colorado’s attorney general, Phil Weiser, said in a statement that the attack “appears to be a hate crime given the group that was targeted.”“People may have differing views about world events and the Israeli-Hamas conflict, but violence is never the answer to settling differences,” he added. “Hate has no place in Colorado.” More