PHOENIX — A Phoenix police officer and firefighter both died Sunday after suffering critical injuries in separate accidents on the job, officials said.

Police said Officer Daryl Raetz, 29, was conducting a DUI stop on a vehicle in west Phoenix when another vehicle struck him at about 3:30 a.m. and then fled the scene. Raetz, an Iraq war veteran who became a Phoenix police officer six years ago, was taken to a hospital where he later died.

A day earlier, 23-year-old Phoenix Firefighter Bradley Harper was critically injured while fighting a mulch fire. The Arizona Republic cited Sgt. Tommy Thompson in reporting that Harper was moving equipment at about 5:30 p.m. Saturday when he was pinned between two emergency vehicles. He died Sunday of his injuries.

Mayor Greg Stanton said Sunday would go down in history as a “tragic day” for Phoenix.

“It’s incredibly important that this community show its full support, not only for the families of our deceased heroes so they understand how important the service (was) of these two men dedicated to the safety of the city,” he said, “but it’s also important that the living officers and the living firefighters see the community pull together so that they know that when they go out every day and risk their lives, they do so with the full support of the citizens of this city.”

The hit-and-run collision that killed Raetz happened as he was standing in the roadway and was wrapping up the DUI stop. He is survived by a wife and young daughter.

Authorities said late Sunday afternoon that police in Surprise located the SUV that hit him and are working to identify the driver.

“When our officers are out there, part of the danger we face is just processing the scene,” Thompson said, “particularly in a DUI scene such as this, and then (to) have another individual strike one of our officers who’s out there doing his job.”

Police Chief Daniel V. Garcia described the loss as “gut-wrenching.”

“This is every officer’s nightmare,” he said. “I honestly don’t have the words to describe the sorrow in my heart for Daryl Raetz and his family. He was one of Phoenix’s finest, one of our heroes who was out there every day (serving) the community.”

The police and fire unions planned to organize fundraisers for Raetz’s and Harper’s families, said Joe Clure, representative for the Phoenix Law Enforcement Association.

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Information from: The Arizona Republic, http://www.azcentral.com

Source: huffingtonpost.com

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SAN FRANCISCO — Authorities were searching for at least two gunmen who walked up to the door of a Northern California home and opened fire, killing a 10-year-old girl and injuring her parents.

“Whoever these gunmen were, they were directly outside the front door,” Sacramento County sheriff’s spokesman Sgt. Jason Ramos said Sunday. “This was not a drive-by. These gunmen approached the house and shot inside.”

Sacramento County sheriff’s officials suspected that a family member had gang ties.

“You have to be hard pressed to think a 10-year-old girl was the intended target,” Ramos said.

At least a dozen shots were fired from two guns at the house on Saturday night, killing Elvira Campos and injuring her parents, Ramos said. The names of the parents – both of whom were in their 40s and were expected to survive – were not released.

The girl’s 14-year-old brother was playing video games in a back room and was not hurt.

Detectives were canvassing the neighborhood for possible witnesses and forensic units were gathering evidence at the home Sunday, where a cluster of bullet holes marked a front window and more holes were found in the front door and a window frame.

The family had lived in the home in an area about 11 miles northeast of downtown Sacramento for less than a year, Ramos said. There were no records of sheriff’s officials being sent there previously, he said.

“I can’t even imagine what would bring people to do that,” neighbor James Corbett told The Associated Press. Corbett, who lives about three houses down from where the girl was shot, described the neighborhood as quiet, with a “bunch of young families.”

On Sunday morning, about a half dozen grieving relatives arrived at the home, The Sacramento Bee reported.

“We have no idea what happened – she was a very happy little girl,” Tony Reys, the uncle of the girl, told the newspaper.

Sheriff’s officials were also investigating a separate shooting Sunday morning that took place not far from the home. The victim of that shooting – a 32-year-old man who survived – was “definitely a gang member” and detectives were looking at the possibility the shootings were related, Ramos said.

Source: huffingtonpost.com

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A 33-year-old Manhattan man who allegedly made anti-gay remarks to a 32-year-old man he’s accused of fatally shooting in Greenwich Village has been charged with murder as a hate crime, police said.

Elliot Morales, who appeared in Manhattan Criminal Court, is also charged with criminal possession of a weapon and menacing, according to the complaint filed Sunday by the Manhattan district attorney’s office.

Police used facial recognition software to identify Morales as the alleged shooter after he refused to identify himself or be fingerprinted, and was found in possession of a fake ID card, authorities said.

Morales was taken into custody shortly after police allege he shot Marc Carson, of 131st Street, following a confrontation on Eighth Avenue around midnight Friday.

He was ordered held without bail pending another court appearance on Thursday. His attorney, Reginald Sharpe, could not be reached for comment.

Shortly before the shooting, Morales had run into Carson and a friend near a 99 Cent Pizza and allegedly hurled anti-gay slurs at them. Morales had been with two other men at the time, and they allegedly asked if Carson was a “gay wrestler.”

Carson made some remarks in response to the suspect’s taunts and walked away, law enforcement sources said.

When Morales ran into the victim and his friend again later, he was alone. Words were exchanged for a second time, and the the suspect allegedly pulled out a .38-caliber revolver and shot Carson in the head, killing him, police said.

The suspect ran off, but was arrested later by a police officer on foot patrol who recognized him based on a description authorities put out after the shooting. A silver revolver was found in his possession.

Police say Morales has a criminal record, including an arrest for attempted murder in 1998. Detectives are looking to question the two men who were with the suspect during the initial confrontation near the pizza shop.

Police are reviewing surveillance video from the area.

Before the shooting, police say the suspect had a separate confrontation with a manager and bouncer at the West Village restaurant Annisa on Barrow Street. Both men told detectives the suspect made anti-gay comments and threatened them.

State and local officials blasted the slaying Saturday, citing a spike in alleged anti-gay crimes in Manhattan over the last several months.

On May 10, police said a gay couple was attacked on West 32nd Street and beaten so severely that one of the men needed eye surgery. Days earlier, another gay couple was assaulted by a group of men in the same area near Madison Square Garden.

Source: nbcnewyork.com

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Five people were fatally shot in weekend violence that wounded at least 18 others across Chicago, according to police.

The most recent fatality occurred at 2:10 a.m. Sunday in the 300 block of South Cicero where a 53-year-old man was shot in the neck.

The previous night, shots were fired into a group of people in the 6800 block of South Lowe Avenue, striking a 30-year-old woman in the head, police said.

In the same shooting, a 27-year-old woman suffered a gunshot wound to the wrist and a 37-year-old man was shot in the back. Both were taken to Saint Bernard Hospital and Health Care Center where their conditions were stabilized, according to the Chicago police news affairs Officer Sullivan.

The weekend’s first fatality took place at 7:24 p.m. Friday in the 7800 block of South Langely Avenue when a 17-year-old man was shot in the chest, according to news affairs officer Jose Estrada.

The man, identified as Clifton Barney, was pronounced dead at the scene, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

Barney was reportedly on the street when an offender shot him once in the chest and jumped into a light-colored vehicle, Estrada said. No one was in custody as of Saturday morning.

Less than an hour later, a 40-year-old man was shot in the head in the 200 block of North Mayfield Avenue, police said.

The shooter ran up to the man firing several times before hitting him in the back of the head and fleeing on foot, Estrada said.

The man, Ramar Bonner, was taken to Loyola University Hospital where he was pronounced dead, according to the medical examiner’s office.

The third fatality of the weekend took place around 3:50 a.m. Saturday in the 4800 block of West Iowa Street where a man was found dead with a gunshot wound.

The 27-year-old man was reportedly involved in a verbal altercation with an unknown offender prior to the shooting, Estrada said. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Earlier, a 16-year-old was shot in the leg around 9:58 p.m. Friday in the 5400 block of West Wrightwood Avenue, according to police.

The teen was walking with several others when the group was approached by a male who began firing shots. The teen was transported to Illinois Masonic Medical Center with a gunshot wound to the right leg in stable condition. No others were injured in the shooting.

The shooting occurred around 10 p.m. Friday near the 4800 block of Golf Road in Skokie, where officers discovered a male juvenile shot in the abdomen, according to police.

The victim was taken to an area hospital where his condition was stabilized, police said.

Shortly after, two 18-year-old men were shot around 10:20 p.m. in the 5800 block of South Laflin Street, Estrada said.

The two teens were in separate groups when a verbal altercation erupted and shots were fired, police said. One teen was shot in the left calf and the other was shot in the hip. Both men were taken to John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital in stable condition.

Around 10:50 p.m., a 34-year-old man was shot in the back and abdomen during a drive-by shooting in the 120 block of South Perry Avenue, Estrada said.

The man was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn in critical condition.

Three others were shot in the Lawndale neighborhood around 11:25 p.m. on the 1200 block of South Kolin Avenue, police said.

The victims were in a group with several others when unknown offenders approached on foot and fired shots from a nearby alley, Estrada said.

A 38-year-old man was taken to Stroger Hospital in serious condition with a gunshot wound to the back. A 38-year-old woman was shot in the arm and taken in serious condition to Mount Sinai Hospital. The third victim, a 27-year-old woman was shot in the neck and was reported to be in “grave” condition at Mount Sinai Hospital, according to police.

Police recovered three guns from the alley and discovered the shooters’ emptied vehicle in the 1200 block of South Kostner Avenue.

Around 3:35 a.m. Saturday, a 20-year-old man walked into Mount Sinai Hospital with a gunshot wound to the shoulder, police said.

The man claimed to be riding in a vehicle when another car pulled up with occupants flashing gang signs and shouting gang slogans before firing at the victim.

No shots were reported in the area, however, and the shooting is still under investigation.

The weekend’s most recent shooting occurred around 3 p.m. Saturday when a 12-year-old boy was shot  in the 2300 block of West 23rd Street, according to a tweet from Chicago Fire Media.

Two boys were reportedly playing with a gun when it accidentally went off.

The boy was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital with a gunshot wound in his arm in stable condition, according to police news affairs.

A third boy is being charged in the shooting for bringing the gun into the home, police said. Details of the charges were not immediately available.

Source: nbcchicago.com

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Dallas Fire-Rescue says a firefighter is trapped inside a burning condominium complex.

The blaze at the Hearthwood Condominium complex at 12363 Abrams Road had smoke billowing through the roof of the complex when the first fire crews arrived at the scene at 2:52 a.m.

Jason Evans with Dallas Fire-Rescue said firefighters initially started to attack the fire offensively, but after the fire grew too quickly, crews moved to a defensive attack.

Evans told NBC 5′s Kendra Lyn that the missing firefighter used his radio to say he was trapped inside and did not know where he was. Evans says crews have not been able to reach the firefighter by radio since that last message.

Fire crews have had to pull back on fighting the flames of the massive fire while they search for the firefighter.

Evans also said the huge fire is keeping crews from searching the building for any injured or trapped residents inside the building.

Firefighters rescued at least five residents from the building during the process. Two residents were treated for minor smoke inhalation at the scene. Two firefighters were taken to a hospital for minor injuries. Both are expected to be okay.

At least 24 units were destroyed by the fire. The roof of the building collapsed in some area, leaving third floor apartments exposed. Other damaged portions of the building may have collapsed as well.

The three-story complex was built in 1980, according to Condo.com. The complex is close to Interstate 635 and flames are visible from some traffic cameras in the area.

Dallas Fire-Rescue elevated the blaze to a six-alarm fire at 5:20 a.m. Monday, bringing in additional units to help battle the blaze. Over 100 firefighters and more than a dozen fire engines are at the scene.

Residents were evacuated from the complex, including elderly residents who were forced to climb down the ladders of some DFR trucks.

Many of the roads leading to and from the complex have been blocked, so even residents that are not directly impacted by the fire cannot get into or out of the complex.

NBC 5 has crews on the scene to gather more information. As this is a developing story, details may change as we collect more information.

Source: nbcdfw.com

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Two agents with the FBI’s hostage rescue team died in a training accident off Virginia Beach Friday.

Agent Christopher Lorek and Special Agent Stephen Shaw, both part of the FBI’s Critical Incident Response Group, were on a weeklong training trip in Hampton Roads.

The accident happened on a Military Sealift Command ship the FBI leased from the Navy, reported WAVY-TV, citing a Navy spokesperson. The agents were then airlifted to Sentara Norfolk General Hospital, where they were pronouced dead.

The cause of death was not specified, and an investigator for the Norfolk Medical Examiner’s Office said that no information would be released until Monday morning. FBI spokesman Paul Bresson also said the cause of the incident is under review.

Navy personnel were not involved in the training exercise.

Lorek, 41,  and Shaw, 40, were based in Quantico, Va.

“We mourn the loss of two brave and courageous men,” FBI Director Robert Mueller said in the statement. “Like all who serve on the Hostage Rescue Team, they accept the highest risk each and every day, when training and on operational missions, to keep our nation safe. Our hearts are with their wives, children, and other loved ones who feel their loss most deeply. And they will always be part of the FBI family.”

Lorek joined the FBI in 1996 and is survived by his wife and two daughters, ages 11 and 8. Shaw worked for the FBI for eight years. He is survived by his wife, 3-year-old daughter and 1-year-old son.

The Hostage Rescue Team is part of the Critical Incident Response Group based at Quantico.

CIRG, an elite hostage rescue team, made headlines earlier this year when they successfully rescued a 5-year-old boy who was being held hostage in an underground bunker in Alabama. Agents killed the boy’s captor, Jimmy Lee Dykes, who took the boy from a school bus.

Trained in military tactics and outfitted with combat-style gear and weapons, the group was formed 30 years ago in preparation for the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. The team is deployed quickly to trouble spots and provides assistance to local FBI offices during hostage situations. It has participated in hostage situations more than 800 times in the U.S. and elsewhere since 1983.

Source: nbcwashington.com

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A vast area of the central U.S. was warned to prepare for storms on Monday, after tornadoes killed one and injured 21 in Oklahoma and also hit Iowa and Kansas.

“After over 300 reports of severe weather on Sunday, another round of dangerous severe weather is expected Monday with the greatest threat once again in the southern Plains targeting Oklahoma and parts of Kansas, Missouri and Arkansas,” the National Weather Service said. “However, severe weather is possible much further north towards Chicago and Madison as well.”

The weather service issued maps showing the risk of severe storms and tornadoes.

A trailer park near Oklahoma City was turned into “splinters and rubble,” weather.com reported, as multiple twisters sent people running for cover along a 100-mile corridor.

James Hoke, who lives with his wife and two children in the Steelman Estates Mobile Home Park in Shawnee, Okla., told the Associated Press that they went into their storm cellar as the storm approached. When they came out, their mobile home had vanished.  “It took a dead hit,” Hoke said.

Shalyn Phillips / TVNweather.com

A tornado is captured on camera near Viola, Kansas, on Sunday.

“You can see where there’s absolutely nothing, then there are places where you have mobile home frames on top of each other, debris piled up,” Pottawatomie County Sheriff Mike Booth told the AP. “It looks like there’s been heavy equipment in there on a demolition tour.

“It’s pretty bad. It’s pretty much wiped out,” he added.

Elsewhere In Oklahoma, tornadoes were also reported at Edmond, Arcadia and near Wellston to the north and northeast of Oklahoma City, weather.com said.

Don Lynch, of Pottawaomie County Sheriff’s Office, said a 79-year-old man had been killed.

Twenty-one people across the state were injured, according to Keli Cain, an Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management spokeswoman.

The Norman, Oklahoma, office posted a Twitter alert warning of a tornado about to strike Pink, a town not far from Shawnee, at around 6:15 p.m. local time (7:15 p.m. ET).

“Large tornado west of Pink!” the post read. “Take cover RIGHT NOW in Pink! DO NOT WAIT!”

“You could be killed if not underground or in a tornado shelter,” it added. “Complete destruction of neighborhoods, businesses and vehicles will occur. Flying debris will be deadly to people and animals.”

Randy Grau told weather.com of the moment he realized it was time to take cover in his Edmond home. He said he looked out a window as the weather worsened and believed he saw a flock of birds heading down the street.

“Then I realized it was swirling debris. That’s when we shut the door of the safe room,” said Grau, adding that he, his wife and two children remained in the room for 10 minutes.

The storm prompted an unusually blunt warning from the central region of the National Weather Service, which covers 14 states.

Oklahoma’s Governor Mary Fallin on Sunday declared a State of Emergency for 16 Oklahoma counties because of tornadoes, severe storms, straight-line winds and flooding.

“Our hearts and prayers are with those Oklahomans who have been affected by today’s severe weather,” Fallin said in a statement.

Carla Tollett, an information officer for St. Anthony Shawnee Hospital, said it was treating one patient who was in a critical condition and had also seen 10 other less seriously injured people.

Various power companies reported more than 57,000 outages related to the storms.

In Wichita, Kansas, a tornado touched down near Mid-Continent Airport shortly before 4 p.m., weather.com reported. Thousands of homes and businesses lost power, but the twister missed the most populated areas of the city.

Sedgwick County Emergency Management Director Randy Duncan told weather.com there were no reports of fatalities or injuries in Kansas.

In Iowa, two tornadoes were reported touching down on Sunday night — one near Huxley, about 20 miles north of Des Moines, and one in Grundy County, northeast of Des Moines.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

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A New York man accused of hurling homophobic slurs at a gay man on the street before shooting him dead laughed and boasted about the alleged murder to police as he was being handcuffed just minutes afterwards, according to prosecutors.

Elliot Morales, 33, has been charged with second-degree murder as a hate crime, menacing and two counts of possession of a weapon in the shooting death of Mark Carson, 32, just after midnight on Saturday.

The Greenwich Village resident rolled around ‘laughing on the ground’ and proudly told officers ‘yeah, I shot him in the head’ as he was arrested five blocks away from where Carson was killed, the Manhattan Criminal Court heard on Sunday.

Suspect: Elliot Morales, 33, pictured, was charged with second-degree murder as a hate crime, menacing and two counts of possession of a weapon in a Manhattan court on Sunday

Police said Morales used a silver Taurus .38-caliber revolver to shoot Carson at point-blank range as he walked with his 33-year-old companion on Sixth Avenue near West Eighth Street.

Morales was ordered held without bail pending another court appearance on Thursday. His attorney, Reginald Sharpe, could not be reached for comment.

On Saturday, minutes before opening fire in the lively Village streets, police say Morales followed Carson and his companion and asked them ‘Are you afraid? Do you watch the news? Do you know what happened in Sandy Hook?’ according to theNew York Post.

He then asked Carson, ‘Do you want to die here,’ Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said.

Police said Morales called Carson a ‘f*****’ and a ‘queer’ before shooting him in the cheek in a neighborhood long known as a bedrock of the gay rights movement.

Didn’t back down: Mark Carson, 32, refused to shy away from his gay identity, even when confronted by a biggot who was harassing him in the street

Morales was soon arrested a few blocks away.

He has six previous arrests including one for attempted murder in 1998, police said. Details of that arrest weren’t immediately clear. He served nine years in city and state prisons, The Post reported.

Saturday’s shooting scene is a few blocks from the Stonewall Inn, the site of 1969 riots that helped give rise to gay rights when patrons reacted to police harassment.

The violence follows a spate of recent bias attacks on gay men in New York, but this was the first deadly one. Kelly said police were looking into possible links between the incidents.

The shooting stunned a city where, in many neighborhoods, same-sex couples now walk freely holding hands. It also comes at a time when the gay marriage movement is gaining momentum in many parts of the United States. Twelve states have legalized same-sex marriage, including New York in 2011.

Crime scene: Police say Morales randomly shot Carson on Sixth Avenue, pictured, after having words with him only because Carson was homosexual

Point-blank: Police said Morales used a silver Taurus .38-caliber revolver to shoot Carson at point-blank range as he walked with his 33-year-old companion on Sixth Avenue near West Eighth Street

Carson was revealed on Sunday as a ‘courageous’ gay man who never hid his sexuality – despite being subjected to anti-gay slurs for years. Before the gay-bashing assailant killed the 32-year-old, he asked whether his companion was his boyfriend. Carson didn’t hesitate and told the man yes, according to reports.

Carson and his best friend of 15 years turned to walk away, but Morales followed them, the New York Post reported. After asking him if he wanted to die there, Morales demanded to know: ‘Is he your boy?’

When Carson responded ‘Yes,’ Morales allegedly pulled out the pistol and shot Carson once at point-blank range. He was taken to Beth Israel Hospital, where he died.

‘He was a courageous person,’ Michael Bumpars, Carson’s brother, told the New York Daily News.

‘My brother was a beautiful person… He was our foundation.’

‘Courageous’: Carson’s family said he had been battered with anti-gay slurs before, but always responded ‘with grace’

Police on Saturday said the attack was motivated by hate.

‘This clearly looks to be a hate crime,’ Kelly said.

Kelly says the gunman was seen urinating on the street outside a bar.

He says the man went into the bar, made anti-gay remarks to the bartender and showed the bartender that he was wearing a holster with a silver pistol.

Kelly says the gunman then confronted the victim and a companion on the street and asked if they were ‘gay wrestlers.’

‘There was no words that would aggravate the situation spoken by the victims here. They were confronted,’ Kelly said. ‘They did not know the perpetrators, no previous relationship.’

Carson lived in Brooklyn and managed a frozen yogurt shop in the West Village. He and his partner were going out for the night in Greenwich Village – a popular area for straight and gay revelers alike.

In custody: A man was taken into custody within minutes of the shooting West 8th Street and Sixth Avenue

After the shooting, the gunman ran five blocks before cops captured him at West Third Street and MacDougal Street, on the edge of the NYU campus.

The busy and well-traveled intersection of 8th Street, Sixth Avenue and Greenwich Avenue is just a few blocks from Washington Square Park.

The shooter was crazed and confessed the shooting to cops when he was collared. Detectives are testing his blood to determine he was on drugs at the time.

Another two men who were with Morales when he first confronted Carson were questioned by police and released.

Openly gay New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn announced that the incident is being investigated as a hate crime.

‘I am horrified to learn that last night, a gay man was murdered in my district after being chased out of a Greenwich Village restaurant and assailed by homophobic slurs,’ she said in a statement.

West Village: A normally peaceful and progressive part of Manhattan.This is the fourth hate crime incident in two weeks in the city

‘I stand with all New Yorkers in condemning this attack.’

This is the fourth such hate crime that targeted a gay man in the last two weeks in Manhattan.

‘There was a time in New York City when hate crimes were a common occurrence,’ she added.

‘There was a time in New York City when two people of the same gender could not walk down the street arm-in-arm without fear of violence and harassment. We refuse to go back to that time.

This kind of shocking and senseless violence, so deeply rooted in hate, has no place in a City whose greatest strength will always be its diversity.’

On May 10, police said a gay couple was attacked on West 32nd Street and beaten so severely that one of the men needed eye surgery.

Days earlier, another gay couple was assaulted by a group of men in the same area near Madison Square Garden.

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TRENTON, N.J. — Funeral services have been held for the New Jersey woman and boy whose bodies were found in their home after a 37-hour hostage standoff last weekend.

The Times of Trenton reports Carmenlita Stevens’ four surviving children were among those attending Saturday’s service for the 44-year-old woman and her 12-year-old son, Quavon Foster. Stevens’ boyfriend had held three of the surviving children hostage during the standoff.

Authorities have said Stevens and Foster died from stab wounds on April 25, nearly three weeks before the standoff began May 10. It ended two days later when hostage-taker Gerald Tyrone Murphy was fatally shot in the head by police who stormed the home.

Authorities have said Murphy killed the pair, but a motive has not been determined.

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Information from: The (Trenton, N.J.) Times, http://www.nj.com/times

Source: huffingtonpost.com

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