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Travis Posey Murders 4 In Arkansas

Travis Posey is an accused killer from Arkansas who has been charged with the murders of four people and the attempted murder of nine others during a mass shooting at a grocery store

According to police reports Travis Posey would go to the Mad Butcher in Fordyce Arkansas where he would open fire which would lead to the deaths of four people and injuring nine others

Travis Posey would get into a shootout with police that would leave two officers injured as well as Posey.

Travis Posey has been charged with four counts of capital murder with a ton of other charges pending.

Travis Posey News

Four people were killed in a shooting at a grocery store in Fordyce, Arkansas, Friday morning, according to Mike Hagar, director of the Arkansas Department of Public Safety.

The shooting happened at the Mad Butcher store at about 11:30 a.m.

The shooter injured seven other civilians and two police officers. ASP said the conditions of their injuries ranged from “non-life threatening” to “extremely critical.”

Arkansas State Police named the suspected shooter as Travis Eugene Posey, 44, of New Edinburg. Law enforcement shot and injured Posey, who was taken into custody.

New Edinburg is more than 11 miles southeast of Fordyce.

https://www.4029tv.com/article/fordyce-shooting-grocery-store-deaths/61210549

Travis Posey Other News

Families were shopping at a local grocery store in a small Arkansas town on Friday when the sound of gunfire reverberated through the store, sending them running for cover or huddling in a freezer.

Katrina Doherty – who had been shopping for dinner with her 18-year-old daughter and 4-year-old son – said she first thought she heard the sound of something falling but then saw glass shatter and someone drop to the ground. That’s when she knew shots were being fired.

Outside, David Rodriguez was pulling into a gas station when he heard “pops” that he initially thought were fireworks. He then noticed the grocery store’s front windows were broken – as if they had been “shot open” by gunfire, Rodriguez said.

Panicked shoppers then started running away as gunshots were fired rapidly, Rodriguez said.

A man had opened fire at the Mad Butcher in Fordyce, killing four people and wounding nine others. Those killed ranged in age from 23 to 81 years old and include one person who police later announced died on Saturday evening.

Law enforcement responded to the shooting around 11:30 a.m. and exchanged gunfire with the “lone suspect,” according to Arkansas State Police. Cellphone video captured a man in the parking lot aiming a long gun and firing in multiple directions.

Not finding an escape route, Doherty and others in the store hurriedly hid in a freezer. Doherty’s daughter and son, who were in a different aisle, reunited with their mother in the back of the store and followed two store workers into the freezer. The 39-year-old mother said she heard about nine or ten rounds before making it into the icy shelter.

“We ran in there really fast. We still heard gunshots keep going off,” Doherty said. “It was like slow motion. My daughter was like ‘Mama, pinch me, this can’t be real.’ And I was like, ’Baby, it’s real.’”

From outside, Rodriguez heard sirens and watched as ambulances and police arrived at the scene.

Doherty couldn’t hear what was happening outside, and when they tried to call 9-1-1, there was no service. The group stayed inside, enduring the freezing cold in “panic mode,” with some praying and others crying, she recalled.

Her son started to cry, “but we finally got him calmed down because I didn’t want the shooter to hear.”

“We were just sitting there and praying. I was in panic mode. My son about froze to death. We tried to get him quiet, but he was saying he wanted his daddy. It felt like we were in there forever,” Doherty said. “We were in there maybe 15 minutes. I was asking the Lord to protect over everybody. I was just praying. The other lady, she was praying. She was crying.”

At one point, one of the workers opened the freezer door, and saw someone dead right outside of it, Doherty said. The door remained shut until one of the store workers heard police outside, and they were then escorted out of the store, Doherty said.

Once she was out of the store, Doherty reunited with her 15-year-old twin daughters who were waiting outside in the car during the shooting and ducked down when they heard the gunshots.

Shirley Kay Taylor, 62, was one of the four dead, her daughter Angela Atchley told CNN and police confirmed on Saturday.

Atchley says her mother, who loved her family and kids, “was the hardest working woman I know” and a “great person.”

“We are completely lost,” Atchley said.

Additional civilians killed in the shooting were identified by police as: 23-year-old Callie Weems, 50-year-old Roy Sturgis and 81-year-old Ellen Shrum. A fourth victim died Saturday evening following three previous deaths that were initially counted by police.

The country has seen a spate of shootings in the past few weeks, with 21 mass shootings recorded by the Gun Violence Archive since last Friday. Shootings permeated a Michigan splash pad, a Texas Juneteenth celebration and a Massachusetts car meetup, among other locations.

They are among at least 234 mass shootings have taken place in the United States in 2024, according to data from the Gun Violence Archive, which, like CNN, defines a mass shooting as one in which four or more people are shot, excluding the shooter.

The aftermath of the shooting

Matthew Gill, the meat manager at the Mad Butcher, told CNN a man came into the store with a shotgun and ended up in a shootout with police.

Two police officers were wounded in the gunfire, with one released from the hospital Saturday evening and another having minor injuries.

The suspected shooter, identified by authorities as 44-year-old Travis Eugene Posey, was also wounded and taken into custody.

Posey, a resident of New Edinburg, is expected to be charged with four counts of capital murder, with additional charges pending, according to an Arkansas State Police news release. He was taken to the Ouachita County Detention Center and is set to appear in court on Monday, according to Dallas County prosecutor Eric Marks.

The injuries to the suspect are not considered life-threatening, according to Mike Hagar, the secretary of public safety and director of Arkansas State Police. He noted the “situation is secured … contained. There are no active threats to the community.”

“The remaining civilian injuries range from non-life threatening to extremely critical,” he said.

Five women and two men from 20 to 65 years old were injured in the shooting. Four of them are still in the hospital, including a woman who is in critical condition. Three victims were treated and released on Friday.

Posey was “treated for non-life-threatening injuries after exchanging gunfire with law enforcement, released to ASP custody, and transported to the Ouachita County Detention Center,” ASP said in the release. It is unclear if Posey has retained legal counsel at this point.

Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders in a statement on X said she had been briefed on the “tragic shooting” in Fordyce and is in “constant contact” with state police at the scene. Fordyce, a small city in southeast Dallas County, had a population of just 3,396 in 2020.

Fordyce City Council Member Roderick Rogers told CNN affiliate KATV that he was on the phone with someone in the store when the shooting took place. “Man, it was bad,” Rogers said.

The council member said that he spoke with survivors of the shooting who “are traumatized.”

“We are trying to get some counseling and everything set up at the moment,” he added.

https://www.cnn.com/2024/06/22/us/fordyce-arkansas-grocery-store-shooting-saturday/index.html

Robert Card Wanted For Maine Mass Shooting

A massive manhunt is taking place in Maine for Robert Card who is believed to be responsible for a mass shooting that left 22 people dead and others injured

According to initial reports Robert Card is alleged to have gone into the Schemengees Bar & Grill on Lincoln Street in Lewiston, Maine. Card would open fire with a automatic weapon killing twenty two people and injuring 30 others.

Robert Card who is a firearms instructor and a member of the Army reserves is to be considered extremely dangerous and armed. A large shelter in place has been issued for Lewiston Maine as hundreds of officers attempt to locate him and put him in custody

Robert Card would be found dead on October 27 2023 from a self inflicted gunshot. The death count for this horrible event is 18 people not 22 as earlier reported

Robert Card News

Audio from police scanners described a chaotic scene in Lewiston, Maine, where a male suspect carried out a mass shooting at the Schemengees Bar and Just-in-Time Bowling — which is better known by its former name Sparetime Recreation — miles apart, Wednesday evening leaving at least 22 people dead and 30 wounded.

The Lewiston Police Department said Wednesday night the suspect remains at-large and has identified Robert Card, 40, of Bowdoin, Maine, as a person of interest. Maine Department of Public Safety Commissioner Mike Sauschuck said the shootings started at approximately 6:56 p.m.

According to audio from a police scanner, Lewiston police responded to calls of an “active shooter” at Schemengees Bar & Grill on Lincoln Street, at approximately 7:02 p.m. They initially reported just “six to eight” victims at the recreation center before additional units responded to the scene. “I need multiple units, or if there are multiple units at Schemengees to stay as there are multiple victims in a field north of Schemengees. We will update.”

As officers were responding to the bar, additional calls came in regarding a shooting just miles north at the bowling alley located on Mollison Way. The audio details multiple units responding to both locations, possible additional locations and ensuring enough ambulances were available to transport victims. Dispatch was also locating several police units to the hospital and to the airport.

The chaotic audio came as a male suspect opened fire at the bar and the bowling alley, prompting a massive manhunt. The two locations are located about four miles apart.

Hundreds of law enforcement officers are seeking Robert Card after Wednesday night’s shooting. A police bulletin identified him as a trained firearms instructor and said Robert Card is believed to be in the Army Reserve, assigned to a training facility in Saco, Maine.

Fox News’ David Spunt reported, citing a senior law enforcement source, that authorities are aware Card may have a police scanner and could be actively listening to some of their movements.

“My heart is crushed,” Schemengees Bar & Grill wrote on Facebook. “I am at a loss for words. In a split second your world gets turn upside down for no good reason. We loss great people in this community. How can we make any sense of this. Sending out prayers to everyone.”

Shelter-in-place orders are in place for Maine’s second-largest city and for nearby Lisbon.

The FBI has added dozens of agents to the scene over the past few hours to assist local law enforcement with the manhunt as well as victims services and counseling. SWAT teams are also on the ground and mobilized.

https://www.foxnews.com/us/maine-police-audio-describes-frantic-mass-shooting-response-multiple-victims

Robert Card Other News

A furious manhunt is underway after at least 16 people were killed and dozens injured in a mass shooting at a restaurant and a bowling alley in Lewiston, Maine – with schools shuttered and people warned to stay indoors as more than 100 investigators and federal agents search for the killer, officials said

Robert Card, 40, is being sought as a person of interest in the attacks, Lewiston police said around 11 p.m. ET Wednesday, adding he “should be considered armed and dangerous.”

Robert Card is a certified firearms instructor and a member of the US Army Reserves, law enforcement officials in Maine told CNN. He had recently threatened to carry out a shooting at a National Guard facility in Saco, Maine, and reported mental health issues, including hearing voices, the officials said.

Some in the area are waking up Thursday to officers with long guns scouring their neighborhoods.

“Nerves are rattled right now – keeping an eye on the woods,” said Cory, a resident of nearby Lisbon, Maine, whose 10-year-old daughter was inside his home. “That actually made me feel better. Seeing the cops coming around here, that makes me feel a million times better.

“In the situation like this,” he told CNN, “I wish I had a firearm.”

Anyone who sees Robert Card should not approach him “or make contact with him in any way,” Maine’s Department of Public Safety Commissioner Mike Sauschuck said late Wednesday.

At least 16 people are dead, law enforcement officials told CNN, in what appears to be the deadliest mass shooting of 2023 in the United States, adding to a grim docket of 565 such incidents reported this year across the country, with four or more shot excluding the shooter, according to the Gun Violence Archive.

Lewiston City Councilor Robert McCarthy has backed off his assertion to CNN on air Wednesday night of a “confirmed” death toll of 22, now calling it “unconfirmed.” Law enforcement has not addressed the death toll on the record.

“It’s so surreal,” McCarthy said. “You just see it on the news and you say, ‘That’s never gonna happen here,’ and then it happens here, and it just blows your mind.”

Dozens more were injured, though it wasn’t immediately clear how many were hurt due to gunfire, the law enforcement sources told CNN.

By Thursday morning, the entire Lisbon Police Departure had been called in to hunt for the shooter and make sure businesses are closed, Chief Ryan McGee said.

“Right now, this is an active scene in Lisbon,” he told reporters.

Major Northeast grocery chain Hannaford Supermarkets is keeping all its Maine stores closed at least until 10 a.m., the company said. And public schools in Lewiston and Portland – the state’s largest district, with about 6,500 students – are closed, officials have said.

People in nearby Bowdoin, Maine, were advised early Thursday the shelter in place advisory and school closings would include their town, Maine State Police announced: “Please stay inside your homes while more than 100 investigators, both local and federal work to locate Robert Card who is a person of interest in the Lewiston shootings.”

“We want to locate the individual, make sure our community’s kept safe,” McGee said, “so biggest thing I can say is make sure that if the community sees anything, stay inside, don’t approach, call the police department – just like we did here just here. Someone heard something, they called: It’s the right thing to do.”

The rampage began shortly before 7 p.m. and fueled calls for everyone in Lewiston to shelter in place as hundreds of officers searched for the gunman. Lewiston police shared images of a man walking into what appears to be a bowling alley holding a high-powered, assault-style rifle.

The active shooting incidents were reported at Just-in-Time Recreation, a bowling alley on Mollison Way, and about 4 miles away at Schemengees Bar & Grille Restaurant on Lincoln Street, Lewiston Police said. Authorities initially identified the bowling alley by its prior name, Sparetime Recreation.

People ran away from Just-in-Time Recreation as police cruisers responded to the scene, video obtained by CNN shows. A person on a stretcher was loaded into an ambulance, another video from outside the bowling alley shows.

Central Maine Medical Center was “reacting to a mass casualty, mass shooter event,” and coordinating with area hospitals to take in patients, it said.

“There are multiple scenes in the city to include multiple hospitals, multiple follow ups, a lot of witnesses we’re speaking with and a lot of leads,” Sauschuck said. “The general public has been very cooperative, and very forthcoming with information.”

A “vehicle of interest” was found Wednesday night 8 miles from Lewiston in the town of Lisbon, prompting shelter-in-place-orders for that area as well, Sauschuck said.

Lewiston police earlier had shared an image of a small, white SUV with a front bumper that was believed to be painted black. Maine State Police confirmed to CNN the image is of the person of interest’s car.

President Joe Biden has spoken by phone with Maine lawmakers and “offered full federal support in the wake of this horrific attack,” the White House said in a statement.

Lewiston Mayor Carl Sheline is “heartbroken for our city and our people,” he said. “Lewiston is known for our strength and grit and we will need both in the days to come.”

“Both of these locations last night are family locations,” Lewiston Auburn Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce President Shanna Cox said Thursday as the community awaited work on the slain and injured. “It was family league activity at the bowling alley. The likeliness of this having direct impact for so many here is so real.”

https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/26/us/lewiston-maine-shootings-thursday

Robert Card Suicide

The gunman in the mass shootings that killed 18 people in Lewiston, Maine, 40-year-old Robert Card, has been found dead, the Androscoggin County Sheriff’s Office confirmed Friday.

The body of the gunman was found by law enforcement near a recycling plant in the Lisbon area, multiple law enforcement sources confirmed to CBS News. Robert Card died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, Mike Sauschuck, commissioner of the Maine Department of Public Safety, said in a news conference Friday night.

Sauchuck said the body was located at about 7:45 p.m. local time near the Androscoggin River in Lisbon, a town about 8 miles southwest of Lewiston. Robert Card’s vehicle, a white Subaru Outback, had earlier been found abandoned by a boat launch on the river.

Maine Gov. Janet Mills told reporters that she called President Biden to inform him of Card being found dead.

“Like many people, I’m breathing a sigh of relief that Robert Card is no longer a threat to anyone,” Mills said.

In his own statement late Friday night, President Biden called it “a tragic two days – not just for Lewiston, Maine, but for our entire country.”

“Americans should not have to live like this,” Mr. Biden said. “I once again call on Republicans in Congress to fulfill their obligation to keep the American people safe. Until that day comes, I will continue to do everything in my power to end this gun violence epidemic. The Lewiston community – and all Americans – deserve nothing less.”

Hundreds of state and local police and federal agents had been involved in the manhunt since the shootings Wednesday night.

For several hours Thursday night, heavily armed police had surrounded a house in Bowdoin, a small town where the gunman was from, about 35 minutes from Lewiston, but they completed their search there without finding him.

On Friday, police announced divers were conducting underwater searches near the location where his vehicle was found abandoned.

Authorities had recovered a weapon from the gunman’s abandoned vehicle, law enforcement sources told CBS News’ Pat Milton and Robert Legare earlier Friday. The firearm was legally purchased, a law enforcement source confirmed. It wasn’t clear if the recovered weapon was used in the shooting.

CBS News had also learned that investigators had located the gunman’s cellphone and were trying to crack it and pore over his online activity, including text messages and emails, hoping to find clues as to his motive in the shootings.

The deadly rampage began a little before 7 p.m. Wednesday night when police received a 911 call about a shooting at Sparetime Recreation, a bowling alley in Lewiston. Police later said six men and one woman there died of apparent gunshot wounds.

Just over 10 minutes later, at 7:08 p.m., police were called to the scene of another shooting a few miles away, at Schemengees Bar and Grille. Eight people there were killed, police said. Three other people died at area hospitals.

Police said the gunman fled in the aftermath of the shootings and they warned that he “should be considered armed and dangerous.”

Card, a member of the U.S. Army Reserve, had recently reported experiencing mental health issues, including hearing voices, and threatened to shoot up a military base in Saco, a law enforcement bulletin seen by CBS News said. In July, he started “behaving erratically,” a New York Army National Guard spokesperson told CBS News, and he was committed to a mental health facility for two weeks.

Several communities in the area spent the days since the shooting under shelter-in-place warnings, with schools canceled and residents urged to stay indoors. The shelter-in-place orders were lifted earlier Friday.

“For me it was incomprehensible that this can happen in Lewiston, Maine,” Mayor Carl Sheline told CBS News Boston.

“Our city is facing this incredible loss and I am completely broken for our city, and my heart really goes out to the victims and their families right now,” Sheline said.

Investigators were looking into whether the gunman may have been targeting a specific individual, who is believed to be a current or former girlfriend, two U.S. officials and a former high-ranking official told CBS News. It wasn’t clear if she was at either of the two locations that were attacked.

The victims of the mass shooting ranged in age from 14 to 76, the medical examiner said. They included a bar manager who tried to stop the gunman; a bowling instructor who was teaching kids; a beloved father; a 14-year-old and his dad; and several people taking part in a cornhole tournament for deaf athletes.

Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement that “although we are grateful that the suspect in this case no longer poses a threat, we know that nothing can bring back the lives he stole or undo the terror he inflicted.”

Sen. Susan Collins of Maine issued a statement thanking “the brave first responders who worked night and day to find this killer.”

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/robert-card-found-dead-maine-mass-shooting-suspect-lewiston/

Francisco Oropeza Wanted For 5 Murders

Police in Texas are searching for Francisco Oropeza who is wanted for five murders and is considered to be armed and dangerous

According to police reports Francisco Oropeza was involved in an argument with his neighbors regarding Francisco firing an AK-47 in the front yard. After the heated discussion Francisco Oropeza would go into his home, reload the AK-47 and then went into the neighbors home where he would shoot five people in the head including one child

Now police in Texas are searching for Francisco Oropeza who took off into a wooded area

This story is ongoing

Francisco Oropeza News

Five people are dead after being shot in a Texas home by a suspect armed with an AR-15 style rifle in a horrific series of “execution style” shootings, police said.

A manhunt is currently underway for the suspect, identified by police as 39-year-old Francisco Oropeza, according to ABC station KTRK in Houston.

A judge has issued an arrest warrant for Oropeza and assigned a $5 million bond. Authorities believe Oropeza left by walking or on a bicycle and is currently within a two mile radius of the scene, KTRK reported.

Police said the incident occurred at 11:31 p.m. local time on Friday when officials from the San Jacinto County Sheriff’s Office received a call about harassment in the town of Cleveland, about 55 miles north of Houston.

When authorities arrived at the location, they found several victims shot at the property, police said. Three of the deceased were females and two were males, including the youngest, an 8-year-old boy.

Two female victims were discovered in the bedroom lying on top of two surviving children, authorities told ABC News.

Three minors were located uninjured, but covered in blood. They were transported to a local hospital.

Police said they believe the massacre occurred after neighbors asked the suspect to stop shooting his gun in the front yard because there was a baby trying to sleep.

“My understanding is that the victims, they came over to the fence and said ‘Hey could [you not do your] shooting out in the yard? We have a young baby that’s trying to go to sleep,” and he had been drinking and he says ‘I’ll do what I want to in my front yard,'” San Jacinto County Sheriff Greg Capers told KTRK.

Capers told KTRK the case went from harassment to a shooting very quickly. He said that authorities believed some of the victims were trying to shield their children — with bodies found on top of children who were unharmed.

Authorities said Oropeza is armed with an AR-15 style rifle and was believed to be intoxicated. Deputies describe Oropeza as a Hispanic man who is 5-foot-8. He was last seen wearing jeans, a black shirt and work boots. Investigators said he has a goatee and short black hair, according to KTRK.

Police said the suspect “has been known to shoot his .223 out in his front yard, which is evident by the shell casings that are laying in the front yard.”

Capers said the shooter used a .223 rifle in the shooting. Capers could not confirm how many times his deputies had been called to the shooter’s property previously.

At least 10 people were in the home when police arrived on scene and all of the victims were between the ages of eight and 40.

Residents are being told to “stay inside [and] stay clear” of the crime scene until the investigation has concluded, but do not believe the suspect, a Mexican national, is in the area.

“We are getting closer to him every minute of every hour but we know who he is,” Capers told KTRK.

Police did not disclose the identity of the victims but said the shootings all took place in one home, the victims were all from Honduras and that four of the victims were declared dead at the scene. The fifth victim — an 8-year-old boy — was taken to a hospital and he has since been pronounced dead.

Capers said footage from a Ring doorbell at the victims’ house shows the shooter entering the home where the shooting took place with a weapon.

Police found two other weapons in the house in a search following the shooting. Capers also confirmed they are interviewing the shooter’s wife.

“There’s always shootings, there’s always shooting,” she said to KTRK. “There’s always people calling the cops and there’s nothing being done.”

She said that neighbors would frequently shoot firearms on weekends and holidays and that the sound of gunshots overnight was normal.

“We were in bed and my kids — I have two babies — they got scared, and we’re like, ‘it’s normal they’re always shooting.'”

She said she did not know the alleged shooter well but she would wave to him when he would pass by with his horses.

https://abcnews.go.com/US/5-dead-texas-shooting-suspect-armed-ar-15/story?id=98957271

Robert Bowers Tree Of Life Mass Shooting Trial Begins

Robert Bowers who is a man from Pennsylvania trial is beginning for the Tree of Life Synagogue shooting that left 11 people dead back in 2018. According to police reports Robert Bowers went to the Tree Of Life Synagogue in Squirrel Hill Pennsylvania and would open fire killing eleven people and injured six more people. Along the injured were members of the local police force. Robert Bowers would be arrested and is being charged for eleven murder and six attempted murders in a US Federal Court.

As well as the murder and attempted murder charges Robert Bowers is facing a total of sixty federal charges. If he is convicted Robert Bowers could face the death penalty and spend the rest of his life on Federal Death Row.

The trial of Robert Bowers has faced multiple delays due to COVID and his defense team delaying the start of the proceedings. Today is the first actual day and potential jurors are being processed.

Robert Bowers More News

The man accused of killing 11 people at the Tree of Life synagogue in 2018 appeared in a federal courtroom Monday morning for the first time in more than four years.

Robert Bowers, 50, of Baldwin, was present in the eighth-floor courtroom of U.S. District Judge Michael Colville for the first session of the first phase of jury selection.

The court has mailed 1,500 summonses to prospective jurors. Under federal court rules, 12 jurors and up to six alternate jurors will be selected.

Groups of prospective jurors are scheduled to appear twice a day at the federal courthouse on Grant Street over the next two weeks. Each group will include about 75 prospective jurors. The first group gathered Monday morning to receive instructions on how to complete the extensive questionnaire that ultimately will be used to select the jurors who will hear the case.

Jury selection, which is expected to last several weeks, will officially begin with in-person questioning on April 24, Colville said. The trial is expected to begin in mid-to-late May and will last about two months.

Robert Bowers, dressed in a dark sweater and white dress shirt, sat in the middle of a team of four defense attorneys and stood to face the prospective jurors when asked.

No one, other than Colville, addressed those gathered during the 17-minute session.

The judge began the session by talking about the importance of jury selection and describing the charges Bowers faces.

He is charged with dozens of counts, including committing hate crimes resulting in death and obstruction of religion resulting in death, stemming from the Oct. 27, 2018, mass shooting at the Squirrel Hill synagogue.

“Eleven worshippers were killed and others were shot and injured,” Colville said, including police officers who responded to the attack. “The government is seeking the death penalty as punishment if Robert Bowers is convicted in this case.”

Colville briefly described potential sentences in the case, telling the jury that if Bowers is convicted, he could either serve a sentence of life in prison — there is no parole in the federal system — or be sentenced to death.

“Each juror must ultimately make an individual judgment,” Colville said.

The group of prospective jurors, after receiving the court’s instruction, moved to another room in the building to complete the questionnaire.

“Please do not discuss the questions or your answers,” Colville told them. “There are not right or wrong answers. All jurors have had different life experiences that inform their thoughts and views.

“The integrity of the process depends on your truthfulness.”

Colville instructed the prospective jurors to not read or watch any news coverage of the case or do any independent research. They may not discuss the case with their family or friends.

The judge also told the group to answer their questionnaires without regard to how their answers will be perceived.

“Please do not answer on what you think you should say or what you think is socially desirable,” Colville said.

The judge told the panel that once the trial begins, each court day will run from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Mondays through Fridays, with the exception of every other Friday.

The jurors are not expected to be sequestered.

https://triblive.com/local/bowers-appears-in-federal-court-as-prospective-jurors-complete-questionnaires-in-tree-of-life-case/

Robert Bowers Other News

The American Jewish community is in mourning after a gunman killed 11 worshippers Saturday morning in a Pittsburgh synagogue in the deadliest attack ever on Jews in the United States.

Jewish organizations said the violence at Tree of Life synagogue underscored the dangers of unchecked hatred in a time when anti-Semitic acts are on the rise.

According to law enforcement, suspect Robert Bowers targeted Jews online and made anti-Semitic comments during the shooting. While receiving medical care, he told a SWAT officer that he wanted all Jews to die, according to a criminal complaint.

Robert Bowers, whom authorities believe acted alone, faces 29 federal charges, some of which are punishable by death. The US attorney in Pittsburgh, Scott Brady, is seeking approval from Attorney General Jeff Sessions to seek the death penalty against Robert Bowers, according to a Justice Department spokesman.

Robert Bowers is scheduled to make his first court appearance on Monday afternoon.

The shooting struck the heart of Pittsburgh’s historically Jewish Squirrel Hill neighborhood and reverberated across the United States, closing out a week of traumatic events with common roots in hate. President Donald Trump ordered flags flown at half-staff in honor of the victims.

On Sunday, visiting dignitaries joined community leaders, politicians and residents of the metropolitan Pittsburgh area at the University of Pittsburgh for an interfaith service. They pledged to support the community and fight hate speech.

“We will drive anti-Semitism and the hate of any people back to the basement, on their computer, and away from the open discussions and dialogues around this city, around this state and around this country,” Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto said.

Sunday’s vigil, the second since the Saturday morning shooting, came as a fuller picture began to emerge of the suspect. The 46-year-old resident of suburban Baldwin was taken into custody after a shootout with police. He is being treated in a hospital for gunshot wounds.

“They’re committing genocide to my people,” Robert Bowers told police during the shootout, according to an FBI affidavit. “I just want to kill Jews”

Investigators searched Bowers’ home with a robot on Saturday and searched his vehicle on Sunday, the FBI said. They’re looking for surveillance footage from the area that could provide clues.

For weeks before the shooting, Robert Bowers targeted Jews in frequent posts on Gab, a social media platform that bills itself as “the free speech social network.” He used anti-Semitic slurs, complained that President Donald Trump was surrounded by too many Jewish people and blamed Jews for helping migrant caravans in Central America.

He also posted pictures of his handgun collection. Robert Bowers has 21 guns registered to his name, said Rep. Mike Doyle, whose district includes Squirrel Hill

Four hours before the shooting, Robert Bowers posted about Trump. Minutes before storming inside the building, he logged onto Gab again and wrote to his followers.

“I can’t sit by and watch my people get slaughtered,” he wrote. “Screw your optics, I’m going in.”

Gab denied supporting violence and said its mission is “to defend free expression and individual liberty online for all people.” Gab said it has backed up the suspect’s profile data, suspended the account and contacted the FBI.

Robert Jones, the FBI special agent in charge of the Pittsburgh office, called the shooting “the most horrific crime scene” he’d witnessed in 22 years with bureau. It began as a peaceful morning as dozens of people filed inside the building to celebrate Shabbat services with three congregations, Tree of Life, Dor Hadash and New Light.

Rabbi Hazzan Jeffrey Myers with Tree of Life said the shooting began shortly after he started services at 9:45 a.m.

“My holy place has been defiled,” he said at Sunday’s service. He vowed to rebuild his congregation and called on those in the audience to do their part.

“Words of hate are unwelcome in Pittsburgh. It starts with everyone in this room, and I want to address for a moment some of our political leaders who are here. Ladies and gentlemen, it has to start with you as our leaders,” he said to a standing ovation.

“My words are not intended as political fodder, I address all equally. Stop the words of hate.”

Authorities on Sunday released the names of the 11 victims, all of whom were from Pennsylvania. They included a married couple, a pair of brothers and a beloved physician.

Joyce Fienberg, 75, Rose Mallinger, 97, Jerry Rabinowitz, 66, Cecil Rosenthal, 59, David Rosenthal, 54, Daniel Stein, 71, Melvin Wax, 87, and Irving Younger, 69, were from Pittsburgh. Richard Gottfried, 65, was from Ross Township and Bernice Simon, 84, and Sylvan Simon, 86, were from Wilkinsburg, Allegheny County Chief Medical Examiner Karl Williams said.

The Allegheny County medical examiner’s office said late Sunday that autopsies had been completed on the victims and all 11 died from rifle wounds with several suffering head wounds.

Six more people were injured: two police officers, two SWAT officers and two others, Pittsburgh Public Safety Director Wendell Hissrich said. Robert Bowers shot three of them, authorities said.

Five people were hospitalized, including the four officers. Two were in critical condition: a 55-year-old man with multiple injuries to his extremities, and a 70-year-old man with gunshot wounds to the torso.

One officer was released Saturday and three remain in the hospital. All four were “in good spirits” when visited by a union representative on Saturday, said Robert Swartzwelder, president of the Pittsburgh Fraternal Order of Police.

Squirrel Hill residents heard screams and gunshots coming from the synagogue. In minutes, police officers in tactical gear arrived and urged them to stay indoors.

Police said they received 911 calls about an active shooter around 10 a.m., five minutes after Bowers made his last social media post. When officers entered the building, they found the victims’ bodies and survivors hiding. They rescued at least two people from the basement and scrambled to evacuate people as they looked for the gunman.

Two officers encountered the gunman as he was attempting to leave the building, according to a criminal complaint. The gunman fired at them, shooting one officer in the hand before fleeing back inside the synagogue. The other officer suffered several cuts to his face from shrapnel and broken glass.

SWAT officers found Robert Bowers on the third floor of the building and exchanged gunfire with him until he surrendered, authorities said. Two SWAT officers were injured in the gunfight, along with Robert Bowers.

Bowers used a Colt AR-15 rifle and three Glock .357 handguns during the attack, police said. Bowers legally purchased the three Glock .357s, a law enforcement official familiar with the investigation told CNN. It’s not clear whether the AR-15 was purchased legally.

In addition to those four guns, investigators recovered a shotgun in the alleged shooter’s car that was not used in the shooting, Doyle said, referencing information he learned from law enforcement briefings.

Robert Bowers faces at least 29 federal charges, including 11 counts of obstruction of exercise of religious beliefs resulting in death, plus 11 counts of using a firearm to commit murder. A conviction on any could be punishable by death, US Attorney Brady said.

When asked if the shooting could be considered an instance of domestic terrorism, Brady said there would need to be evidence the suspect tried to propagate a particular ideology through violence.

“We continue to see where that line is. But for now, at this point in our investigation, we’re treating it as a hate crime.”

In the shootout with police, Bowers also faces four counts of obstruction of exercise of religious beliefs resulting in bodily injury to a public safety officer, and three counts of use and discharge of a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence.

He was also charged with 11 state offenses, including attempted homicide and aggravated assault.

The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum said the shooting is a reminder of “all the dangers of unchecked hatred and anti-Semitism, which must be confronted wherever they appear.”

In 2017, anti-Semitic incidents in the United States surged nearly 60%, according to the Anti-Defamation League. It found 1,986 cases of harassment, vandalism or physical assault against Jews and Jewish institutions last year.

The shooting drew sympathy from the Israeli government and its people. Mourners staged makeshift memorials in Jerusalem’s Zion Square and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke on the phone with Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf on Sunday to express his condolences. Israeli Diaspora Affairs Minister Naftali Bennett traveled to Pittsburgh for Sunday’s service.

“Nearly 80 years since Kristallnacht, when the Jews of Europe perished in the flames of their houses of worship, one thing is clear: Anti-Semitism, Jew-hating, is not a distant memory,” Bennett said. “It’s not a thing of the past, nor a chapter in the history books. It is a very real threat.”

Adam Hertzman, director of marketing for the Jewish Federation of Pittsburgh, said it was too early to say if the community will add permanent security to synagogues in the area.

“Our focus at the moment is on mourning those who have passed and trying to comfort the people who are bereaved,” Hertzman said.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/10/28/us/pittsburgh-synagogue-shooting/index.html

Payton Gendron Buffalo Shooter To Serve Life In Prison

Payton Gendron is a mass shooter who would kill ten people during a shooting at a Buffalo supermarket back in May 2022. After pleading guilty earlier this year Payton Gendron will be sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole. The mass shooting which took place in a predominately black area was racially motivated with Payton Gendron admitting that he hoped the shooting would help preserve white power in the USA. Payton Gendron who still faces Federal charges where the death penalty could be on the table if prosecutors decide to pursue it.

Payton Gendron More News

The man who admitted to killing 10 Black people in a Buffalo grocery store last year is being sentenced today.

Payton S. Gendron is in Erie County Court in front of Judge Susan Eagan.

Gendron, a White male, shot and killed 10 Black people and injured three others at the Tops on Jefferson Avenue on May 14, 2022

Gendron pleaded guilty on November 28, 2022, to 15 state charges.

10 counts of 1st-degree murder – 1 for each victim
1 count of domestic terrorism
3 counts of 2nd-degree attempted murder as a hate crime – 1 for each person injured
1 count of 2nd criminal possession of the weapon

Family members who lost loved ones in the May 14 shooting, survivors, as well as others who have been left traumatized gave victim impact statements in court.

A woman representing the grandchildren of Buffalo mass shooting victim Ruth Whitfield, in her statement, she spoke to Gendron, “You thought you broke us, but you awoke us. Despite our battle scars, you will not win the war.
You are a cowardly racist.”Emotions are running high as family members share their statements.

During the emotional statement by Barbara Massey, the sister of Katherine Massey, a man standing next to her lunged toward Gendron. Several court officers retrained the man and removed him from the courtroom.

https://www.wgrz.com/article/news/special-reports/buffalo-mass-shooting/buffalo-mass-shooter-sentenced-today-crime-families-community-payton-gendron/71-42449fb2-5cc0-4380-9391-1bb7c0852bc8