Colombia: Police seized an arsenal from criminal gangs in the Eastern Plains

 

Police seized an arsenal of ERPAC to dissent, known as Block Meta and Vichada Libertadores in the jungle area of Meta, which sought to consolidate in the Llanos a corridor for drug trafficking. The arsenal consists of 38 assault rifles, two machine guns, three mortars , 72 grenades and 25,000 rounds of different calibers, among other Firearms. The first operation took place in a rural area of the Alto del Tigre municipality of Puerto Rico in Meta, where two caches were found underground with rifles , machine guns, mortars, grenades and uniforms.these two caches belonging to the criminal gang Block Meta ERPAC dissident whose leader is Rafael Patiño Escobar aka " Monster "or" Cesar ". The second operation was carried out in the village of Santa Isabel in the municipality of Puerto Gaitan, Meta, where they discovered a cache with rifles, machine guns and grenades in the Libertadores del Vichada whose leader is Martin Farfan Diaz Gonzalez, alias "Pijarvey." Finally, Police confirmed that the third operation was carried out in the Danube Guacamayas sidewalks, municipality of Mapiripan, Meta, where they seized 12,194 rounds , a machine gun and a grenade launcher dissent "Block Meta" and "Liberators of Vichada" commanding "Pijarbey" and "Monstrico." These two leaders of criminal gangs of the Plains have a confrontation due to drug trafficking, extortion and territorial control

 

Man Yelled About God and Allah After Church Killing

A 25-year-old man accused of walking into an Ohio church and fatally shooting his father after an Easter service Sunday was yelling about God and Allah after the killing.

Police say Reshad Riddle walked into the Hiawatha Church of God in Christ in Ashtabula and killed his father, 52-year-old Richard Riddle, with a single shot from a handgun Sunday afternoon.
"It was terrifying," Pastor Sean Adams told the newspaper. "The children were screaming and people were dialing 911. We were afraid to breathe."
Adams said Reshad Riddle then continued into the church, still holding the gun, and yelled that the killing was "the will of Allah. This is the will of God."
Reshad Riddle was quickly subdued by officers, who arrived just moments after the shooting.
Ashtabula Police Chief Robert Stell said the younger Riddle offered no motive for the shooting.
"Witnesses at the scene said the shooter entered church and made some references to Allah, but we are not sure if that was a motive or if there was a family problem," Stell said. "There is no indication that the father and son had a bad relationship. Everyone thinks this was very surprising."
Ashtabula County Common Pleas Court records show Reshad Riddle  was arrested and charged with two counts of felonious assault, kidnapping, abduction and tampering with evidence in 2006, the newspaper said.
Records show that in 2007, Reshad Riddle was charged with felonious assault, and in 2009 he was charged with possession of drugs, tampering with evidence and possession of cocaine.
According to police reports, one of the felonious assault charges stemmed from an incident when Reshad Riddle allegedly attempted to cut his girlfriend's throat. Capt. Joseph Cellitti said the young woman's neck had been cut with a knife and she suffered bruising on her side and chest.

Prosecutors seek execution for alleged Batman shooter

Prosecutors said Monday that they will seek the death penalty for James Holmes, the man accused of gunning down 12 people and wounding 70 at a Batman movie last summer in Colorado.

George Brauchler, the district attorney for Arapahoe County, said he made the decision after speaking with more than 800 victims and family members.
“Given all the input I considered and all the information available, it is my intent that justice for James Holmes is death,” he said at a hearing.
 Brauchler had already rejected an offer from the defense to let Holmes plead guilty and serve a life sentence.
Judge William Sylvester of the Colorado circuit court entered a plea of not guilty for Holmes last month after his lawyers said they were not ready to plead. The judge left the door open for lawyers to mount an insanity defense.
 The only conclusion, the prosecutor wrote, “is that the defendant knows he is guilty, the defense attorneys know he is guilty and that both of them know that he was not criminally insane.”
Holmes’ lawyers have said that jailers determined he was a danger to himself and needed a mental evaluation, and that he was held for several days in a psychiatric ward, sometimes in restraints.
He surrendered to police within minutes of the July 12 shooting rampage at a midnight screening of the movie “The Dark Knight Rises” in Aurora, Colo.
The hearing Monday was set to begin at 11 a.m. EDT. Legal observers have pointed out that the two sides could still reach a plea deal later, even as prosecutors seek to put Holmes to death.

Deadly pile-up in southern Virginia

At least three people have been killed and 25 injured in a pile-up involving almost 100 vehicles in the US state of Virginia, police say.

They said there were 17 separate crashes within a distance of one mile (1.6km) on Interstate 77 near the base of Fancy Gap Mountain.
The accidents began shortly after 13:00 local time (17:00 GMT) on Sunday, when there was heavy fog in the area.
 "This mountain is notorious for fog banks," said Glen Sage of the American Red Cross office in the town of Galax. "They have advance signs warning people. But the problem is, people are seeing well and suddenly they're in a fog bank."

Interstate 77 near the Virginia-North Carolina has reopened early Monday following the series of chain-reaction wrecks along a mountainous, foggy stretch of the highway, killing three people and injured 25 others.

Bird Flu: H7N9 strain kills two in China

A strain of bird flu that had previously never infected humans has  been contracted by three people killing two in China.
The two dead are reported as living in Shanghai, China and a third thought to be in a critical condition from  nearby Anhui province.
It is unclear how the strain spread, but the three did not infect each other or any close contacts, officials say.
 There are no known vaccines against the H7N9 virus making it all the more worrying for health officials if this strain of bird flu now possesses the ability to freely pass between humans.
Michael O'Leary, China representative for the World Health Organization (WHO) said: "The question is whether the virus will mutate to become more infectious, human to human. There is no evidence of that at this time but viruses change all the time."
The more common H5N1 strain of avian influenza has killed more than 360 people between 2003 and March 12 this year, according to the WHO.
 The WHO says that most avian flu viruses do not infect humans and the majority of H5N1 cases have been associated with contact with infected poultry.
China is considered one of the most at-risk nations because it has the world's biggest poultry population and many chickens are kept close to humans in rural areas.