Friday, April 30 top stories

It is Friday, April 30. Here are the top stories.

In Israel, there was a tragedy at a crowded religious celebration called Lag BaOmer at Mount Meron. At least 45 people, including children, died from a stampede and many are seriously injured. Videos online showed hundreds of people crowded together on a narrow ramp. Some people fell, and others fell after them, but the crowds kept on pushing. Prime Minister Netanyahu said the Meron disaster is one of the worst disasters in the history of Israel.

A 73-year-old woman with dementia, Karen Garner, was seen in a video being slammed to the ground by two Loveland, Colorado police officers.

They proceed to twist her arms behind her back to handcuff her — causing her shoulder to dislocate and her arm to fracture. Body camera footage showed that she continued to struggle with officers as she was placed in a jail cell, with her legs being cuffed.

Garner was under suspicion of stealing $13 worth of things from a Walmart. But it seems like she was confused and possibly forgot to pay for her things, and she didn’t seem to understand why police officers were walking up to her.

One of the officers, Austin Hopp, was seen laughing about the arrest with other officers as he showed his body camera video inside of the Loveland Police Department. He said “ready for the pop,” referring to the moment Garner’s shoulder dislocated.

This happened on June 26, but the videos are out now because Garner’s family is filing a lawsuit. Hopp and three other officers are now on administrative leave. There is also a criminal investigation opened by the local district attorney.

News reports from Hawaii say Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan have purchased another 600 acres of land on Kauai, Hawaii. They now own over 1,300 acres of land in Hawaii. The couple said they want to preserve the land and maintain agriculture.

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A 26-year-old man named Mario Gonzalez died after he was arrested and kneeled on the back for over five minutes by three police officers in Alameda. This happened on April 19, the day before former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was found guilty of murder.

The videos show that Gonzalez was questioned as he was standing in a park with two baskets with some alcohol bottles. He was peaceful with the officers as they asked him for his ID. But after 10 minutes of conversation, the officers seize his arms. Gonzalez locked his arms.

After a few minutes of slow wrestling, the officers pulled him down to the floor and then kneeled and pressed their elbows on his back. The cops then realize he is passed out and perform CPR, but it was too late as he was pronounced dead at a hospital.

Gonzalez’s family attorney said his death was completely avoidable and unnecessary because a drunk guy in a park doesn’t equal a capital sentence.

The three involved officers are on paid leave. There are now several investigations on his death.

In Atlanta, a 20-year-old man who was in police custody on murder charges escaped near the Atlanta airport on Thursday morning.

Last night a news reporter and a photojournalist for WSB-TV Channel 2 news was on location near the airport getting ready to do a report when they spotted the suspect run past them and into bushes.

The reporters called the police and filmed his arrest. The suspect, J’ssan Carlos Strover, was wanted in connection to a fatal shooting on February 19 in Arizona.

He was placed in the Fulton County jail as of this early morning.

In Las Vegas, a pool construction crew found bones when digging five feet below ground and called the police. Investigators determined the bones did not belong to a human. Scientists then looked at the bones and determined they were from a horse or similar large mammal from between 6,000 to 14,000 years ago.

NBC News said the home was situated near the Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument, where rare fossils such as mammoths have been unearthed before.

The fossils, by law, belong to the property owners, who in this story is a married couple who recently moved from Washington.

That is all the top stories for today and this week. Have a good weekend and stay with the light.