Friday, June 3 top stories
It is Friday, June 3. Here are today’s top stories.
Biden calls on Congress to ban assault weapons
President Biden gave an address from the White House last night to call for a ban on assault weapons and high capacity magazines, to raise the age of purchase from 18 to 21, strengthen background checks, enact safe storage laws and “red flag” laws.
Biden asked why should anyone in America be allowed to purchase “an assault weapon that holds 30-round magazines that let mass shooters fire hundreds of bullets in a matter of minutes?”
Biden said the Uvalde elementary school victims' bodies were badly devastated to the point that their parents had to do DNA swabs to identify their children.
Biden said he finds it “unconscionable” (extremely wrong) that not even 10 Republicans in the Senate are willing to do anything about gun violence.
Texas escapee kills family of five before being shot dead
Gonzalo Lopez, who escaped from a prison bus last month, killed a family of five at their rural getaway cabin and stole their truck before being found by law enforcement, who shot and killed him near San Antonio on Thursday night.
Lopez escaped from a prison bus in Leon County, Texas on May 12. This area is between Dallas and Houston. There has been a manhunt for him all this time. Lopez was serving a life prison sentence for murder when he escaped from the bus.
On Thursday, a family member of one of the owners of the cabin, also located in Leon County, contacted police because they were concerned that they hadn't heard from their relative. When officers visited the cabin, they found one adult and four minors dead. They were a grandfather and his four grandchildren.
The family’s white pickup truck was missing and on Thursday evening it was spotted near San Antonio, where the car chase started. Lopez had firearms on him and shot at police, who shot back and killed him. News reports said it’s possible that Lopez got the guns from the cabin and that he may have been using the cabin as shelter after he escaped from the bus, but that’s not confirmed.
The four child victims were students at Tomball Independent School District.
Law enforcement spokespersons said it was a tragedy that the family of five lost their lives but they are thankful that Lopez now cannot harm anyone else. There is however anger among people in Leon County over law enforcement’s inability to keep Lopez in custody or to find him earlier before he could hurt anyone else.
Report: Putin treated for cancer in April
Newsweek reported that Russian President Putin underwent treatment in April for advanced cancer. The report also said someone tried to have Putin killed in March and that there is a struggle for power and position among leaders within the Russian government. Putin is 69 years old. The Russian government has said it’s not true that Putin has declining health.
The war in Ukraine has reached its 100th day. Ukrainian President Zelenskyy said Russian forces now occupy about 20% of Ukraine’s territory, but he promised that their side will be victorious.
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Man fatally shoots two women at Iowa church parking lot
On Thursday evening at a church parking lot in Ames, Iowa, a 33-year-old man shot and killed two women who were college students at the Iowa State University before turning the gun on himself. The women were 21 and 22 years old. A third woman escaped and was uninjured. The shooter used a handgun.
The county sheriff said the gunman was romantically involved with one of the victims, had recently broken up, and that he faced a court hearing next week on a charge of harassing her. The gunman was arrested on May 31 on charges of harassment and impersonating a police officer.
The two female victims’ names were Eden Montag (22) and Vivian Flores (21). CBS News explained that the women were friends and students at ISU who were walking together to the church for a weekly service. There were about 80 young people — students — inside of the church at the time of the shooting.
The gunman’s name was Johnathan Lee Whitlatch. He bought the ammunition about an hour prior to the shooting. He had an AR-15 rifle at his home, but he didn’t bring it to the scene of the shooting.
So this is a case where we have a person who was facing a court hearing for harassment and impersonating a police officer but was still able to easily purchase ammunition and keep his firearms.
Elon Musk cuts 10% of jobs at Tesla due to “bad feeling” about economy
Elon Musk said in an email to his executives at Tesla that he has a super bad feeling about the economy and wants to cut about 10% of jobs at Tesla. The electric car company employs about 100,000 people worldwide. Musk’s remarks add to concerns that there may be a recession coming, especially because of spiking inflation, gas prices, and higher cost of living.
That is all the top stories for today. Have a good weekend and stay with the light.
https://www.axios.com/2022/06/02/biden-speech-gun-control-assault-weapons-ban
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/02/us/politics/biden-speech-transcript-gun-control.html
https://www.newsweek.com/exclusive-putin-treated-cancer-april-us-intelligence-report-says-1710357
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/iowa-church-shooting-ames-two-women-killed-gunman/
https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/03/us/iowa-fatal-shooting-church/index.html
https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/03/tech/elon-musk-tesla-jobs-economy/index.html