Monday, July 4 top stories
It is Monday, July 4. Independence Day. Here are top stories from the weekend.
Akron police fire over 90 rounds at Jayland Walker
Police in Akron, Ohio released videos that showed eight officers shooting at Black man named Jayland Walker at least 90 times after a car and foot chase.
Walker died after being shot at least sixty times and it has caused protests and controversy in the city.
The incident took place on Monday, June 27. Akron police said an officer tried to pull over Walker for a traffic violation, but he didn’t stop, so a car chase started. Akron police said they saw gunfire coming from Walker’s car. Eventually, Walker’s car stopped and he ran outside while wearing a ski mask. Several police officers ran after him, attempted to use stun guns, then opened fire with the 90 rounds of bullets.
Walker did not have a firearm on his body so it is believed that he died unarmed. However police said they found a gun in Walker’s car and that there is a bullet casing inside of the car that appears to match with that gun.
There is now an investigation led by the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation.
Walker was 25 years old.
Bezos criticizes Biden over inflation
On Saturday, President Biden tweeted that “companies running gas stations and setting prices at the pump” should bring down the price they are charging because it is a time of war and global peril. Biden suggested that the price at the pump exceeds the actual cost of the oil.
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos shared his disagreement on Twitter, saying the Biden White House is either sending out “misdirection” or lacks the understanding of “basic market dynamics.” Bezos said “inflation is far too important a problem for the White House to keep making statements like this.”
The White House responded that “oil prices have dropped by about $15 over the past month, but prices at the pump have barely come down.” The White House also said they're not surprised that Bezos said this and called him a kind of person who “reap(s) record profits at the expense of the American people.”
Experts at Axios said it is true that crude oil prices have fallen, but that it typically takes time for gas prices to go down.
Oil companies said they are operating at or near maximum capacity and that the Biden administration hasn’t been friendly to them by not issuing new drilling leases or canceling the Keystone Pipeline.
Denmark shopping mall shooting
On Sunday in Copenhagen, Denmark, a 22-year-old gunman opened fire in a shopping mall, killing three people and seriously injured four others.
The gunman was arrested about 11 minutes after they received emergency calls. Police said they the suspect is an “ethnic Dane” man and that they do not believe that terrorism was a motive.
The three victims were a 17-year-old male teenager, a 17-year-old female teenager, and a 47-year-old Russian man.
Police said the gunman obtained his weapons illegally and that the man was known to mental health services.
Mass shootings are very rare in Denmark, as the country has very strict gun laws.
The last time there was a similar mass shooting incident was in 2015, when a gunman killed two people and injured six police officers.
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Hikers in Italy hit by glacier avalanche
In northern Italy, at least six hikers were killed on a mountain when a glacier on top of it broke off and caused an avalanche of ice, snow and large rocks to roll down towards them.
There are 17 hikers who are currently missing and nine others who were injured.
First responders said conditions were too dangerous for them to search on Monday, so the response was delayed.
Authorities said the pieces of glacier may have traveled down the slope at nearly 200 mph. The glacier has been melting for many years and is a popular hiking and skiing destination, but many did not expect that large pieces would break off.
Italy has been dealing with a heat wave since May.
Two women killed in Red Sea shark attacks
CBS News said two women, one a 68-year-old Austrian and the other a 40-year-old Romanian, were killed in shark attacks this week off the coast of Egypt’s Red Sea.
Both attacks happened several hours apart and took place about 2,000 feet away from each other.
Videos on social media show one of the victims swimming and struggling in a pool of blood as panicked onlookers on a pier attempt to throw a rope at her.
Egyptian officials said they have ordered all activities in the area to be suspended and that authorities would investigate.
Egypt has many resorts on its Red Sea coast that are popular with European tourists. It is rare for shark attacks to happen there.
That’s all the top stories for today. I will be out of town this week and Callie Frye will cover Top Stories. See you later and stay with the light!
https://apnews.com/article/police-shootings-ohio-akron-829de644001793209e1c2dc3b2e22ca3
https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/denmark-gunman-acted-terror-related-86172690
https://twitter.com/JeffBezos/status/1543409762867494912
https://www.axios.com/2022/07/03/jeff-bezos-white-house-gas-prices
https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/04/middleeast/two-women-killed-egypt-red-sea-attack-intl/index.html