Thursday, June 2 top news briefs

Today is Thursday, June 2. I am taking Alex’s place today. Ready for the top news briefs?

Tulsa mass shooting

On Wednesday afternoon in Tulsa, Oklahoma, a man with a rifle and a handgun entered the second floor of the Natalie Building at St. Francis Hospital at 4:52pm. The shooter opened fire and killed four people then turned the gun on himself, committing suicide. The clinic was focused on orthopedic care (bones and muscles).

Police said they arrived in the office building about four minutes after the first 911 call and could hear gunshots on the second floor. They found the victims and the deceased gunman about five minutes later.

The authorities identified the victims as Dr. Preston Phillips, Dr. Stephanie Husen, Amanda Glenn and William Love. They also identified the suspect as Michael Louis of Muskogee, a patient of Phillips.

Tulsa police chief said that Louis underwent back surgery performed by Phillips on May 19 and complained of pain after being released from the hospital. Louis contacted Phillips’ office several times over the coming weeks and met with Phillips for additional help.

On May 29, Louis bought a semi-automatic handgun at a pawn shop and bought an AR-15 style rifle around 2pm from a Tulsa-area gun store, according to Tulsa police. Police said officers found a letter on Louis making it clear that he wanted to kill Phillips and anyone who got in his way. He blamed Phillips for causing the pain following the back surgery.

Police said it was “madness inside” because there were hundreds of rooms and hundreds of people trying to get out of the building. News interviews with locals showed that many had raw emotions at the sight of dozens of police cars and finding out that a mass shooting had happened in their city.

Buffalo supermarket shooter charged with terrorism and murder

In Buffalo, New York, a grand jury indicted the suspect in the Buffalo supermarket mass shooting with 25 counts that includes domestic terrorism motivated by hate and 10 counts of first-degree murder.

The suspect’s name is Payton Gendron and he is 18 years old. His indictment says he killed people based on the “perceived race and/or color” of his victims. Gendron, who is white, wrote on social media that he intentionally targeted a supermarket in Buffalo because it was located in a predominantly Black neighborhood.

Ten people were killed with their ages ranging from 32 to 86. Gendron faces life in prison without parole if he is convicted on his charges.

Turkey rebranding its country name to Türkiye

Turkey will be known as Türkiye at the United Nations from now on after it agreed to a formal request from Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan and several other international organizations will be asked to make the name change. He said, “Türkiye is the best representation and expression of the Turkish people’s culture, civilization and values.”

Most Turks already know their country as Türkiye. However, the anglicized Turkey is widely used, even within the country. Among the reasons for the image rebrand was the association with the bird traditionally associated with Thanksgiving. It also pointed out the Cambridge English Dictionary’s definition of one of the meanings of the word as “something that fails badly” or “a stupid or silly person”.

It is not uncommon for countries to change their names. In 2020, the Netherlands dropped Holland and before that, Macedonia changed its name to North Macedonia. Swaziland became Eswatini in 2018.

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IKEA to sell solar panels this fall

Shoppers will be able to buy solar panels at IKEA in select California stores starting this fall. The line of home solar products, called “Home Solar”, will be available to members of IKEA Family customer loyalty program, according to the release.

The products will allow customers to generate and store their own renewable energy and live more sustainably. Customers can track their usage with an app, and they can also sell surplus electricity back at IKEA.

Earlier this year, the company announced it would buy back IKEA furniture from customers in an effort to be more sustainable.

World’s largest known plant found in Australia

A bed of seagrass, Posidonia australis, is roughly the size of Washington, D.C. - has been discovered off Australia’s west coast at Shark Bay.

The research team had set out to explore the genetic diversity of the species also known as ribbon weed which is commonly found along parts of Australia’s coast. Researchers collected shoots from across the bay and examined 18,000 genetic markers.

They aimed to discover how many plants made up the meadow and sequence DNA from the seagrass samples. The answer blew them away - there was just one DNA sequence! That means one plant coming from a single seed has spread over almost 49,000 acres and it is believed they are at least 4,500 years old making it the largest known plant on Earth. The plant is so large because it clones itself.

That is all the top stories for today and stay with the light!

Tulsa:

https://tulsaworld.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/update-catastrophic-scene-inside-south-tulsa-medical-building-where-five-people-died-in-mass-shooting/article_516e3146-e202-11ec-a54e-f71a222d5302.html

https://www.kjrh.com/news/local-news/police-investigate-bomb-threat-in-muskogee

https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/02/us/tulsa-hospital-shooting-thursday/index.html

Buffalo:

https://www.npr.org/2022/06/01/1102485057/buffalo-shooting-suspect-charged-with-domestic-terrorism

Türkiye:

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-61671913

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/6/2/un-registers-turkiye-as-new-country-name-for-turkey

IKEA:

https://electrek.co/2022/05/13/americans-will-soon-be-able-to-buy-home-solar-panels-from-ikea/