Shooting deaths of law enforcement up

House Veterans’ Affairs chairman seeks records on shooters

NEW ORLEANS, July 27, (AP): Shooting deaths of law enforcement officers spiked 78 percent in the first half of 2016 compared to last year, including an alarming increase in ambush-style assaults like the ones that killed eight officers in Dallas and Baton Rouge, according to a report released Wednesday.

However, data from the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund shows that firearms-related deaths of officers in the line of duty are still lower than they were during previous decades like the 1970s.

Thirty-two officers died in firearmsrelated incidents so far this year including 14 that were ambush-style attacks, according to the report. During the same period last year, 18 officers were shot and killed in the line of duty including three that were considered ambush attacks.

“That’s a very alarming, shocking increase in the number of officers who are being literally assassinated because of the uniform they wear and the job that they do,” said Craig W. Floyd, who heads the organization.

The organization usually releases a mid-year report tracking incidents for the first six months but decided to extend the period due to the July attacks in Dallas and Baton Rouge against police

Police arrested dozens of people Tuesday while trying to reopen the street in front of the governor’s mansion in St. Paul, where officers. So the report goes from the beginning of January to July 20 and compares it to the same period last year. On their website, the organization also keeps a running tally of officers who died in the line of duty. Those figures through July 26 show that 33 officers have been shot and killed so far this year.

Tension

The report comes at a time of heightened tension between communities across the country and police officers. Two police officers and one sheriff’s deputy were shot and killed during an ambush on July 17 in Baton Rouge by a black gunman who was later killed by responding officers. In Dallas, a black gunman opened fire on police during a July 7 protest against recent police shootings of black suspects; the gunman killed five officers before being killed by authorities.

A total of 67 officers have died in the line of duty so far in 2016, according to the report. That figure also includes officers who died in traffic accidents, fatal falls or airplane crashes.

Texas leads the nation in the number of law enforcement officers who died in the line of duty with 14 deaths so far this year, including the five recent slayings in Dallas. Louisiana, where three officers were shot and killed in

protesters have been demonstrating over the shooting death of a black man by a suburban police officer nearly three weeks ago. Baton Rouge, ranked second with a total of seven officers who died in the line of duty.

Despite the recent high-profile shootings of police, the average number of officers shot and killed on the job is significantly lower than in previous decades. Floyd said during the 1970s, there was an average of 127 officers shot and killed yearly; during the last ten years through 2015, the average number shot and killed is 52. He cited the reduction in violent crime in recent decades and said officers have benefited from the widespread introduction of body armor and improved trauma care if they do get shot.

But he noted a worrying increase in recent years in anti-police and antigovernment sentiment.

The chairman of the US House Committee on Veterans Affairs has broadened his request for information on two former soldiers involved in mass shootings in Texas and Louisiana.

In a letter Tuesday to the secretary of Veterans Affairs, Florida Rep Jeff Miller requested a briefing on all VA services received by Army reservist Micah Johnson, who shot and killed five Dallas cops and wounded nine other law enforcement officers in a

St. Paul police said 46 people were arrested Tuesday for public nuisance and unlawful assembly near the Summit July 7 attack on a peaceful downtown protest rally.

Miller asked for similar records last week on Gavin Long, the former Marine and Iraq war veteran who killed three law enforcement officers in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on July 17.

The attacks followed protests sparked by the deaths of two black men — Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge and Philando Castile in Minnesota — by white police officers.

The Republican congressman requested “unredacted” copies of Johnson’s full medical records and VA claims files. Johnson was an Army reservist who served eight months in Afghanistan before being sent home after a fellow soldier filed a sexual harassment complaint against him. He ultimately received an honorable discharge from the military, but the Pentagon has refused so far to answer questions about his case.

Friends, former comrades and family described Johnson as a gregarious extrovert who returned from Afghanistan an angry man.

He sought medical care from the Veterans Health Administration for a back injury, but got no help after filling out forms and going to meetings so he “just finally gave up,” his mother told TheBlaze, a conservative news site.

Avenue residence.

Police tried several times to reopen the street, Linders said. One officer was treated for heat exhaustion, he said.

Demonstrators have been camping outside the governor’s residence since July 7, a day after Philando Castile was shot and killed by a St Anthony police officer during a traffic stop. Castile’s girlfriend livestreamed the aftermath of his shooting on Facebook.

Protesters began gathering their belongings Tuesday morning after police told the group that they had to stop blocking the street.

Gov Mark Dayton, who is in Philadelphia for the Democratic National Convention, has said protesters were welcome to stay outside his residence as long as they wanted. Dayton has suggested that race played a role in Castile’s death. (AP)

Longest serving civilian to retire:

The longest serving civilian in US Air Force history, a World War II veteran who fought under General George Patton, will retire in September after 70 years, the military said Tuesday.

Anthony Duno, who was drafted into the US Army in 1944 at age 18, participated in the Normandy campaign, the Battle of the Bulge and was assigned to the Nuremberg Trials, the US Air Force said in a profile posted on its website. (AFP)