Suspect arrested in Texas mass shooting that injured 14 people
AUSTIN, Texas — Police have arrested one suspect and are searching for another after a mass shooting on a crowded downtown Austin street left 14 people wounded early Saturday, two of them critically.
The Austin Police Department said in a news release that the U.S. Marshals Lone Star Fugitive Task Force assisted in making the arrest, but it provided no other details other than to say it is continuing to follow up on leads for the suspect still at large.
Interim Police Chief Joseph Chacon said the shooting happened around 1:30 a.m. on a street packed with bars and barricaded off from vehicle traffic. He said investigators believe it began as a dispute between two parties. Chacon said both suspects are male, but declined to disclose details such as whether both fired shots, saying the investigation was ongoing.
“Most of the victims were innocent bystanders, but we’re still sorting out all of the victims to see what their involvement is in this case,” Chacon said.
The mass shooting was one of at least three in the U.S. overnight.
Gov. Greg Abbott issued a statement thanking police and other first responders and offering prayers to the victims.
Abbott said the state Department of Public Safety is assisting in the investigation and Chacon said the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms were also assisting.
Moscow virus restrictions:
Moscow’s mayor on Saturday ordered a week off for some workplaces and imposed restrictions on many businesses to fight coronavirus infections that have more than doubled in the past week.
The national coronavirus task force reported 6,701 new confirmed cases in Moscow, compared with 2,936 on June 6.
Nationally, the daily tally has spiked by nearly half over the past week, to 13,510.
After several weeks of lockdown as the pandemic spread in the spring of 2020, the Russian capital eased restrictions and did not reimpose any during subsequent case increases. But because of the recent sharp rise, “it is impossible not to react to such a situation,” Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said.
He ordered enterprises that do not normally work on weekends to remain closed for the next week while continuing to pay employees. Food courts and children’s play areas in shopping centers also are to close for a week beginning Sunday, and restaurants and bars must limit their service to takeout from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m.
Last week, city authorities said enforcement of maskand glove-wearing requirements on mass transit, in stores and in other public places would be strengthened and that violators could face fines of up to 5,000 rubles, or about $70.
Although Russia was the first country to deploy a coronavirus vaccine, its use has been relatively low as many Russians are reluctant to get vaccinated.
Brazil’s leader fined: Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro led a throng of motorcyclist supporters through the streets of Sao Paulo on Saturday — and got hit with a fine for failure to wear a mask, in violation of local pandemic restrictions.
The conservative president
waved to the crowd from his motorcycle and later from atop a sound truck, where helmeted but largely maskless backers cheered and chanted as he insisted that masks were useless for those already vaccinated, an assertion disputed by most public health experts.
Sao Paulo’s state government press office said a fine — equivalent to about $110 — would be imposed for violation of a rule that has required masks in public places since May 2020.
Bolsonaro tested positive for the coronavirus last year. His office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Saudis to limit hajj: Saudi Arabia announced Saturday this year’s hajj pilgrimage will be limited to no more than 60,000 people, all of them from within the kingdom, due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
The announcement by the kingdom comes after it ran
an incredibly pared-down pilgrimage last year over the virus, but still allowed a small number of the faithful to take part in the annual ceremony.
A statement on the staterun Saudi Press Agency quoted the kingdom’s Hajj and Umrah Ministry making the announcement. It said this year’s hajj, which will begin in mid-July, will be limited to those ages 18 to 65.
Those taking part must be vaccinated as well, the ministry said.
In last year’s hajj, as few as 1,000 people already residing in Saudi Arabia were selected to take part in the hajj. Two-thirds were foreign residents from among the 160 nationalities that would have normally been represented at the hajj.
One-third were Saudi security personnel and medical staff.
3 dead as car hits building: A car crashed into a building housing a plasma center in Pittsburgh, killing three
people and injuring two others, authorities said.
Pittsburgh Public Safety Director Wendell Hissrich confirmed the fatalities Saturday and also said two other people were injured, one critically. A firefighter and a paramedic were also treated, he said.
Police, fire and emergency medical services responded after the crash into the Biomat USA Plasma Building in the Manchester neighborhood at about 11:30 a.m. Saturday. Fire crews extinguished a blaze that followed the crash, Hissrich said.
Hissrich said one of those killed was still inside the vehicle in the building; he said he couldn’t say whether the other two people killed were in the vehicle and got out or were in the building and were struck.
It’s unclear how many people were inside at the time of the crash, he said.
China’s elephants:
wandering China’s famed
wandering elephants are on the move again, heading southwest while a male who broke from the herd is still keeping his distance.
The group left a wildlife reserve in the southwest of Yunnan province more than a year ago and has trekked 300 miles north to the outskirts of the provincial capital of Kunming.
As of Saturday, they were spotted in Shijie township in the city of Yuxi, more than 5 miles southwest of the Kunming suburb they had arrived at last week, according to state media reports. The lone male was 10 miles away.
All of the animals are reported to be healthy and no person has been injured in encounters with them. Officials have issued strict orders not to gawk at them or seek to drive them off.
China’s roughly 300 wild elephants enjoyed the highest level of protected status, on a par with the country’s unofficial mascot, the panda bear.