Arkansas LEO Killed, Another Injured In Shooting

A police officer was fatally shot Monday and another was injured in an exchange of gunfire at a hotel in Arkansas, authorities said. Detective Kevin Collins, 35, was fatally shot Monday afternoon at the Econo Lodge in Pine Bluff, about 40 miles (65 kilometers) southeast of Little Rock, Pine Bluff Chief Kelvin Sergeant said during a news conference. Another detective, Lt. Ralph Isaac, 42, was injured in the shooting and is in stable condition with a non-life threatening wound, Arkansas State Police said. “We're hurting. We have lost a family member today," he said. State Police said three officers were met with gunfire as they arrived at the hotel during an ongoing investigation. The third officer was not injured.

South Carolina Police Officer Killed In Shooting

A police officer was killed in South Carolina during an exchange of gunfire after responding to a domestic call, authorities said Sunday. The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division said in a statement that a second officer was injured during the shootout in Myrtle Beach. A suspect was later found dead. The second officer was taken to a hospital with injuries not considered life-threatening. Witnesses told The Sun News they heard several shots around 10 p.m. Police had said on social media that an officer-involved shooting had occurred around that time. Myrtle Beach Police Chief Amy Prock identified the fallen officer as Jacob Hancher. Hancher was a community service officer for four years and had been a police officer for less than a year, Prock said.

Homeless Man Among Three Killed During ‘Tragically Violent’ Weekend In L.A.

After exchanging words with a passerby, a homeless man in North Hollywood was fatally shot Saturday night — one of more than a dozen people shot or killed during a violent weekend in Los Angeles, where homicides are on the rise. “Last night was a tragically violent night in Los Angeles,” LAPD Chief Michel Moore tweeted on Sunday. “Together, we must confront this challenge and vehemently reject this trend — we will not let those that wish to tear at the fabric of our city succeed.” Moore’s comments came about 48 hours after he joined community leaders across town in South L.A. to denounce a “spasm” of violence spurred on there by what police officials said was gang vengeance and a disregard for the safety of children and elderly residents. From Friday to Monday, three people were killed and 10 people shot and wounded across L.A., police confirmed Monday. Two of the killings were shootings, one a stabbing. Such numbers aren’t that rare for a weekend in L.A. but contribute to a clip of violence in 2020 that has killings and shootings up significantly over last year.

Video Captures Property Vandalized In Downtown LA During Demonstration; LAPD Headquarters Targeted

Several dozen people vandalized windows downtown and tore down metal barriers outside Los Angeles Police Department headquarters as officers in riot gear stood guard during a protest Monday night. The group gathered in front of LAPD headquarters near Main and First streets about 9:40 p.m., but it was unclear what they were protesting. Information on what group might have organized the gathering was also not immediately available. Officers stood watch behind metal barriers as the individuals, some carrying umbrellas, tore down some of those barriers along Spring Street, between First and Second streets, before moving on. Video showed at least one person breaking a glass window of a storefront. An advertising light box was also shattered, and an ATM machine was smashed. Other footage from the scene showed multiple people with their faces covered burning an American flag near police headquarters and using what appeared to be metal pipes to break windows of a nearby building.

Demonstrators Call For Justice After Transgender Woman Attacked In Westlake District

Activists marched Monday night in the Westlake District calling for justice for a transgender woman who was attacked Sunday. According to the Los Angeles Police Department, Daniela Hernandez was stabbed at about 9 p.m. at MacArthur Park on Wilshire Boulevard, just east of South Park View Street. Hernandez was taken to an area hospital and was said to be in stable condition. According to the statement, Hernandez was walking down the street when she was attacked by a group of people who were making “gay slurs” during the attack. LAPD said it was investigating the attack as a hate crime.

Man Dressed As Hulk Arrested For Vandalizing Trump’s Hollywood Walk Of Fame Star A 2nd Time: LAPD

A man was arrested Monday on suspicion of smashing President Donald Trump’s Hollywood Walk of Fame star last week, officials said. On Oct. 2, James Otis — who was dressed as the Marvel superhero, Incredible Hulk — is accused of using a pickaxe to destroy Trump’s star, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. Otis expressed his intention to damage the star via social media, police said, and in 2016 was arrested for the same charge. Investigators reviewed video of Friday’s incident and determined Otis to be the one who destroyed the star. Detectives contacted Otis’ publicity team, who relayed “his desire to turn himself in for the recent crime,” according to LAPD. On Monday, Otis went to the department’s Hollywood station and was questioned by detectives and subsequently booked for felony vandalism. Bail was set at $20,000.

Hawthorne Police Searching For Hit-and-Run Driver Who Struck 14-Year-Old On Bicycle

Hawthorne police Monday sought public help to find the hit-and-run motorist responsible for seriously injuring a 14-year-old boy who was struck by a car while riding a bicycle. The boy was injured about 7:30 a.m. Friday at Rosecrans and Doty avenues and remains hospitalized in serious condition, according to the Hawthorne Police Department. According to police, the boy was waiting for the traffic signal to change at the intersection so he could cross Rosecrans Avenue. "As the signal for east and westbound traffic on Rosecrans turned red, the bicyclist began to ride his bike north across Rosecrans in a marked crosswalk," police said. "As he rode the bicycle through the intersection, a white four-door Toyota, possibly a Camry, traveling east in the number one eastbound lane of Rosecrans Avenue struck the bicyclist at a high rate of speed, causing significant injuries," police said.

Man Arrested After Narcotics, Firearms And $296K Found During Investigation: Santa Monica PD

A narcotics investigation by the Santa Monica Police Department led to the arrest of a Los Angeles man along with the seizure of fentanyl, heroin, prescription pills and about $296,000 in cash, officials said. Detectives executed a search warrant in L.A. Thursday and also found a stolen Glock handgun, a shotgun, ammunition, numerous U.S. passports, and various identification cards and drivers licenses that belonged to other people, Santa Monica police said in a news release. William James Radford was arrested and booked on suspicion of possession of narcotics for sale, possession of narcotics with a loaded firearm, being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm and receiving stolen property. The case will be presented to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office for charges. No further details about the incident or suspect were released Friday.

Pushed Out Of Hospitals By COVID, Anti-Violence Programs Try To Adapt

At a meeting of law enforcement officials on September 15, Los Angeles Police Chief Michel Moore identified the coronavirus pandemic as the primary factor in the city’s uptick in gun violence. Among COVID-19’s negative impacts, he said, was how it had barred violence prevention workers from visiting the bedsides of gunshot patients, compromising their ability to help interrupt the cycle of retaliatory shootings. Such counseling, known as hospital-based violence intervention, involves community outreach workers connecting with violent crime victims while they’re still in the hospital and mentoring them for up to a year after those patients are discharged. The concept, first pioneered by a gunshot survivor 30 years ago, hinges on the idea that patients are particularly receptive to guidance following a near-death experience. The goal is to cut down on retaliatory shootings and repeat firearm victimization by offering survivors an opportunity to change the direction of their lives. Several studies have found that people who have been shot have a high risk of being shot again.

Fire Truck Involved In Crash While Responding To 911 Call; 2 Firefighters, 1 Civilian Transported

A Los Angeles County Fire Department engine was involved in a traffic crash Monday morning while responding to a 911 call, authorities said. The LAFD fire engine collided with a red pickup truck just after 10 a.m. near the intersection of Corbin Avenue and Roscoe Blvd. in Winnetka. It was unclear what caused the crash. The driver of the pickup truck was transported to a local hospital with unspecified injuries, LAFD said in a press release. Two firefighters were also transported to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. The remaining two firefighters received a 'first care' evaluation but did not require transport to the hospital.

L.A. County To Remain In Most Restrictive Reopening Stage This Week Despite Progress

Despite some promising numbers, Los Angeles County is not expected to move into a more permissive phase of relaxing coronavirus restrictions this week, public health officials announced Monday. In order to decide when a county can move to a new tier in California’s four-phase reopening plan, state officials are keeping an eye on two metrics: the rate of daily new cases per 100,000 residents over a recent seven-day period, which is adjusted to account for how much testing each county is doing, and the average percentage of tests for the virus that come back positive over seven days. The state also recently created an equity metric that establishes specific positive case rate numbers that larger counties must meet in their poorer cities and neighborhoods. L.A. County’s overall seven-day average positivity rate — 2.9% — and the positivity rate in its communities that have the fewest resources — 4.6% — both qualify the county to move into Tier 3, or orange, which indicates that community transmission is moderate, Barbara Ferrer, the county health director, said Monday.

The Frightening Implications Of California’s First Million-Acre Fire

It was mid-August and California was experiencing yet another bout of extreme weather. In Death Valley, the thermometer at the Furnace Creek Visitor Center displayed one of the hottest — if not the hottest — temperatures ever recorded on Earth: 130 degrees. Up in Northern California, an unusually fierce lightning storm lit up the skies and ignited numerous wildfires stretching from the Salinas Valley and the Santa Cruz Mountains north into the Mendocino National Forest and beyond. More than 12,000 lightning strikes were recorded over the next 96 hours, and in the weeks that followed, 37 of those small fires morphed and merged into what has become the largest wildfire California has ever seen: the August Complex. On Monday, it reached “gigafire” status, burning more than 1 million acres, setting a new record for the state and offering what experts say is a terrifying window into how climate change and other factors such as mismanaged forests are worsening the state’s fire danger.

Local Government News

L.A. Rolls Back Plan For Furloughing 15,000 City Workers

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and 10 of the city’s public employee unions have struck another deal to delay the city’s furlough program, leaving workers with just one unpaid day off before the end of the year, according to a memo issued last week. The City Council approved a plan last month to force more than 15,000 city workers to take one unpaid day off every two weeks — effectively a 10% pay cut — as part of a larger effort to balance the budget. But last week, Garcetti and the city’s bargaining committee changed course, signing off on an alternative cost-cutting strategy that would eliminate all but one unpaid day off until at least January. Under the new proposal, a larger group of civilian workers would take a day off without pay on Nov. 3, which is election day, followed by a second unpaid day in April. Civilian employee unions also agreed to delay of a planned payment of unused sick time, which is normally given to workers in January.