A deadly shooting occurred in a Pittsburgh Jewish Synagogue Saturday. Eleven people have been confirmed killed and multiple officers were wounded at the Tree of Life Synagogue. The New York Times has reported that 46-year-old Robert Bowers, the shooting suspect, has no criminal record, but had previously been posting anti-semitic messages on a social networking site called Gab, which has become popular among outspoken white nationalists. The British Broadcasting Company is reporting that the site has since shut down due to tech services withdrawing their support. President Trump visited Pittsburgh on Tuesday.
Throughout the past week, 14 suspicious packages containing pipe bombs were sent to prominent Democrats and critics of President Trump. None of the bombs went off and nobody was hurt. The first was found Wednesday addressed to Hillary Clinton. According to CNN, other packages were sent notably to Barack Obama, United States Attorney General Eric Holder, California Senator Kamala Harris, New Jersey Senator Cory Booker and California Congresswoman Maxine Waters. Multiple packages were also addressed to CNN’s various headquarters. The first one found was addressed to the New York offices, and the entire building had to be evacuated. CNN reports the suspect, 56-year-old Cesar Sayoc of Adventura, Florida, appeared in court Monday, and that he had an entire written list of people he planned to send packages to.
International:
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has announced that she is stepping down after her term expires in 2021. CNN reports that she also will not seek re-election. “It is time for me today to start a new chapter,” she said at a news conference in Berlin. She also admitted that being chancellor had been “very challenging” but a “fulfilling task.” Merkel has remained chancellor since 2005.
A commercial airliner has gone down off the coast of Indonesia with 189 people on board. The British Broadcasting Company reports rescuers have recovered bodies and belongings from the crash site, but have found no survivors. The Boeing 737 was headed from Java to Sumatra but lost contact with authorities only 13 minutes into the flight. The cause of the crash is still under investigation.
National:
Under the order of President Trump, the Pentagon is sending 5,200 military troops to the Mexican border to stop a large caravan of migrants from entering the U.S. Trump believes that this is an “invasion of our country” and that some of the migrants are actually Middle Eastern and are therefore a threat. The New York Times is now reporting that in response to this, Trump plans to end the birthright citizenship policy in the U.S. Constitution. It allows any child born on U.S. soil, whether the parents are American citizens or not, to automatically become citizens themselves.
The Boston Red Sox are the 2018 World Series champions. They played their last game of the series against the Los Angeles Dodgers Sunday night, beating them 4 games to 1. The Red Sox are now the first team in the MLB to win four titles in the 21st century, and they have now won the series nine times in total. Steve Pearce of the Red Sox was named the World Series Most Valuable Player, driving in eight runs in the series and hitting three home runs, two of which were in the final game. Many are calling game three of the series the most memorable, however. The game dragged on for 18 innings before Max Muncy of the Dodgers hit a home run to give the Dodgers their only win of the series. A parade is set to take place in Boston at 11 a.m. Wednesday.
Local:
Local mobster James “Whitey” Bulger was killed in federal prison in West Virginia Tuesday. According to WPRI, the 89-year-old had been moved to the prison just a few days before. Investigators are currently treating this as a homicide. Bulger had been on the run for years until he was arrested in California in 2011. In 2013, he was convicted for taking part in 11 murders and sentenced to life in prison.
A North Providence man has been charged with first-degree child abuse after he allegedly caused severe head trauma in his seven-week-old son. WJAR reports that 22-year-old Daniel Walker III called emergency services to his home where his son was found unresponsive. He told emergency crews that he had choked on formula, but when he was taken to Hasbro Children’s Hospital, it was discovered that the baby had injuries that indicated he was abused. Walker was then arrested, and his bail was set for $100,000.