Masked Gunmen Escape Hostage Taking Incident

The two armed men who tied up hostages and attempted to rob a Venice T.J. Maxx store on  Tuesday night appear to have fled before police arrived. .. And that’s where the story takes a strange twist.

Police refused Wednesday morning to release any description of the two men who went into the store at closing time with guns and tied up customers and employees.

Police also wouldn’t say whether they have suspects or whether citizens should be on the lookout for anyone.

When police arrived on the scene Tuesday night, they believed the gunmen were still in the store and were holding the customers and employees hostage. Witnesses told police that the men were holding about 10 workers and customers hostage.

“There was conflicting information from witnesses that the suspects were inside,” said Lt. Eric Hill.

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Suspect In Seattle Officer Slaying Lone Domestic Terrorist

For the past week, we’ve been following the disturbing story of the apparent random killing of Seattle city police officer Tim Brenton. Today, the suspect is in custody after being shot by officers investigating the case, and according to at least one report has been labeled a ‘lone domestic terrorist’ by Seattle Assistant Police Chief Jim Pugel.

Here’s the update:

On the afternoon of November 6^th , 2009, Seattle Police Homicide detectives received a tip about a Datsun 210 matching the description of a possible suspect vehicle used in the slaying of Officer Tim Brenton. Detectives responded to a parking lot in the 13700 block of 56^th Avenue South in Tukwila. While detectives were investigating the scene further an adult male suspect emerged and pointed a gun at them. Detectives fired on the suspect in self defense, striking him at least once. The suspect was taken into custody and transported to Harborview Medical Center with life-threatening injuries. No detectives were injured.

The Tukwila Police Department is handling the crime scene investigation and the King County Sheriff’s Office Major Crimes Unit is conducting the officer-involved shooting investigation.

SPD detectives obtained search warrants to further examine the crime scene. Evidence located inside the suspect’s apartment included improvised explosive devices (IEDs), a rifle, and various other items of evidence.  Detectives now believe that this individual is responsible for both the murder of Officer Brenton,  the attempted murder of Officer Sweeney, and the arson attack on October 22^nd at the Charles Street facility. Detectives are asking the Prosecutor’s Office for formal charges. The Datsun that detectives were looking for is registered to the suspect.  Our investigation into the murder of Officer Tim Brenton and attempted murder of Officer Britt Sweeney continues and we are still receiving and following up on tips.  We have received numerous tips from the public and we encourage everyone to continue to call us with any information they may have regarding this investigation.

From CNN
A suspect in the shooting of a Seattle, Washington, police officer is also believed to be behind the bombing of four police cars, Seattle Assistant Police Chief Jim Pugel said at a press conference Saturday.

Christopher Monfort, 41, remained hospitalized in serious condition after being shot by officers during a confrontation Friday.

“This man, from everything that we can tell, appears to be a lone domestic terrorist,” Pugel said.

Monfort was in custody at the hospital, but no charges had yet been filed, a Seattle police spokeswoman told CNN. Charges could be filed as early as Monday, she said.

Police named Monfort as a suspect in the Halloween night killing of Officer Tim Brenton, who was shot while sitting in his patrol car. A student officer was injured in the attack.

Investigators also suspect Monfort in the October 22 arson of four police vehicles with homemade explosives, Pugel said.

On Friday, a tipster alerted police to the owner of a Datsun 210 who covered his car shortly after the shooting, Pugel said.

Seattle PI has a Complete Multi-media Recap Of The Entire Story
via Source.

Threat Preceded MaySeattle Police Officer’s Slaying

UPI is reporting that Seattle police found a threatening note nine days before an officer was shot dead in his patrol car last weekend. NTARC will continue to follow this story.

The sources told The Seattle Times the note, which threatened the lives of Seattle officers, was discovered Oct. 22 at a city maintenance yard where four police vehicles had been set on fire, apparently by pipe bombs.

Officer Timothy Brenton was shot and killed Saturday by an assailant who pulled alongside his patrol car and opened fire.

It was not known if the shooting, which slightly wounded Brenton’s rookie partner, was related to the note, the newspaper said Wednesday. Police officials told the Times this week they had received multiple tips from the public claiming a connection.

Police were looking for a “vehicle of interest” that was photographed by the dashboard camera on Brenton’s car. An officer-safety bulletin issued to the force Tuesday said there was no probable cause to arrest the occupants, but warned officers to use extreme caution if the found the vehicle.

via Threat preceded Seattle officer’s slaying – UPI.com.

Additional Details Available At KIRO TV

Drive-by Shooting Apparently Targeted Seattle Police

A disturbing and saddening first for the city of Seattle. Seattle police say the fatal drive-by shooting of veteran Officer Timothy Brenton on Saturday night represented something the department had not seen before: the apparent targeting of police at random.

“It was incredibly brazen and bold,” said Assistant Police Chief Jim Pugel, who called the shooting an “assassination.”

Brenton, 39, a field training officer, and officer-trainee Britt Sweeney were seated in their parked squad car when Sweeney sensed danger over her left shoulder and yelled for her partner to duck.

A car pulled up alongside the officers’ car in the 100 block of 29th Avenue shortly after 10 p.m., and someone inside opened fire.

Bullets grazed Sweeney’s back as she hunkered down. Brenton was struck by several gunshots and died instantly.

Sweeney, 33, grabbed the police radio and called for help, jumped from the car and fired several rounds at the gunman’s sedan as it backed away from the cruiser, turned around and sped down the Leschi street, police said Sunday.

Speaking at a news conference Sunday afternoon, Mayor Greg Nickels called the shooting “a coldblooded killing.”

via Read Full Article.

Newark Citizen Patrol Part of Crime-fighting Tactic

As we’ve cited in previous articles, New Jersey continues to lead the way in utilizing new, innovative approaches to community safety, emergency preparedness and citizen involvement.

New Jersey Alert A Preparedness Role Model

NJ Law Would Require Homeland Security Drills In Schools.

The latest involves convoys of vans led by Newark’s mayor and filled with more than 100 of its employees and residents, flooding the city’s neighborhoods in the middle of the night as a way to reduce crime. It’s a great idea that probably should also be looked at as part of the city’s contingency planning to to utilize during a crisis or emergency.

As part of Community Caravan Night Patrols, more than 120 volunteers have patrolled city streets with Mayor Cory Booker and a crew of off-duty police officers since Sept. 29. Each weekend and a few nights each week, they pile into long caravans of glaring white vans, which weave through the city’s wards, focusing on areas where 85 percent of the city’s shootings have been recorded.

The program’s goal is to disrupt normal crime patterns during typical high-volume hours, gather intelligence for police, and engage residents in the process of crime prevention, said Anthony Campos, the city’s director of public safety.

“You have this whole collage of people coming together for a common cause,” Campos said of the program. “They’re self actualizing by getting out there. They’re no longer spectators.”

Some of the largest caravans will be out this Halloween weekend, which has long been associated with mayhem in Newark. The patrols will start earlier and end later those nights, Booker said.

The initiative is similar to Operation Impact, a law enforcement technique designed by Police Director Garry McCarthy that saturates volatile areas with police to disrupt criminal trends. The essential difference with the caravans is that volunteers are doing the saturating, and the vans and radios are donated by Newark Now, a local non-profit founded by Booker.

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4 U.S. Citizens Found Strangled in Tijuana Mexico

The bodies of four U.S. citizens were found strangled, beaten and stabbed in a van in this border city, two days after they reportedly left their Southern California homes for a night at the Mexican clubs, U.S. officials said Thursday. The bodies were described as having been tortured; bludgeoned, beaten and with their skulls crushed. They were found wrapped in blankets early Saturday morning, according to a news release from the Tijuana State Attorney’s Office.

The victims were found Saturday, but their deaths were not reported earlier because they were under investigation, said Fermin Gomez, an assistant state prosecutor in Baja California.

U.S. consular officials in Tijuana said the victims  two men and two women from the San Diego and Chula Vista areas — were U.S. citizens. The state attorney general’s office in Baja, Calif., said one of the women was Mexican.

A spokesman for the U.S. Consulate in Tijuana confirmed the identities of the dead as Luis Games Chavez, 21; Oscar J. Garcia III, 23; Brianna Hernandez Aguilera, 19; and Carmen Ramos Chavez, 20. All were U.S. citizens and Southern California residents, the consulate spokesman said. He declined to give specific hometowns or say how long the four had been in Tijuana.

Their deaths are the latest in a string of violence in Tijuana that authorities blame on a bloody turf war between drug cartels.

“I just don’t think kids should be going to Tijuana right now,” Chula Vista police Lt. Scott Arsenault told the San Diego Union-Tribune. “They ran into the wrong people, obviously.”

Bernard Gonzales, a spokesman for the Chula Vista Police Department, said a friend told the women’s parents they were headed to nightclubs in Tijuana on Thursday night. They were reported missing the next day when they did not answer their cell phones.

Source

Woman Captured Guarding Massive Weapons Cache

Smirking for the camera, this is the 20-year-old woman Mexican police caught guarding an extraordinary arsenal of weapons.

Anahi Beltran Cabrera was seized during a routine patrol in Sonora state, near the U.S. border.

Officers recovered a vast cache of weapons including an anti-aircraft gun capable of firing 800 shots per minute, a number of rifles and an array of ammunition.

They believe the haul belongs to a group allegedly linked to the powerful Beltan Leyva drug cartel.

Cabrera was paraded before the media – along with the weapons she was caught guarding.

Large swathes of Mexico have been ravaged by violence with drugs gangs battling for territory.

Last month, 2,000 soldiers and armed federal police were deployed into the border town of Ciudad Juarez to restore order to the country’s most violent city.

In one month, 250 people were killed by hitmen fighting for lucrative smuggling routes.

Source

Suspicious Bottles Found at News Offices

A day after two plastic bottles of blue liquid with homemade labels with the words “Winter of Frozen Dreams” were found at the Times Union, Schenectady police said someone left five bottles outside the Daily Gazette this morning with the same words. In both cases, the liquid they contained was found to be harmless. Schenectady Fire Department Capt. Mike Denny said the bottles found around 11:30 a.m. in a plastic bin were marked “Winter of Frozen Dreams.”

A hazardous materials crew took samples and determined the liquid was a “nontoxic dye in water.” It was turned over to city police for further examination.

There were no injuries reported and the building at 2345 Maxon Road Extension was not evacuated, according to Sgt. Eric Clifford, a police spokesman.

Source

Suicide Bomber Type Vest Found In Mt. Washington – Pittsburgh

Workers cleaning out a house in Mt. Washington called police when they found a device with what looked like pipe bombs with wires and nails attached.

“It looked exactly like somebody would wear in a suicide bomber-type of scene or suicide bomber- type of incident,” said Sheldon Williams, of the Pittsburgh police bomb squad.

The device was found outside 559 Southern Avenue late Thursday morning while workers from Pittsburgh Iron and Scrap Metal were picking up scrap metal. While loading materials into their truck, they noticed a device and called authorities.

The bomb squad arrived and, using the squad’s robot, police were able to get a closer look at the device.

“It had a vest,” he said. “The pipe bombs were in a series, meaning they were all linked together.”

“There was a wire coming out of it with a plunger on the end of it,” Williams said.

The bomb squad detonated one of the pipe bombs at the scene. The other three pipe bombs in the vest could not be opened and were taken to a private destination for further testing and detonation.

“It could totally be a hoax device,” said Williams. “But we would not make that determination upon arrival.”

Part of the investigation will include locating the previous tenants that neighbors said kept to themselves.

via ‘Source

Five Held Under Terror Laws Ahead of G20 Summit

Police arrested five people under anti-terror legislation in Devon, but they insisted on Monday there was no immediate link to the Group of 20 summit this week in London.

The five were detained and held over the last three days after police raids in Plymouth, while officers uncovered a number of weapons, suspicious devices and extremist materials, said Devon and Cornwall Police. Read more

Bikers Brawl In Australian Airport; 1 dead

A man has been bludgeoned to death by a group of Australian motorcycle gang members in full view of dozens of people at Sydney airport.

Witnesses described bikers swinging poles “like swords” at each other’s heads as the brawl spilled over two floors of Sydney’s domestic terminal.

Four suspects have been arrested and the others are said to have fled.

Police believe the fight broke out when one group of bikers coming off a plane was ambushed by a rival gang.

Police did not name any gangs thought to be involved, but Australian media reported that the brawl, on Sunday afternoon, was between the Hell’s Angels and Comancheros gangs.

A 28-year-old man died in hospital from severe head injuries.

Police said about 15 gang members were involved in the fight, which was witnessed by about 50 people.

‘Group of cowards’

Witnesses described how the gang used the metal bollards in the check-in area as weapons.

“They started grabbing the metal poles that break up the check-in area and swinging them almost like swords at each other’s heads,” Naomi Constantine told Australia’s ABC news.

“I saw one of the men lying on the ground and another man came up with a pole and just started smashing it into his head.”

Local police chief Peter Williams called the attack a “disgraceful act perpetrated by a group of cowards”.

“A group of males have exited a plane and they were met by another group of males who we believe may be other motorcycle gang members,” Detective Inspector Williams told reporters.

.

Source

Major Terror Attack Averted At Haifa’s Lev Hamifratz Mall

A major terrorist car bombing was averted at a Haifa mall on Saturday night when one of several explosive devices hidden in a parked vehicle malfunctioned.
An Israeli mall.

“We believe this is a terrorist incident,” a police statement said.

After being alerted by an employee of the Lev Hamifratz shopping center, who reported hearing an explosion at about 8:30 p.m., police sappers were dispatched to scan the area.

The sappers found a partially exploded bomb in the trunk of a white Subaru car which was parked outside the shopping center.

A further search of the vehicle uncovered several more unexploded bombs, which were neutralized by the sappers. No one was injured.

It was not immediately clear how the vehicle managed to get past the security checks at the mall entrance. The car was registered to a woman who lives in Jerusalem, but police would not release her identity.

Police immediately moved to evacuate the mall, which was filled with shoppers, and sealed off the area.

A major road adjacent to the mall was also closed to traffic, as police went on high alert across the Haifa area. Roadblocks were erected and the police presence was increased in crowded areas.

Northern Police spokesman Moshe Weitzman told The Jerusalem Post that “dozens of kilograms of explosives” were uncovered in the car.

“We have gone on alert and will remain prepared,” Weitzman said.

Source

Police Departments Keeping Public Informed On Twitter

Public safety officials are finding the use of sites to be not only speedy, but also a convenient way to distribute press releases, Amber alerts, road closings and suspect descriptions.

Bruce Frazier, public relations specialist for the Dalton Police Department in Dalton, Georgia, said the way in which Lakeland police utilized Twitter is exactly what he envisioned when his department started using the site a few weeks ago. Read more

London Police Launch Counter-terrorism PR Campaign

London police launched a new counter-terrorism publicity campaign on Monday, calling on residents of the capital to keep their ears and eyes open for anything suspicious and to report it.

The campaign is not linked to any specific threat, police said, but rather a reminder that attacks have happened in the past and could easily happen again. The slogan is: “Don’t rely on others. If you suspect it, report it.”

“Terrorists can be stopped in their tracks if suspicious activity is passed to the police,” Deputy Assistant Commissioner John McDowall, the head of the Metropolitan Police counter-terrorism command, said in a statement.

“They will not succeed if people report something unusual they have seen while going about their daily lives.

“We want people to look out for the unusual — some activity or behaviour which strikes them as not quite right and out of place in their normal day-to-day lives — and to take responsibility for reporting it.”

London has seen several failed and successful attacks in recent years, most notably the July 7, 2005, suicide bombings on the Underground and the bus network which killed 52 people.

The Metropolitan Police have overall responsibility for counter-terrorism policing and have been at the forefront of gathering evidence in a series of cases against suspected terrorism plotters in recent years.

The campaign calls on London’s 8 million residents to pay particular attention to anyone suspicious who is buying chemicals, logging on to militant websites or carrying out surveillance of prominent buildings.

via London police launch counter-terrorism PR campaign | Top News | Reuters.

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