Authorities in Texas say a man who opened fire in a shooting that left one dead and 10 injured had shot at police just days earlier during a chase. Texas officials say the suspect began firing shots at officers and bystanders in Midland, Texas, on Friday morning before barricading himself inside an abandoned veterinary clinic. The Texas Department of Public Safety identified him as 45-year-old Victor Mata Villarreal. Police say he was found dead a few hours after the shooting began. Police have not said how he died. No officers were hurt.
A Minnesota man who assassinated the top Democrat in the Minnesota House and her husband has pleaded guilty so that federal prosecutors would not seek the death penalty. Vance Boelter fatally shot Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark Hortman. He is also charged in the nonfatal shootings of state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette Hoffman. He came to their doors in the early hours of June 14, 2025, disguised as a police officer and driving a police-style vehicle. The attacks reverberated far beyond Minnesota, as elected officials across the country feared that escalating threats and polarization could lead to more violence.
Chicago police are urging residents to come forward with any information about a cross burning in a public park. The burning of a cross is a historic symbol of hate and intimidation against Black Americans. However, the intent behind the fire Tuesday afternoon in Grant Park was still unclear. Police released a community alert Wednesday that included an image of a person walking away from the area Tuesday. Video taken by a driver that circulated widely online showed the wooden cross engulfed in bright orange flames as it leaned against a tree in the park. Chicago firefighters put out the blaze.
Republicans in Congress are introducing impeachment resolutions against a federal judge in Atlanta. An investigation found that a federal judge in the 11th Circuit had sex with a police officer at the courthouse, attended a partisan event and lied to investigators. The articles of impeachment were filed against U.S. District Judge Eleanor Ross. The House Judiciary Committee will decide whether to proceed with impeachment. Federal judges are appointed for life and can be removed only through impeachment by Congress.
Actor James Handy has been stabbed to death, and police have charged the son of his girlfriend in the killing. Michael Gledhill was charged after police say officers found the 81-year-old Handy stabbed in the chest and unconscious outside a home in Los Angeles on Wednesday. They say Gledhill was arrested after telling police he was the person they were looking for. Handy was a character actor in films and on TV for decades, including appearances in a variety of television crime procedurals.
A judge has dismissed a murder charge against an Arkansas sheriff nominee who was accused of killing his teenage daughter’s alleged abuser in 2024. Special Circuit Court Judge Ralph Wilson Jr. dismissed the case against Aaron Spencer on Thursday because a dash camera memory card that may have captured the shooting was lost by law enforcement. His trial on the second-degree murder charge was expected to begin in just a few weeks. Spencer’s attorneys did not deny that he shot and killed 67-year-old Michael Fosler. Fosler was out on bond after being charged with dozens of sexual offenses against Spencer’s then-13-year-old daughter.
A Colorado court reversed homicide convictions against two paramedics on Thursday in the ketamine overdose death of Elijah McClain after the Black man was pinned down by police. The court ordered new trials for Aurora Fire Rescue paramedics Jeremy Cooper and Peter Cichuniec. McClain had been forcibly restrained by police, who responded to a suspicious person complaint and stopped the massage therapist as he walked home from a convenience store in 2019. Cooper and Cichuniec were found guilty of criminally negligent homicide. Cichuniec also was convicted of felony assault, and the appeals court affirmed that conviction.
Karen Read has filed a lawsuit against the Massachusetts State Police and the town of Canton, alleging misconduct, negligence and failures in oversight during the investigation that led to her prosecution in the death of her Boston police officer boyfriend. The complaint, filed in Bristol County Superior Court, argues that Read’s acquittal on murder and manslaughter charges in the January 2022 death of Officer John O’Keefe exposed systemic failures within state and local law enforcement. The suit devotes significant attention to former State Trooper Michael Proctor and former Canton police Sgt. Sean Goode, alleging their conduct reflected broader problems in supervision and accountability within the agencies.
Police say a man held 10 people hostage inside a California office building before the FBI shot and killed him, bringing a more than 15-hour standoff to an end. The Bakersfield Police Department says the hostages were found unharmed early Wednesday inside the downtown Bakersfield building that houses a bank and a school district office. The standoff began Tuesday afternoon when officers responded to a call of a bomb threat. Authorities say the suspect was an Army veteran who was dishonorably discharged, had a history of trouble with law enforcement and was a registered sex offender.
Shia LaBeouf has been sentenced to probation after pleading guilty to punching people outside a New Orleans bar during Mardi Gras. An attorney for LaBeouf says the actor will also be required to attend an alcohol treatment program under the sentence handed down Wednesday by an Orleans Parish judge. Video of the Feb. 17 encounter shows a shirtless LaBeouf shoving one person to the ground and hitting another person in the face, “causing his nose to possibly dislocate,” according to a New Orleans police report. Police also said LaBeouf repeatedly used homophobic slurs. He pleaded guilty to three counts of simple battery.