Washington:

The family of a Black woman shot dead in her home by a police officer in the US state of Illinois has reached a $10 million settlement with the local sheriff’s department and county board.

Sonya Massey, 36, a mother of two, was killed by a sheriff’s deputy last July in a case that drew national attention and prompted then-president Joe Biden to say she “should be alive today.”

Massey, who had received treatment in the past for mental health issues, called the 911 emergency line to report a possible intruder in her home and two Sangamon County sheriff’s deputies arrived shortly after midnight.

Police body camera footage showed Massey talking to the officers and searching through her purse after they asked her for identification.

Sheriff’s deputy Sean Grayson then asked her to check on a pot of boiling water on the stove, saying “we don’t need a fire while we’re here.”

When Grayson stepped back into the living room, Massey asked why, and he responded with a laugh: “Away from your hot steaming water.”

Holding the pot, Massey calmly responded “Oh, I rebuke you in the name of Jesus” — prompting the deputy to draw his weapon and say: “You better fucking not. I swear to God I’ll fucking shoot you in your fucking face.”

Apologizing, Massey crouched behind a counter as the officer screamed “drop the fucking pot” and fired three shots, killing Massey with a bullet to the face.

The Sangamon County Board approved a $10 million settlement with Massey’s estate at a meeting on Tuesday.

Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who has represented the families of other African American victims of police violence, welcomed the agreement at a Zoom press conference on Wednesday, calling it a “first step in getting full justice for Sonya Massey.”

“It is very bittersweet that on what would have been her 37th birthday, we announce this historic settlement, which is only the first step in the journey for justice,” Crump said.

Antonio Romanucci, another family attorney, said “Sonya reached out to law enforcement for help and instead received brutal, horrific treatment.

“When Sonya called 911 she didn’t know it but that was her death sentence,” Romanucci said. “She called in her own death when she called for help.”

Grayson, who is white, faces murder charges and has pleaded not guilty.

The United States was rocked by protests in 2020 following the murder of George Floyd, a Black man, by a white police officer in Minnesota.

Floyd’s death revived scrutiny of race relations and sparked calls for police reform.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

A 33-year-old man, Robert Langlais, is in custody after a bizarre incident in Fall River, Massachusetts. On Tuesday evening, the police executed a search warrant at 127 Canal Street, prompting Langlais to attempt a rooftop escape, USA Today reported. However, he became stuck in a chimney. Bodycam footage from the Fall River Police Department shows detectives discovering Langlais and calling for assistance from the fire department to rescue him.

“You’re an idiot,” an officer can be heard saying as they shined a torch on the trapped man. “Show us your hands.” The fire department and Emergency Medical Services broke the chimney to free Langlais, who was then taken to a local hospital as a precaution.

“On the evening of December 10, 2024, Detectives of the Community Action & Suppression Team (CAST) executed a search warrant for 127 Canal Street. During the search warrant application, two males fled from the residence via rooftop,” police said in a statement released on Wednesday regarding the incident.

“During the application of said search warrant, two males fled from the residence via rooftop. One male eluded capture by bounding from the roof and onto a parked vehicle. The other male, later identified as Robert Langlais (age 33), invoked the essence of the seasonal icon and attempted to hide inside a chimney. Langlais quickly became stuck in the chimney and required the assistance of the very detectives he was previously fleeing from. Due to his Santa-antics, Langlais was transported to a local hospital out of precaution and was medically cleared,” the statement added.

He has since been arrested and charged with multiple offences including outstanding warrants and possession of drugs. Langlais was rescued before being “formally arrested for Possession of Class A drugs, Possession of Class B drugs and a slew of charges from outstanding warrants,” police said in the Facebook post. 

Meanwhile, the Facebook post went viral, prompting several amused reactions from the public. One user said, “So this is the whole story about the “chimney sweeper” that made the 6 o’clock news all the way down here in Florida.” Another commented, “Perfection! Whoever wrote this deserves a seat at my table, humour is ALWAYS appreciated!”

A tragic incident occurred when a 10-month-old baby was left critically injured after allegedly being thrown into the air and bearhugged by his mother’s fiance. Jordan Boggess has been arrested on a felony child abuse charge after the toddler was found in critical condition in Newtonia, Missouri, on September 14, the New York Post reported. 

The Newton County Sheriff’s Office responded to the family’s home around 8 p.m. following a report of a baby struggling to breathe. When first responders arrived, they found the baby unconscious but breathing, according to Law & Crime.

The child was taken to a nearby hospital and then transferred to a children’s hospital in Kansas City, Missouri, about two hours away. Medical examinations revealed bruises on his forehead and ear, along with collapsed lungs and two brain bleeds.

Officers later returned to speak with Boggess, 28, who was found sleeping. He told authorities that he had been lying in bed watching TV when the boy’s mother left the room to use the bathroom. According to Boggess, the child began to vomit and scream. To calm him, Boggess claimed he tossed the baby in the air, but on the second toss, the child fell and landed on his head.

The probable cause affidavit, obtained by the media, states that Boggess admitted he panicked and tightly “bearhugged” the child after he fell, potentially injuring him further. Medical professionals diagnosed the baby with “abusive head trauma” and signs of physical abuse.

Boggess remains in the Newton County Jail without bond. The baby was discharged from the hospital on October 24 and is now recovering at home with his mother. The child’s father told NBC affiliate KY3 that the injuries are likely to have long-term effects on his son’s life.

“He basically took my son’s life. He took my son’s future. You don’t toss a baby into the air,” Tyler Burbridge told the outlet.

New Delhi:

A Nashville police officer, Sean Herman, has been arrested following a scandal involving his appearance in an explicit video posted on OnlyFans while on duty. The arrest comes after a month-long investigation into the incident, which led to his termination from the force and subsequent criminal charges.

According to authorities, Herman, 33, was caught at his residence in Sumner County and now faces two counts of official misconduct related to his participation in the production of an adult video. The investigation revealed that the video, which featured Herman in uniform, was filmed on April 26 in a warehouse parking lot in Madison while he was on duty as a patrol officer.

The video, described as a mock traffic stop skit on OnlyFans, depicted Herman engaging in inappropriate conduct. Reportedly, he groped the exposed breast of a woman identified as an OnlyFans content creator, Jordin, during the staged scenario. Although Herman’s face was not visible in the video, his police patch was briefly exposed, confirming his affiliation with the Metro Nashville Police Department.

Chief John Drake of the Metro Nashville Police Department took swift action upon discovering the video, terminating Herman’s employment on May 9, just one day after its discovery. The subsequent investigation by the Specialized Investigations Division further substantiated Herman’s involvement, leading to his indictment and arrest.

In court proceedings, a judge set Herman’s bond at $3,000. Before his dismissal, Herman had served with the Metro Nashville Police Department for three years.

The Metro Nashville police department has condemned Herman’s actions as “totally outrageous”.

The US Police have denied reports that Goldy Brar, the gangster behind singer Sidhu Moose Wala’s murder, was killed in a in a shooting incident in California.

Two men were reportedly shot in Fairmont and Holt Avenue in Fresno, California yesterday after a fight. One of them later died in the hospital, said the US police. After the incident, many people on social media speculated that the person killed in the incident was Canada-based gangster Goldy Brar. The reports were picked up by some news agencies too.

The Fresno police department has now responded to the reports, saying that they are “untrue”. In response to a query, Lieutenant William J. Dooley said, “If you are inquiring because of the online chatter claiming that the shooting victim is ‘Goldy Brar’, we can confirm that this is absolutely not true.”

Blowing off the reports as “misinformation,” the lieutenant said that the police department is receiving inquiries from around the world.

“We have received inquiries from around the world this morning as a result of misinformation being spread on social media and online news agencies. We are not sure who started this rumour, but it caught on and spread like wildfire. But again, it isn’t true. The victim is definitely not Goldy,” he added.

According to some local reports, the man killed in the incident has now been identified as 37-year-old Xavier Galdney.

Satinderjit Singh alias Goldy Brar is a wanted criminal and was named a terrorist under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. A Red Corner Notice was issued against him by Interpol and there is a non-bailable warrant already issued against him as well.

Believed to be a key member of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang, Goldy Brar came into the spotlight after he claimed responsibility for Punjabi singer Sidhu Moose Wala’s murder through a Facebook post. Sidhu Moose Wala was shot dead in his car near his village in Punjab’s Mansa district on May 29, 2022.

Police in the United States have arrested a Cornell University students for allegedly making violent threats against his Jewish peers. The US Justice Department identified the students as 21-year-old Patrick Dai from Pittsford, New York. He is accused of posting threatening messages to the Cornell section of an online discussion website, including those calling for the deaths of Jewish people and a post that said “gonna shoot up 104 west”. The term 104 west refers to Cornell University dining hall that is located next to the Cornell Jewish Centre, the Justice Department further said.

Dai also allegedly threatened to “stab” and “slit the throat” of any Jewish males he sees on campus, to rape and throw off a cliff any Jewish females, and to behead any Jewish babies, according to Cornell University Police.

He was arrested after the investigators traced the deranged posts to Dai’s IP address at his off-campus apartment, NBC News reported citing federal complaint.

His family, however, believe their son is innocent.

“My son is in severe depression. He cannot control his emotion well due to the depression. No, I don’t think he committed the crime,” his father told New York Post in a text message, asking that his name not be used.

He also claimed that Dai sank into depression in 2021, one year after his engineering studies at the prestigious university.

At Cornell, Dai worked as an undergraduate consultant helping other engineering students with MATLAB, a computer programming language.

His parents said the man never had a history of violence.

“He was always very nice to society, well organised, helpful to my family and his classmates before 2021. He told us he lost his life goal and motivation. As parents, we tried to give him more love,” Dai’s father told the Post.

The US Justice Department website said the charge against Dai carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 (Rs 2.08 crore).

He will be presented before a federal court in Syracuse, New York, on Wednesday.

The investigation against him is being done by FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF), which includes the New York State Police.

New York:

A Hindu temple in the US State of California has been raided by burglars who stole a donation box from the premises, leaving the Indian community in a state of shock.

The incident took place on Monday at the Hari Om Radha Krishna Mandir in the Parkway neighbourhood, at about 2:15 am, the Sacramento Bee newspaper reported.

The Sacramento Police Department is investigating the burglary at the Hindu Temple.

Police did not disclose what was stolen, but dispatch audio indicated a donation collection box was taken.

Dispatchers told people that six suspects were seen on the grounds through surveillance video, including two who were inside the temple, when police were called, the report added.

Police said no arrests have been made, but the incident remains under investigation.

Meanwhile, condemning the incident, the US-based advocacy organisation Coalition of Hindus of North America (CoHNA) has asked the Sacramento Police to take this issue very seriously and investigate it as a potential hate crime.

“Disturbing news from Sacramento, California where a #HinduTemple has been broken into. We ask @SacPolice to take this issue very seriously and investigate it as a potential hate crime and the violation of a sacred space. Police are asking for public help in identifying the suspects,” they posted on X.

Guru Maharaj and his wife were at home when they received an alert.

“The first thing I saw was the curtains blowing and I said, ‘Oh, my God. Somebody is in the building,’ ” Maharaj’s wife was quoted as saying by the CBS news.

As footage from the temple showed, someone tried to break through three doors and a car.

“They went right through to the donation box in darkness,” Maharaj said.

The footage shows the thieves lifting the box up and carrying it out behind the building. They hoisted the box, which reportedly weighed close to 100 pounds, over the fence then shoved it in a getaway car and took off.

“It’s a very big hit to our community and we’re here to help people out,” Maharaj said. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Two thieves barged into a garage in the US and stole an Aston Martin, shortly after the owner came back from a drive. A video posted by Westport Police Department in Connecticut shows the masked thieves running up behind the homeowner as he drives the sports car into his garage. They drag the man out of the blue convertible and drive away. The incident took place around 4pm on Sunday, the police further said on the social media platform.

The video also shows an argument between the carjackers and the homeowner. When the man refused to move, one of the robbers pulled him out and threw him on the floor, as seen in the clip.

The homeowner kept shouting for help, and asked someone inside the house to call the police.

“There have been no significant developments in the investigation as of this writing. The Aston Martin has not been recovered and there have been no arrests,” the West Port Police said on Facebook.

The police added that the robbers believed to have followed the owner of the Aston Martin to his house in a stole dark blue BMW.

“The complaint suffered minor injuries as a result of the assault but declined medical attention. Broadcast messages were sent to neighbouring towns and Connecticut State Police. Both of these vehicles were reported to be last seen traveling north on Route 8,” the Facebook post further said.

The Westport police warned residents to be extra aware of their surroundings and report any suspicious behaviour to emergency number 911.

Dozens of university students plunged into a lake near their campus in the United States when a pier collapsed beneath them. The dramatic footage of the incident on Labour Day Monday afternoon has gone viral on social media. According to ABC News, the pier was holding 60-80 students who suddenly went into the water. Quoting UW-Madison Police Department, the outlet further said that 25 people were injured in the pier collapse. The footage shows the pier collapsing in one spot and others falling like a line of dominoes.

The Madison Fire Department sent a team to Lake Mendota after receiving information about the pier collapse.

The team searched the underwater area where the collapse happened and confirmed that no one was trapped or had drowned, ABC News further said.

People who were present there said they were shocked to see what happened.

“I turned to this one girl, and we were like, ‘Oh my God. Did that really just happen?'” a student Gabrielle Willbrandt told WMTV. She was one of the many standing on the pier when it went down.

“Me and my friend who I was swimming with heard a big noise, and the whole dock was collapsing,” another student Nicole Mitchell told a local outlet.

She added that students swam back to shore while holding their phones out of the water.

The pier was supposed to be removed for the season Tuesday, New York Post said in its report.

An investigation has been launched to determine what led to the collapse of the pier.