Free Republic

2 civilian victims not named; 48-year-old suspect being treated in hospital for injuries sustained in shooting Two police officers who were among four people killed in a shooting in Fredericton Friday morning have been identified as Lawrence Robert Costello, 45, and Sara Mae Helen Burns, 43. Costello was a 20-year police veteran, is survived by his partner and four children. Burns joined the Fredericton Police Force in 2016 but had served as an auxiliary officer for two years. She leaves behind her husband and three children. The 48-year-old suspect, who has not yet been identified, is in hospital and is...

Two pilots who were killed this week when a small plane crashed in New Jersey were on a non-emergency medical flight to pick up a patient in Massachusetts for treatment in Philadelphia, officials said. Pilot Robert Winner, 69, of Marlton, and co-pilot Timothy Scannevin, 71, of Southampton, both died shortly after the twin-engine Hawker Beechcraft 58 Baron went down in Springfield Township, in Burlington County, NJ.com reported.

The accident happened on Highway 176 in Polk County while they were covering the impact of heavy rain in that area. Video: Polk County authorities give update on accident Tryon Fire Chief Geoffrey Tennant said the engine of the SUV was running and the transmission was in drive when authorities arrived at the scene about 2:30 p.m. He said the tree that fell on the SUV was about 3 feet in diameter and had stood back off the road. Tennant said the ground was saturated and the tree's root system failed.

SAN FRANCISCO — Accident-reconstruction investigators are trying to figure out what caused an SUV carrying a family of eight to plunge off a 100-foot cliff in a deadly wreck that happened shortly after child-welfare authorities went to their home to investigate possible abuse. Five members of the Hart family — a free-spirited brood from Washington state who grew their own food and took up activist causes — were found dead, and the search continued Friday for three more children believed to have been in the vehicle when it went over the edge and landed on the watery rocks below the...

Video A top Democrat warned President Donald Trump against recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital Monday night, calling the expected declaration “a horrible tragedy”. .....

Full title: Oakland warehouse was a cluttered ‘death trap’ filled with pianos, RVs, but no fire sprinklers, former residents say Excerpt: The Oakland warehouse where at least nine people were killed at a late-night concert was a deadly blaze waiting to happen. People who previously lived there recalled a building that lacked fire sprinklers and had a staircase partly made of wooden pallets. Partygoers recalled a rabbit warren of rooms crammed with belongings — pianos, organs, antique furniture, doors and half-finished sculptures.

A fire swept through a bar in the northern French city of Rouen overnight, killing 13 people and injuring six, after a birthday cake with candles and sparklers fell to the floor and set the carpet ablaze, police said. The fire broke out in the basement of the popular Cuba Libre bar and quickly engulfed the room where some 20 people were celebrating, filling it with thick black smoke and poisonous fumes, a Rouen police officer told Reuters. "A large number of those who died were killed by the fire, others were overcome by the toxic fumes," the officer said.

People supporting Donald Trump's presidential bid will "feel betrayed" should the presumptive Republican nominee's campaign promises go unsatisfied, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush predicted Monday. Speaking to MSNBC contributor Nicolle Wallace, who served as his press secretary in Tallahassee, Bush called Trump "to his credit ... very smart at exploiting these kind of opportunities." "He's a master at understanding how the media works — more than anybody I've ever seen in politics. Kudos to him, for kind of creating the environment and then manipulating the environment to his effect," Bush said in the interview airing in full Monday night. There...

Simone ScullyJuly 4, 2016On the Monday after the Orlando mass shooting, 12 specially trained golden retrievers arrived in Florida to do what they do best: provide comfort. The dogs are part of the K-9 Comfort Dog Team, a program run by the Lutheran Church Charities that now has 130 dogs in 23 states across the country. The dogs — all golden retrievers — deploy as part of the organization's disaster response team. Each dog was picked as a puppy because of its calm demeanor, and each one was trained to be gentle, comforting, and affectionate. They all do this without...

Short of the death or illness of a loved one, or the passing of a beloved pet, it’s hard to conceive of something more traumatic than losing your house. To have to be confronted with 2 of those tragedies simultaneously is almost incomprehensible. Unfortunately, that’s what the Baca Family is facing after their family home was destroyed in a fire, along with their possessions, books, heirlooms, and their precious cat Tyga. Recognizing how compassionate and generous our readers have been in the past, I’d like to ask you all to do what you can to help out the Bacas as...

A major disappointment announced today in the investigation into the El Faro sinking with the NTSB now saying that the wreck of the ship was discovered with the navigation bridge missing and no sign of the Voyage Data Recorder (VDR).

STILLWATER–Sheri Bates, mother of an Oologah High School Band member, was one of seven people officials listed as gravely injured Saturday when a car plowed into the OSU Homecoming Parade. She was airlifted from the parade site to OU Medical Center in Oklahoma City after a 2014 Hyundai Elantra plowed into the parade at its termination, killing three and injuring at least 34. One of the injured, a 2-year old child, died at The Children’s Hospital at OU Medical Center Saturday afternoon, bringing the death toll to four. Bates’ condition and the extent of her injuries were not immediately released...

As Jim Dulin struggled mightily to steer his 30-foot fishing boat away from an ugly storm and into the Jupiter Inlet early Friday afternoon, he was startled to see a small boat heading the opposite direction into the rough weather.Among the dozens of vessels in the water, Dulin said the small boat carrying two young males was the only one not racing toward the safety of the inlet.Jib Yacht Club and Marina “I said to myself, ‘Those kids are crazy,’” said Dulin, a Jupiter resident and commercial fisherman for 20 years. “There’s no way they couldn’t see that storm. The...

The father of a 32-year-old Pleasanton woman who was fatally shot while walking along San Francisco's Pier 14 wants Congress to reform laws that allowed her alleged killer to remain in the United States despite being deported several times. Addressing the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, Jim Steinle said he and his family support legislation that would close some legal loopholes that currently allow local authorities to decide if they will cooperate with federal immigration authorities. Steinle's daughter, Kathryn, was killed on July 1 as the pair strolled at the Embarcadero. The duo were “walking arm-in-arm” relishing a “wonderful day...

Governor Palin asks why politics can’t be put aside in the wake of the Charleston shooting: Why can’t politics be put aside in the wake of South Carolina’s mourning? Politicians – please try. It would be in honor of them and the leadership provided by those most tragically affected. Let us follow the wisdom of the people of Charleston who lost their loved ones. The kind and beautiful family members who spoke at the court hearing on Friday know that this is a deeply personal human tragedy. Their words of grace reminded us that the only remedy for evil is...

BEIJING — Most of the 458 passengers aboard a chartered cruise ship were still missing on Tuesday morning more than 12 hours after it sank during a storm along the central Yangtze River, according to a report by Xinhua, the Chinese state news agency. Fewer than a dozen people had been rescued, local news media reported, indicating that this could be the worst such disaster in East Asia since the sinking of the South Korean ferry Sewol last year.

Two of America's brightest young ski prospects were killed Monday when an avalanche struck the Austrian Alps slopes where they were training for an international competition. Ronnie Berlack, 20, of Franconia, N.H., and Bryce Astle, 19, of Sandy, Utah, died in the incident near the Rettenbach glacier near Soelden, the venue for the annual season-opening World Cup races. Four other skiers who were practicing with them managed to ski out of the massive slide and emerged unscathed. "Ronnie and Bryce were both outstanding ski racers who were passionate about their sport -- both on the race course and skiing the...

Miami-Dade County will become the first place in Florida to allow same-sex couples to marry on Monday, 13 hours before a gay-marriage ban that has been ruled unconstitutional is lifted in the rest of the state.

The disappearance Sunday of AirAsia Flight 8501 was the third air incident this year involving Malaysia, where budget carrier AirAsia in based. Here's a look at the two other disasters, as well as the latest missing flight, which went missing with 162 people aboard less than an hour after taking off from Surabaya, Indonesia, for Singapore. The disappearance of the Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 on March 8 triggered one of modern aviation's most perplexing mysteries. Flight 370, carrying 239 people from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, vanished without a trace, sending searchers across vast areas of the Indian Ocean. An initial...

It was just last night that a handful of supporters of the New York Police Department attempted to hold a #ThankYouNYPD rally. The group was easily outnumbered by protesters, who taunted them and likened the gathering to a Klan rally. Just days before that, police haters hijacked a #BlueLivesMatter hashtag, while others were caught on video at the #MillionsMarchNYC chanting, “What do we want? Dead cops!” With news just coming in that two New York City police officers were reportedly ambushed in their patrol car and shot execution-style, it’s not surprising that the anti-cop contingent is coming out to proudly...