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Christine Belford, Laura Elizabeth Mulford Murdered by Thomas Matusiewicz in Courthouse Shooting

February 11, 2013 by 1 Comment

WILMINGTON COURTHOUSE SHOOTING:  As if Christine Belford didn’t suffer enough at the hands of her ex-husband, David Matusiewicz, she was gunned down in a Delaware court by her former father-in-law, Thomas Matusiewicz.  Law enforcement also identified her friend, Laura Elizabeth Mulford as the second victim who was shot by. Two officers were also injured in the shooting at the Newcastle Court of Common Pleas in Wilmington. They have been identified as Steven Rinehart, a retired New Castle County police officer and Michael Manley.

 

Filed Under: Courthouse shooting, Gun Violence Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Michael Ward and Kenneth Williams Charged with Murder in Death of Hadiya Pendleton

February 11, 2013 by Leave a Comment
hadiya pendleton1 300x233 Michael Ward and Kenneth Williams Charged with Murder in Death of Hadiya Pendleton

Michael Ward and Kenneth Williams Charged with Murder in Death of Hadiya Pendleton (Photo credit: Twitter)

BREAKING NEWS:  Michael Ward, 18, and Kenneth Williams, 20, have been charged with first-degree murder and two counts of aggravated battery with a firearm, in the death of Chicago teen, Hadiya Pendleton.

Ward is on probation for aggravated unlawful use of a weapon. He was serving two years of probation in the 2011 case, sources said. Authorities said Ward and Williams, members of the Gangster Disciples street gang, were feuding with gang rivals in the area where Hadiya was shot to death. Source

michael ward kenneth williams hadiya pendleton murder 300x214 Michael Ward and Kenneth Williams Charged with Murder in Death of Hadiya Pendleton

Michael Ward (l) and Kenneth Williams (r) charged in murder of Hadiya Pendleton

Michael Ward [Michaeil Ward] and Kenneth Williams are two “reputed gang members” who will  no longer roam the streets of Chicago inflicting pain and anguish on innocent people.

Filed Under: Chicago News, Gun Violence Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Deron Bridgewater Arrested in Bourbon Street Quadruple Shooting

February 11, 2013 by Leave a Comment
deron bridgewater Deron Bridgewater Arrested in Bourbon Street Quadruple Shooting

Deron Bridgewater Arrested in Bourbon Street Quadruple Shooting (Photo credit: NOPD)

NEW ORLEANS QUADRUPLE SHOOTING:  Deron Bridgewater of Marrero, turned himself in to police for the quadruple shooting on Bourbon Street Saturday night. Deron Bridgewater is one of three men investigators believe are responsible for shooting in the 400 block of Bourbon Street.

Four people were wounded after an argument with the intended victim, who remains hospitalized. Three other people who were injured have been released from the hospital. Deron Bridgewater had no previous criminal history in Orleans Parish, WDSU reports.

 

Filed Under: Gun Violence Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Wilmington DE Courthouse Shooter ID’d as Thomas Matusiewicz, Father of Ex-Optometrist Who Kidnapped His Kids

February 11, 2013 by Leave a Comment

BREAKING:  The Wilmington DE courthouse shooter has been identified as Thomas Matusiewicz, whose son, David T. Matusiewicz kidnapped his three young daughters in 2007. One of the women killed this morning was David Matusiewicz’s ex-wife, Christine Belford, 39, with whom he was in the middle of a bitter custody case.

Belford was at the center of a court fight with her ex-husband, David T. Matusiewicz, who kidnapped his three young daughters in August 2007 and took them on an 18-month odyssey to Panama, Costa Rica, Mexico and Nicaragua. In March 2009, authorities discovered Matusiewicz, his mother Lenore and the girls – then ages ages, 4, 6, and 7, one of whom is autistic — living in a dirty and cramped trailer.

Law enforcement and legal sources initially told The News Journal that Matusiewicz was the shooter and was killed this morning. But those sources now say he was not the gunman, and they identified his father, Thomas Matusiewicz, as the shooter who was killed.

Matusiewicz, a former optometrist, spent time in federal prison for the kidnapping and bank fraud. He received a four-year sentence for forging Belford’s name to get a $249,000 home equity loan from Wilmington Saving Fund Society on their Middletown−area home. Source

MyFoxPhilly is reporting that the shooter was David Matusiewicz and his father, Thomas Matusiewicz is in police custody. David Matusiewicz was in court for a custody modification.

Filed Under: Breaking News, Gun Violence Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Lower Merion Police Officer Sean Quinn Commits Suicide in FDR Park

February 11, 2013 by 1 Comment

A Lower Merion police officer Sean Quinn was found dead from a self-inflicted gun shot wound in FDR Park on Pattison Avenue in South Philadephia Monday morning. Officer Sean Quinn, 46, was last seen in Ardmore early Monday. He failed to report for duty at 7 a.m. Officer Sean Quinn reportedly had mental health issues.

The release did not detail why Quinn’s supervisors felt it necessary to notify other police departments that the officer was missing, but a city police spokeswoman said Quinn was believed to suffer from mental health issues.

Lower Merion Township public information officer Thomas Walsh declined to go in to detail regarding Quinn’s mental state. He did, however, say the officer was not fired but just failed to show up for work.

“We have no idea what he could be, where he is or what he is thinking,” Walsh said. Source

It would follow that someone with mental health issues shouldn’t be allowed to serve on the police force without medical intervention. It is time for mental illness to be taken seriously in this country.

Filed Under: Fallen Law Enforcement Officer, Pennsylvania News Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

BREAKING: Shots Fired Inside Delaware Courthouse, Several Injured

February 11, 2013 by Leave a Comment

BREAKING NEWS:  Shots fired inside a Delaware courthouse, several injured. The shooting occurred inside the New Castle County Court of Common Pleas in Wilmington, DE, located at 500 N. King Street, Monday morning. The severity of the reported injuries have not been released.

The courthouse shooter is dead, Delaware Online reports. Wilmington Police confirm that two women and a man were shot inside the courthouse, NBC Philadelphia reports. The injured were transported to a local hospital. One of the victims has been identified as a security guard.  Developing story.

Sandra Autman, deputy New Castle County prothonotary, says she and several other “hysterical staff” are holed up in their mezzanine office, one level below the lobby. She said employees heard at least five shots and reports that the gunman came into the lobby shooting.

She said employees reported to her that at least one person was shot.

The suspected shooter killed his wife before being shot and killed by police. Developing story.

UPDATE#1 (02/11/13 10:48 EST): Three now confirmed dead, two police officers wounded.

Filed Under: Breaking News, Gun Violence Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Could Cardinal Kodwo Appiah Turkson Become the First Black Pope in 1500 Years?

February 11, 2013 by Leave a Comment
cardinal peter kodwo appiah turkson Could Cardinal Kodwo Appiah Turkson Become the First Black Pope in 1500 Years?

Could Cardinal Kodwo Appiah Turkson Become the First Black Pope in 1500 Years?

Could Cardinal Kodwo Appiah Turkson, president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, Archbishop Emeritus of Cape Coast, replace Pope Benedict XVI, who shocked the world by announcing his resignation, effective February 28? Cardinal Kodwo Appiah Turkson would become the first black Pope in 1500 years. Click here to read his biography.

Pope Benedict reportedly decided to step aside due to his declining health. He is the first pope to resign since 1415.  That’s the report they are putting out, but his tenure has been marred by a myriad of molestation lawsuits against priests all over the place.

Here is Pope Benedict XVI’s declaration of resignation:

Full text of Pope’s declaration

Dear Brothers,

I have convoked you to this Consistory, not only for the three canonizations, but also to communicate to you a decision of great importance for the life of the Church. After having repeatedly examined my conscience before God, I have come to the certainty that my strengths, due to an advanced age, are no longer suited to an adequate exercise of the Petrine ministry. I am well aware that this ministry, due to its essential spiritual nature, must be carried out not only with words and deeds, but no less with prayer and suffering. However, in today’s world, subject to so many rapid changes and shaken by questions of deep relevance for the life of faith, in order to govern the bark of Saint Peter and proclaim the Gospel, both strength of mind and body are necessary, strength which in the last few months, has deteriorated in me to the extent that I have had to recognize my incapacity to adequately fulfill the ministry entrusted to me. For this reason, and well aware of the seriousness of this act, with full freedom I declare that I renounce the ministry of Bishop of Rome, Successor of Saint Peter, entrusted to me by the Cardinals on 19 April 2005, in such a way, that as from 28 February 2013, at 20:00 hours, the See of Rome, the See of Saint Peter, will be vacant and a Conclave to elect the new Supreme Pontiff will have to be convoked by those whose competence it is.

Dear Brothers, I thank you most sincerely for all the love and work with which you have supported me in my ministry and I ask pardon for all my defects. And now, let us entrust the Holy Church to the care of Our Supreme Pastor, Our Lord Jesus Christ, and implore his holy Mother Mary, so that she may assist the Cardinal Fathers with her maternal solicitude, in electing a new Supreme Pontiff. With regard to myself, I wish to also devotedly serve the Holy Church of God in the future through a life dedicated to prayer.

From the Vatican, 10 February 2013

BENEDICTUS PP XVI

Here are some links about Pope Benedict XVI shocking announcement:

 

pixel Could Cardinal Kodwo Appiah Turkson Become the First Black Pope in 1500 Years?
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