Archives April 2022

A mattress fire inside a rowhome in southwest Baltimore Friday night resulted in the death of a young girl, said to be between the ages of 3 and 4. Crews were called around 6 p.m. Friday to the 4700 block of Vancouver Road for a report of a fire, officials said. The cause of death will be determined by the medical examiner’s office. The death has been included in Baltimore’s homicide numbers, making the current total 88. This case is now being investigated by homicide detectives.

Source: WBAL

In February, after her indictment charges, Baltimore City State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby requested a speedy trial. On Friday, court documents showed she wanted it postponed to September, and the new date has been granted.

According to documents obtained by WBAL, the change was made “at the request of the Defense and for good cause shown.”

Mosby’s attorney, Scott Bolden, alleges the U.S. Attorney’s Office is engaged in a rolling production, which does not allow his client enough time to start the trial in May.

The new trial date is Sept. 19.

In January, a federal grand jury returned the indictment Thursday charging Mosby with federal charges of perjury and making false mortgage applications, relating to the 2020 purchases of two vacation homes in Florida.

This report will be updated.

Source: WBAL

Bodies with bound hands, close-range gunshot wounds and signs of torture lay scattered in a city on the outskirts of Kyiv after Russian soldiers withdrew from the area. Ukrainian authorities accused the departing forces on Sunday of committing war crimes and leaving behind a “scene from a horror movie.”

As images of the bodies — of people whom residents said were killed indiscriminately — began to emerge from Bucha, a slew of European leaders condemned the atrocities and called for tougher sanctions against Moscow.

So far, the bodies of 410 civilians have been found in Kyiv-area towns that were recently retaken from Russian forces, Ukraine’s prosecutor-general, Iryna Venediktova, said.

Associated Press journalists saw the bodies of at least 21 people in various spots around Bucha, northwest of the capital. One group of nine, all in civilian clothes, were scattered around a site that residents said Russian troops used as a base. They appeared to have been killed at close range. At least two had their hands tied behind their backs, one was shot in the head, another’s legs were bound.

Source: AP News

Six people were killed and 12 injured in a mass shooting early Sunday as bars and nightclubs were closing in downtown Sacramento and police in California’s state capital were searching for at least one suspect.

Sacramento Police Chief Kathy Lester told reporters that police were patrolling the area two blocks from the Capitol at about 2 a.m. when they heard gunfire and rushed to the scene. They found a large crowd gathered and six people dead in the street.

Twelve people who police said were shot and wounded were taken to a hospital or hospitals. The Sacramento Fire Department said four of the seven people transported by its emergency workers were suffering from critical injuries. Authorities said some gunshot victims drove themselves to hospitals or were driven.

Authorities recovered “at least one firearm” from the scene, a police statement said, and urged witnesses or anyone with recordings of the shooting to contact police.

Source: AP News

BMW has halted production at two German factories. Mercedes is slowing work at its assembly plants. Volkswagen, warning of production stoppages, is looking for alternative sources for parts.

For more than a year, the global auto industry has struggled with a disastrous shortage of computer chips and other vital parts that has shrunk production, slowed deliveries and sent prices for new and used cars soaring beyond reach for millions of consumers.

Now, a new factor — Russia’s war against Ukraine — has thrown up yet another obstacle. Critically important electrical wiring, made in Ukraine, is suddenly out of reach. With buyer demand high, materials scarce and the war causing new disruptions, vehicle prices are expected to head even higher well into next year.

The war’s damage to the auto industry has emerged first in Europe. But U.S. production will likely suffer eventually, too, if Russian exports of metals — from palladium for catalytic converters to nickel for electric vehicle batteries — are cut off.

Source: AP News