Father charged along with son (14) in US school shooting

WINDER - A 14-year-old boy was charged with shooting four people dead at a US high school, while his father was charged with manslaughter, authorities said Thursday, after the country's latest outburst of gun violence.

The teen faces four felony murder counts after allegedly killing two fellow pupils, also aged 14, as well as two teachers at Apalachee High School in the southern state of Georgia on Wednesday.

Nine people -- most of them children -- were wounded in the attack. Authorities have said they are recovering.

The suspect's father, 54-year-old Colin Gray, was in custody and faces four counts of involuntary manslaughter, two counts of second-degree murder, and eight counts of cruelty to children, making him the latest American parent to face criminal charges after a child was involved in a mass shooting.

The charges come after Gray "knowingly" allowed his son to possess a weapon, Georgia Bureau of Investigation director Chris Hosey told a press conference.

Citing unnamed sources, CNN reported that the gun used in the shooting -- which it described as an AR 15-style assault rifle -- had been purchased for the teenager by his father as a holiday gift.

The GBI had said the suspect would be charged as an adult. He was scheduled to appear in court on Friday, with more charges expected.

"The investigation into the shooting at Apalachee HS is still active & ongoing," the agency said in a post on X."This is day 2 of a very complex investigation & the integrity of the case is paramount," it continued, adding that all four victims would be autopsied on Thursday. Father charged along with son (14) in US school shooting

Read More........ → September 06, 2024

FCC fines major US operators for illegal data sharing

The fines were first proposed in February 2020

This week, the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has fined major US wireless carriers, including AT&T, Sprint (since acquired by T-Mobile), T-Mobile, and Verizon nearly $200 million for illegally sharing customer location information to third parties without their consent.

According to the FCC, the carriers sold access to their customers’ location information to ‘aggregators’, who then resold the access to this information to third-party location-based service providers.

This allowed “highly sensitive data to wind up in the hands of bail-bond companies, bounty hunters, and other shady actors,” said FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel in a statement.

Under the Communications Act of 1934, carriers are required to take “reasonable measures” to protect certain customer information, which includes location information.

“Our communications providers have access to some of the most sensitive information about us. These carriers failed to protect the information entrusted to them. Here, we are talking about some of the most sensitive data in their possession: customers’ real-time location information, revealing where they go and who they are,” said Rosenworcel in a separate press release.

Specifically, the FCC fined T-Mobile $80 million, Sprint $12 million, AT&T $57 million, and Verizon $47 million.

Although the FCC’s fines are significant, they represent just a tiny fraction of the operator’s annual revenues. Verizon’s $47 million fine, for example, is less than 1% of its total 2023 revenue, which was nearly $77 billion.

T-Mobile, AT&T, and Verizon have stated that they strongly oppose the FCC’s findings, and all three companies intend to appeal the decision. 

“[The FCC’s] decision is wrong, and the fine is excessive,” said T-Mobile in a statement. “We intend to challenge it.”

AT&T similarly claimed that the fines lacked “both legal and factual merit”.

“It unfairly holds us responsible for another company’s violation of our contractual requirements to obtain consent, ignores the immediate steps we took to address that company’s failures, and perversely punishes us for supporting life-saving location services. Source: https://totaltele.com/fcc-fines-major-us-operators-for-illegal-data-sharing/

Read More........ → May 01, 2024

'Rust' armourer found guilty over deadly on-set shooting

NEW MEXICO - The armourer who loaded the gun that killed a cinematographer on the set of the Alec Baldwin movie "Rust" was convicted of involuntary manslaughter. A jury in New Mexico took just over two hours to find Hannah Gutierrez guilty for the death of Halyna Hutchins in October 2021 during filming of the budget Western. A 10-day trial heard how Gutierrez had been ultimately responsible for the use of live rounds on set -- a red line across the industry. The court had also heard how she had repeatedly failed to adhere to basic safety rules, leaving guns unattended, and allowing actors -- including Baldwin -- to wave weapons around. "This is not a case where Hannah Gutierrez made one mistake and that one mistake was accidentally putting a live round into that gun," prosecutor Kari Morrissey told the jury in her closing argument Wednesday. "This case is about constant, never-ending safety failures that resulted in the death of a human being and nearly killed another." Hutchins was hit by a live round fired from the Colt .45 that Baldwin was holding for a scene inside a wooden church on the New Mexico set. Director Joel Souza was wounded by the same bullet. Baldwin has repeatedly denied responsibility, insisting he did not pull the trigger. Ballistics experts have dismissed the claim, saying the gun could not have discharged any other way. His own involuntary manslaughter trial is expected in July. The tragedy sent shockwaves through Hollywood and led to calls for a complete ban on the use of weapons on movie sets. Industry insiders, however, insisted that rules were already in place to prevent such incidents, and that those working on "Rust" had not followed them. 'Rust' armourer found guilty over deadly on-set shooting

Read More........ → March 07, 2024