Ex-McCluer North coach shot dead after attempting to hijack plane in Belize
ST. LOUIS – A former McCluer North Football Coach was left dead Thursday after attempting to hijack a small plane in Belize.
According to officials, Akinyela Taylor, 49, attempted to hijack an airplane Thursday that was flying from a small town near Belize's border to the popular tourist destination San Pedro, Mexico. The plane was carrying 14 passengers and two crew members when it was hijacked.
Authorities claim that Taylor stabbed multiple people on board before one of the victims managed to shoot and kill him after Taylor had gashed the passenger. Multiple victims at the place remain in critical condition after the incident.
The company managing the Belize airport concession says authorities declared a full emergency immediately after the incident started. The plane circled in random directions for nearly two hours in the skies during the incident.
Restraining order filed against St. Louis Sheriff following second worksite visit
A Police helicopter followed the hijacked plane before it was able to touch down at an airport in the coastal town of Ladyville.
'Sadly that passenger is in a critical condition because he was stabbed, I think in the back and his lungs seem to have been collapsing, said Chester Williams, Belize Police Commissioner. 'He has been rushed to the Medical Associates (hospital). We are praying for him. He's our hero, I must say.'
The Ferguson-Florissant School District confirmed Thursday night that Taylor was an assistant football coach at McCluer North High School from June 27, 2018, to Feb. 6, 2019. Belizean authorities say he was also a military vet, but the U.S. has not confirmed if that's true.
U.S. Officials say they don't know the motive for Taylor's hijacking but are working with Belizean authorities to determine what happened.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
6 hours ago
- Yahoo
Renee Ferguson Dead at 75 After Trailblazing Journalism Career
Renee Ferguson, a trailblazing television reporter in Chicago, is dead at 75. How did Ferguson die? Ferguson's cause of death was not released. Tributes flowed in for the investigative journalist. NBC 5, her former television station, confirmed her death with her family on June 6, 2025. "Renee Ferguson left an incredible echo in our newsroom that still rings through the DNA of our investigative journalism, and that legacy will continue," said Kevin Cross, president and general manager of NBCU Local Chicago, to that station. According to that station, Ferguson was the first Black woman to work as an investigative journalist for a Chicago television station. She worked for NBC Chicago from 1987 through 2008, the station wrote. Indiana University honored Ferguson in an alumni tribute before her death. She was the co-founder of the Chicago chapter of the National Association of Black Journalists, the university wrote. "A television journalist and investigative reporter, Ferguson's writing roots trace back to her adolescence, even before she attended IU," the university bio says. "Her junior high school named her Most Likely to be a Journalist. Ferguson always wanted to be a writer, and living up to her middle school superlative, she has told countless stories over her career," the bio says. According to The Chicago Tribune, Ferguson's career spanned 25 years at two television stations in that city. Ferguson's husband, Ken Smikle, died before her, according to a 2018 article in the Chicago Sun-Times. It says that he died after his wife made a public plea for a donor heart for him. He was described as a "well-known" journalist who ran a marketing firm. He was 66 when he died after suffering from congestive heart failure, The Sun-Times Ferguson Dead at 75 After Trailblazing Journalism Career first appeared on Men's Journal on Jun 7, 2025
The Hill
16 hours ago
- The Hill
DC park will close after all for WorldPride weekend
The National Park Service said Friday it would temporarily close the park at the center of Washington's historic LGBTQ neighborhood ahead of the city's annual Pride weekend, moving forward with plans that local officials believed had been scrapped. The temporary closure of DuPont Circle Park came at the request of the U.S. Park Police (USPP), the Park Service said in an order uploaded Friday to its website approving the installation of anti-scale fencing around the park's perimeter through 6 p.m. Sunday. 'Less restrictive measures will not suffice due to the security-based assessment of the USPP that this park area needs to be kept clear,' the Park Service said. In a letter dated June 4, Major Frank Hilsher wrote to Kevin Griess, superintendent of National Mall and Memorial Parks, that the USPP's closure request 'is based solely on several previous years of assaultive, destructive and disorderly behavior exhibited in Dupont Circle during the DC Pride weekend.' 'The USPP maintains that a physical barrier effecting a full closure of Dupont Circle is necessary,' Hilsher wrote, to 'secure the park, deter potential violence, reduce the risk of destructive acts and decrease the need for extensive law enforcement presences.' An earlier letter sent in April to USPP Chief Jessica M.E. Taylor from Pamela A. Smith, chief of Washington's Metropolitan Police Department, recommended that tall no-climb fences be temporarily installed around the park. 'Over the years, DuPont Circle Park has been a popular location for Pride attendees to congregate, despite not being a sanctioned Pride event,' Smith wrote in the letter. 'In the past five years, the Metropolitan Police Department and the United States Park Police have taken proactive steps, including increased police presence and enhanced lighting around the park.' 'However, significant challenges persisted, including unpermitted large gathering with sound equipment, illegal vending and grilling, alcohol use, multiple physical altercation, and vandalism of the historic fountain and statue,' she added. Smith withdrew MPD's request to temporarily close the park earlier this week 'after hearing from community leaders and residents,' she wrote in a June 3 letter to Taylor. In the same letter, Smith pointed to specific disruptions that influenced her initial request, including a 2019 arrest in DuPont Circle Park after parkgoers heard gunshots and vandalism during Pride weekend in 2023 that resulted in roughly $175,000 in damage to the park's more than 100-year-old fountain. The park's closure is another obstacle for those in charge of WorldPride, an international LGBTQ Pride celebration taking place this year in Washington. The Capital Pride Alliance, the organizers of WorldPride DC, have hit several snags related to Trump administration policies that disproportionately affect LGBTQ people. In April, the group issued a travel advisory for transgender visitors from abroad, citing President Trump's executive order recognizing only two sexes, male and female, and a new State Department policy barring trans, nonbinary and intersex Americans from updating the sex designations on their passports. The same month, the Capital Pride Alliance announced it was moving WorldPride events from the Kennedy Center to 'ensure our entire LGBTQ+ community will be welcome' following Trump's takeover of the cultural institution in February. In posts on Truth Social, Trump said drag performances at the Kennedy Center 'will stop' under his leadership and called drag, an art form that is deeply rooted in LGBTQ culture and history, 'anti-American propaganda.' The White House has also declined to issue a proclamation for Pride month. In an emailed statement, the Capital Pride Alliance said it 'is frustrated and disappointed in the National Park Service's decision – again – to close Dupont Circle during the culmination of WorldPride this weekend.' 'This beloved landmark is central to the community that WorldPride intends to celebrate and honor. It's much more than a park, for generations it's been a gathering place for DC's LGBTQ+ community, hosting first amendment assemblies and memorial services for those we lost to the AIDS epidemic and following tragic events like the Pulse nightclub shooting,' the group said. 'This sudden move was made overnight without consultation with the Capital Pride Alliance or other local officials.' No official WorldPride activities were planned in DuPont Circle Park, the Capital Pride Alliance said, 'thus no events will be impacted.' D.C. Councilmember Brooke Pinto (D-Ward 2), representing the DuPont Circle neighborhood, said she is 'extremely disappointed and frustrated' that the park will not remain open for Pride weekend. 'This closure is disheartening to me and so many in our community who wanted to celebrate World Pride at this iconic symbol of our city's historic LGBTQ+ community,' Pinto wrote Friday in a post on the social platform X. '. I wish I had better news to share.' 'World Pride will continue this weekend and it will be a time of celebration and commitment to uplift our LGBTQ+ neighbors,' she added.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
Louisiana police officer arrested after shooting woman's dog
A Louisiana police officer has been arrested after shooting a dog Sunday afternoon. A video began circulating Monday, June 2, on Facebook depicting a dog being shot by a Cullen, Louisiana, police officer. The video was graphic and showed the owners close proximity to the firearm being discharged. Webster Parish Sheriff's Office arrested Reginald Ferguson, 54, Tuesday, June 3, after an investigation was initiated. Ferguson was acting as a reserve police officer for Cullen on June 1. According to Webster Sheriff's Office, Ferguson was not commissioned at the time of the shooting. "When he shot those two shots, they were very close proximity to the dog's owner," Sheriff Jason Parker said. "It could have been a lot worse, if that lady would have been struck by one of those bullets." The Shreveport Times sat down with dog owner, Deshanna Wortham, who described the events of that terrifying encounter. Wortham said on Sunday, June 1, she was cooking in her kitchen when she heard a knock on the door. "I seen a car parked in the road," she said. "So, I thought it was one of my children who didn't want to pull in the driveway." She said she went outside, and her dog, Tank, followed. When she got outside, Ferguson was standing in her yard yelling, "Get that dog back." Wortham asked the officer to please get in his car so she could put Tank away, but that is when Ferguson's voice got high pitched. Following that interaction, she immediately began filming on her phone. "Thank God I did," she said. This video contains violence. Shortly after she began filming, Tank ran around the fence barking and got between her and Ferguson. "He took out his gun and just pointed it at him," Wortham said. "I'm like, 'You could have just obeyed me and got in your car, let me put my dog up, and I could have seen what you come over here for.'" Tank was shot in the shoulder, and bullet fragments were found in his leg. As of Monday afternoon, Tank was still being evaluated and likely was going to lose his leg. Wortham said Ferguson could have easily shot her. "I'm standing like four feet away from him," she said. "The bullet could have ricocheted, anything could have went wrong." Following the shooting, Wortham went inside her home to take care of Tank, and Ferguson called for backup. Once other officers arrived on scene, Ferguson requested that Wortham come outside. She went outside, and Ferguson said he was going to arrest her. Wortham immediately went back inside and locked the door. "They finally left," she said. It is still unclear why Ferguson came to Wortham's home in the first place. Ferguson was arrested Tuesday morning for illegal use of a weapon, a felony. According to Parker, this charge was determined after detectives collected evidence and body cam footage. Statue 14:94 reads, "illegal use of weapons or dangerous instrumentalities is the intentional or criminally negligent discharging of any firearm... where it is foreseeable that it may result in death or great bodily harm to a human being." "You better know exactly where that bullet is going to go and have a very good reason to do so," Parker said. Ferguson was booked into Bayou Dorcheat Correctional Facility with a bond set at $25,000. This is not the first time Ferguson has been arrested. In 2022, he was arrested on five charges for simple cruelty to animals and three charges for aggravated felony cruelty to animals. In that case, Webster Parish Sheriff's Office located two dead horses on his property, and several other horses with their ribs and bones showing. The Shreveport Times has reached out to Cullen Police Department but has not received a response. More: Louisiana woman posts viral TikTok video after citation for wearing shorts and crop top Makenzie Boucher is a reporter with the Shreveport Times. Contact her at mboucher@ This article originally appeared on Shreveport Times: Louisiana police officer arrested after shooting a dog
