Gun violence erupts across U.S. on Fourth of July
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The Guardian
08-08-2025
- The Guardian
Fort Stewart shooting suspect was relentlessly mocked for stutter, soldiers say
A friend of the man accused of gunning down five fellow soldiers at the Fort Stewart army base in Georgia earlier this week recounted how the suspect had been repeatedly bullied for having a serious stutter, according to a news report. Meanwhile, soldiers who acted swiftly to suppress the gunman and prevent the possibility of a much higher death toll were being hailed as heroes for their bravery in the terrifying moments after shots rang out on the sprawling military base on Wednesday morning. The man in custody for the shooting, Sgt Quornelius Radford, 28, was relentlessly mocked and mimicked for his speech impediment, from the earliest days of his army career, NBC News reported on Thursday. 'He got bullied a lot. It was very bad to the point where he could barely talk,' Sgt Cameron Barrett, 28, a friend of Radford's, said in an interview with the TV network. No motive has been officially discussed in the aftermath of the incident, amid the criminal investigation, in which five service members were wounded by gunfire and rushed to hospital, although they are expected to recover. Another soldier who had worked alongside Radford earlier in his career said that the sergeant had also lost a loved one in a traffic accident in January, and had taken it hard. The suspect's father has said his son complained of experiencing racism. When initial reports that there was a shooting began to reach soldiers on the base south-east of Savannah, Barrett said to NBC that he messaged Radford to ask if he was alright, but did not get a response. Meanwhile, Sgt Aaron Turner recounted to the Associated Press that he was helping lock down a supply warehouse at Fort Stewart when he saw a fellow soldier walking past, wearing a hooded sweatshirt over his uniform and holding a handgun – after shots had already been fired. Instead of ducking for cover, Turner said, he approached the gunman and started talking – asking what he was doing there and where he was heading. When he got close enough, Turner grabbed the soldier's gun and took him to the floor, where soldiers held him down until military police arrived. 'I was able to keep a cool head, but pretty much my training ended up kicking in,' Turner said on Thursday. 'It wasn't about my life at that point. It was about the soldiers.' The US army secretary, Dan Driscoll, came to Fort Stewart on Thursday to praise Turner and five other soldiers for their quick actions in subduing the gunman to prevent further bloodshed and rendering life-saving aid to the victims. Driscoll awarded each of them the meritorious service medal. 'The fast action of these soldiers under stress and under trauma and under fire absolutely saved lives from being lost,' Driscoll told a news conference afterward. Authorities say Radford used a personal handgun in the shootings, not a service weapon. Fort Stewart officials have not said why he opened fire, citing the criminal investigation. Radford worked as a supply sergeant assigned to the 703rd brigade support battalion of the third infantry's 2nd armored brigade at Fort Stewart, the largest US army post east of the Mississippi River, and home to thousands of soldiers. The battalion's commander, Lt Col Mike Sanford, said on Thursday that he's unaware of any problems with Radford or arguments that preceded the shootings. 'Right now, there's no signs that there was an issue,' Sanford said in an interview. Radford's father, Eddie Radford of Jacksonville, Florida, said in an interview with the New York Times that his son had sought a transfer and complained to his family about racism at the base. Radford, who is Black, texted an aunt shortly before the shooting and 'said that he loved everybody, and that he'll be in a better place because he was about to go and do something', Eddie Radford said. Sgt Carlos Coleman, who worked with Radford early on after the latter joined the army in 2018, also spoke to NBC about the man's stutter. 'It was easy for those people to make fun of him for the way he spoke. After that, he really didn't speak that much,' he said.
Time Out
06-08-2025
- Time Out
July 2025 was one of the safest summer months on record in New York City
New York City's summer crime wave? More like a summer crime ripple. The NYPD just dropped stats showing that July 2025 wasn't just safer than last summer—it was one of the safest Julys since the city started keeping records. Across the five boroughs, shootings hit all-time lows for the month, with just 75 incidents and 92 victims, per a recently released report. That's down from the previous record in July 2017, when 79 incidents and 102 victims were recorded. And it wasn't just July: The first seven months of 2025 also saw the lowest number of shootings (412) and shooting victims (489) since the NYPD began tracking the category in the 1990s. Even the notoriously tricky Fourth of July weekend, a time police say can spike gun violence, saw the lowest shooting totals ever recorded for the holiday—and tied the all-time low for the day itself. Overall, major crime fell 5.6-percent in July compared to last year, marking the 10th straight month of declines. Murders dropped nearly in half (25 vs. 49), burglaries were down 14.2-percent, robberies dipped 7.5-percent and felony assaults fell 8.1-percent. In the subway, July crime was the lowest on record, excluding the pandemic's ridership-starved summers of 2020–2021. Mayor Eric Adams and Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch credit the gains to 'precision policing' and the city's Summer Violence Reduction Plan. Since May, the NYPD has deployed more than 2,000 uniformed officers to 72 'summer zones' in precincts, public housing and transit hubs, focusing on high-priority crime hot spots. The payoff: Major crime in those zones is down over 20-percent during deployment hours, with shootings cut in half. Guns remain a big part of the NYPD's focus: More than 3,000 illegal firearms have been seized this year and more than 22,900 since Adams took office. Gang takedowns are also up, with 48 major busts so far in 2025 leading to 347 arrests and 236 guns recovered. Not every number trended downward. Reported rapes rose 33-percent year-over-year in July, an increase officials link to changes in state law last fall that broadened the definition of rape to include more forms of sexual assault. Still, city officials are quick to point out the larger trajectory. 'This is the safest big city in America,' Adams said, noting that while high-profile incidents like last week's Midtown mass shooting grab headlines, they happen against a backdrop of historically low crime rates.
Daily Record
04-08-2025
- Daily Record
Mum left toddler home alone to die while she went on holiday
Kristel Candelario's baby Jailyn tragically died in her playpen after screaming for days. A mum who was jailed for life after leaving her baby home alone while she went on holiday has spoken out from her prison cell. Kristel Candelario left 16-month-old Jailyn by herself at her home in Cleveland, Ohio, for 10 days in June 2023. She was left in her playpen with only a few bottles of milk. When she returned from her trip to Michigan and Puerto Rico, she found the tot unresponsive and called emergency services. Jailyn was "extremely dehydrated" and covered in faeces and urine inside the dirty playpen. She was tragically pronounced dead after police attended, with investigators branding the case as the most harrowing they had dealt with during their careers, the Mirror reports. Candelario admitted she had "committed a diabolical act" and ultimately pleaded guilty to one charge of aggravated murder and another of child endangerment. She was sentenced to life behind bars without the possibility of release. She has since told her side of the story, revealing she had suffered from mental health issues in the months leading up to her daughter's death. Speaking from the Cleveland prison where she is serving her sentence, she told NBC News she had been admitted to hospital in January and February 2023 due to her mental health. She told the outlet: "For that reason, I was in the hospital without being able to walk for exactly almost two weeks. And in the month of March, I mean, my [now] ex-boyfriend and I wanted to take a vacation." She claimed to have told him she would leave Jailyn being looked after by her mother. She added that her mental state was behind her sudden decision to travel: "Actually, I left for the trip as a result of an impulse that I had, that I took, grabbed my four things, and ran out of the house like when someone is being chased. 'It's not that at that moment I thought that, 'Ah, I was going to Puerto Rico ... I was going to be super comfortable.' No, I never thought that. I simply wanted to get away from a life of stress, depression, and anxiety. I didn't want to continue living, because I had had a lot of problems in my life.' Join the Daily Record WhatsApp community! Get the latest news sent straight to your messages by joining our WhatsApp community today. You'll receive daily updates on breaking news as well as the top headlines across Scotland. No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the Daily Record team. All you have to do is click here if you're on mobile, select 'Join Community' and you're in! If you're on a desktop, simply scan the QR code above with your phone and click 'Join Community'. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose 'exit group'. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice. When her then-boyfriend asked about her daughter, she told him she was fine, recalling: "When he mentioned [the girl] to me, it was like when someone reminds you of someone who's not with you at that moment." She considered asking a neighbour to check on her but never did, which she now sees as a "mistake". Her parents believed she was still at home with her, while they took their own trip with her older daughter, aged seven at the time. Recalling the moment she found Jailyn unresponsive, Candelario said: 'That's when my world fell apart. Not because maybe I was thinking about going to prison. That's the least important thing, because one is an adult and one can accept one's mistakes. [I was in] despair. I felt she could be saved; things didn't have to happen that way because my daughter was doing well, I always took care of her.' CNN reported during her sentencing that the court was told how the tot's screams were picked up by a neighbour's doorbell camera. Forensic pathologist Elizabeth Mooney explained: 'The pain and suffering she endured lasted not only hours, not days, but possibly even a week. "This feeling of abandonment for days on end, coupled with the pain of starvation and extreme thirst, is a type of suffering I don't think any of us could ever fully fathom.' Passing sentence, Judge Brendan Sheehan told Candelario: 'The bond between a mother and a child is one of the most purest and most sacred bonds. It's a relationship built on love, trust, and unwavering protection. … You committed the ultimate act of betrayal. 'That little baby persevered, waiting for someone to save her. And you could have done that with a simple phone call. Instead, I see photos of you on a beach while your child was eating her own faeces in an attempt to survive.' He added: 'Just as you didn't let Jailyn out of her confinement until she died, so too you should spend the rest of your life in a cell without freedom. The only difference is that prison will at least feed you.' If you're strugglin g and need to talk, the Samaritans operate a free helpline open 24/7 on 116 123. Alternatively, you can email jo@ or visit their site to find your local branch.
