An Iraqi governor resigns after a deadly mall fire
The fire last Wednesday tore through a newly opened shopping center in the town of Kut in Wasit province. While an investigation is ongoing, officials and residents have said that lack of safety measures in the building exacerbated the tragedy.
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Winnipeg Free Press
23 minutes ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Unsettled by NYC shooting, companies wonder if their offices are safe
NEW YORK (AP) — Businesses around the country are reevaluating security after a brazen shooting at a New York City office building raised questions about what it takes to keep workplaces safe. The attack on a seemingly secure building — in a gilded part of Manhattan where the rich live in sprawling apartments and tourists window-shop designer stores — has rattled workers and prompted managers to examine whether they are adequately protected. 'What should we be doing different?' clients are asking, said Brian Higgins, founder of Group 77, a Mahwah, New Jersey, security company that is among those getting peppered with an influx of calls. 'How can we prevent something like this?' The gut reaction of some companies, Higgins said, is to buy the latest technology and blanket their workplace in cameras. But, he cautioned, that's only only effective if paired with consistency and long-term monitoring. 'If you're going to add a security measure … you have to make sure you maintain it,' said Higgins, a former police chief who teaches security at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. Four people were killed in the shooting Monday before the gunman died by suicide. Images of the shooter, toting a long rifle on a street in the biggest U.S. city, then terrorizing an office building, have companies desperate to do something to keep the scene from repeating. 'People are frightened, people are asking questions,' said Dave Komendat, the Seattle-based chief security officer at Corporate Security Advisors, where calls are also spiking. With the U.S. locked in a pattern of gun violence virtually unparalleled in the world, security firms are used to the rhythms of the business. While attacks at a corporate office are less commonplace, a major shooting or an attack on an executive focuses attention back on security for a time, before receding. 'Give it a couple weeks, a month or so, it'll go back,' Higgins said of the increased call volume. 'When security issues don't happen for a while and companies start reexamining their budget, security is one of those things that companies cut.' Gene Petrino, CEO of Survival Response in Coral Springs, Florida, has also seen an uptick in calls from potential new customers, but expects it to be fleeting. 'When things are calm it's seen as an expense they don't need right away,' he said, 'and then when a tragedy happens it's a priority again.' Petrino said companies can make changes that aren't intrusive like using cameras with artificial intelligence capabilities to identify weapons. Sometimes, it may just be a matter of improving lighting in a hallway or putting up convex mirrors to see around a corner. 'Everything doesn't have to be bulletproof and locked with security cameras everywhere,' he said. 'You don't have to be Fort Knox. You can have very basic things.' Monday Mornings The latest local business news and a lookahead to the coming week. Michael Evanoff, chief security officer of Verkada, a building security company based in San Mateo, California, said technology like AI-enabled cameras to help identify threats have become even more important amid a shortage of guards. 'It's harder than many realize to find and retain trained personnel,' Evanoff said. 'That makes it even more essential that guards are equipped with technology that can extend their reach.' Security at 345 Park Avenue, the site of the shooting, included an off-duty New York Police Department officer working as a guard. He was among those killed. Rudin, the leasing company that manages the building, did not respond to a query about when the building will reopen or whether new security measures will be implemented. No matter what, though, every workplace has vulnerabilities. 'The security team has to be perfect to 100% of the time,' said Komendat, a former chief security officer for Boeing. 'Someone like this just needs to be lucky once.'
Winnipeg Free Press
an hour ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
What to know about the fatal attack of a married couple at Devil's Den park in Arkansas
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Authorities have released a photo and a composite sketch of a person they are trying to question as they investigate the fatal attack of a married couple in front of their children at Devil's Den State Park in Arkansas. The search for the man who killed the hikers at a state park in northwest Arkansas entered its fifth day, while many details about the attack remain unclear. Here are some things to know: Couple found dead on a walking trail Clinton David Brink, 43, and Cristen Amanda Brink, 41, were found dead Saturday on a walking trail at Devil's Den. Their daughters, who are 7 and 9, were not hurt and are being cared for by family members, authorities have said. Police have released a composite sketch and photo of a person of interest they are searching for in the attack. Along with the drawing, state police released a statement saying the suspect 'likely sustained an injury while attacking the couple.' It did not go into further detail. The State Police has said it has received numerous calls. But the agency has released few details, including how the couple was killed and whether it believes the killer is still in the area. The FBI has said its Little Rock field office is assisting in the investigation. Police released composite sketch of person of interest Police have not identified the killer or given a possible motive for the attack. But they have provided a description, the composite sketch and the photo of a person of interest. The photo was provided by a witness who was at Devil's Den State Park Saturday, police said. The photo was taken from behind and does not show the person of interest's face. Officials described him as a white male wearing a long-sleeved shirt with sleeves rolled up, dark pants, a dark ball cap and sunglasses. He was carrying a black backpack and wore fingerless gloves. He was seen driving toward a park exit in a black, four-door sedan with a license plate partly covered by tape. The car, possibly a Mazda, may have been traveling on nearby State Highway 170 or State Highway 220. Victims had moved from South Dakota Clinton and Cristen Brink had just moved from South Dakota to the small city of Prairie Grove in northwest Arkansas. Their water had been connected less than two weeks ago, Mayor David Faulk said. Clinton Brink had been scheduled to start a job as a milk delivery driver Monday in the nearby Fayetteville area, according to Hiland Dairy, his employer. Cristen Brink had been licensed as a nurse in Montana and South Dakota before moving to Arkansas. The Brink family said the couple died 'heroes protecting their little girls.' Park known for hiking trails Devil's Den is a 2,500-acre state park near West Fork, about 140 miles (220 kilometers) northwest of Little Rock, the state capital. Devil's Den is known for its hiking trails and rock formations, and it is a short drive from the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville and Walmart's Bentonville headquarters. It was selected as a state park site in the 1930s. The park's trails, which lead to the surrounding Ozark National Forest, remained closed Wednesday. Authorities have asked the public to report tips and urged trail-goers who were at Devil's Den on Saturday to look through their photos and videos for possible images of the suspect. Police have also asked local residents to review any security or game camera footage for unusual activity or images matching the vehicle.
Winnipeg Free Press
an hour ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Colorado Springs agrees to settle Taser death for $3.2 million
DENVER (AP) — The city of Colorado Springs has agreed to pay $3.2 million to settle a lawsuit in the death of a man who was repeatedly hit by a Taser while resisting being handcuffed in 2018. City councilors met in closed session to discuss a settlement in the lawsuit over the death of Jeffrey Melvin on Tuesday and voted 6-2 to approve it during a brief public portion of their meeting. Deputy City Council Administrator Michael Montgomery confirmed the amount of the settlement, which was announced by lawyers for Melvin's family. Melvin's death was part of a 2024 Associated Press investigation that looked at cases over a decade where hundreds of people died even though police had used force that was only meant to stop them, not kill them. Most violations involved pinning people face down in ways that could restrict their breathing or stunning them repeatedly with Tasers. One of two Colorado Springs officers who fired their Tasers at Melvin a combined eight times testified in the lawsuit that he was not trained about the danger of shocking someone more than three times. The deputy chief of the Colorado Springs Police Department at the time testified that its policy allowed officers to keep delivering electricity until the person's behavior changed. The department determined the officers did nothing wrong. The settlement came as the lawsuit was about to go to a trial next month. In a statement, the police department said the decision to settle was made by the city's insurance provider and was not an admission that its training standards were inadequate or that it had failed to properly train its officers. 'While CSPD respects the contractual authority of our insurance carrier to force a settlement in this case, which they did, we do not agree with that decision and were prepared to proceed with a trial,' it said.
