logo
Deranged Christian camp counselor 'threatened Columbine 2.0' against innocent kids for 'p***ing him off'

Deranged Christian camp counselor 'threatened Columbine 2.0' against innocent kids for 'p***ing him off'

Daily Mail​10 hours ago

A sadistic counselor allegedly threatened the mass murder of children if they were to 'p**s him off' during a summer camp.
Mario Bernal, 23, is accused of telling kids he would 'create the next Columbine shooting' at Christian Camp Cho-Yeh in Livingston, Texas.
He allegedly repeated his threats when horrified camp officials planned to fire him, vowing he would 'clock himself out' and 'not go down by himself'.
Bernal again threatened to turn the camp into a repeat of the infamous massacre if the camp 'came at him legally', an arrest affidavit alleged.
He was already facing dismissal for locking a group of children in a sweltering hot room as 'discipline' and refusing to let the leave.
Two teenage gunmen murdered 12 students and one teacher at Columbine High School in Colorado on April 20, 1999, and wounded 20 others.
Columbine is the most notorious school shooting in US history and national trauma that led to increased campus security and renewed gun control efforts.
Bernal, from Vernal, Utah, was arrested by Livingston Police and handed over to the Polk County Sheriff's Office, which was investigating him.
Police pulled him over near the camp entrance after witnesses told them he was planning to flee to Houston with his girlfriend, who also worked for Camp Cho-Yeh.
He was charged with making terroristic threats impeding public service and held at the Polk County Jail on a $50,000 bond.
Bernal was already facing sex crime charges for allegedly forcibly kissing and touching a women in a car despite repeatedly being told to stop.
The case was filed on May 8 after the incident in March.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Funeral home owner learns his fate after defrauding customers and government out of $900K
Funeral home owner learns his fate after defrauding customers and government out of $900K

Daily Mail​

time16 minutes ago

  • Daily Mail​

Funeral home owner learns his fate after defrauding customers and government out of $900K

A Colorado funeral home owner who previously admitted to stashing nearly 190 dead bodies in a decrepit building and sending grieving families fake ashes has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for wire fraud. Jon Hallford, owner of Return to Nature Funeral Home, was found guilty of cheating customers and defrauding the federal government out of nearly $900,000 in Covid-19 aid. He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud in federal court last year but in a separate case, Hallford also pleaded guilty to 191 counts of corpse abuse in state court and will be sentenced for those crimes in August. At a hearing on Friday, federal prosecutors sought a 15-year sentence and Hallford´s attorney asked for 10 years. Judge Nina Wang said that although the case focused on a single fraud charge, the circumstances and scale of Hallford's crime and the emotional damage to families warranted the longer sentence. 'This is not an ordinary fraud case,' she said. In court before the sentencing, Hallford told the judge that he opened Return to Nature to make a positive impact in people's lives, 'then everything got completely out of control, especially me.' 'I am so deeply sorry for my actions,' he said. 'I still hate myself for what I´ve done.' Hallford and his wife, Carie Hallford, were accused of storing the bodies between 2019 and 2023 and sending families fake ashes. Their funeral home promised a more natural burial, offering to bury bodies without embalming fluids or metal caskets if families opted not to have remains cremated Investigators described finding the bodies in 2023 stacked atop each other throughout a squat, bug-infested building in Penrose, a small town about a two-hour drive south of Denver. The bodies had been left at room temperature to rot. The were only found after neighbors issued complaints over a 'dead animal smell' covering the area around the funeral home. Some of the bodies had been in the maggot-infested building for years before they were discovered following reports of a foul odor. Their funeral home promised a more natural burial, offering to bury bodies without embalming fluids or metal caskets if families opted not to have remains cremated. Relatives would pay upwards of $1,200 for an eco-friendly end, which also came with the promise of a tree planting in the Colorado National Forest. The morbid discovery revealed to many families that their loved ones weren't cremated and that the ashes they had spread or cherished were fake. The supposed ashes were allegedly 'concrete dust.' Relatives said they raised their suspicions with the couple but were ignored or brushed off by the the couple every time. When the family of retired Army officer Tanya Wilson received her ashes, her brother Elliot thought they were unusually heavy and confronted Carie Hallford. When he took them to a nearby funeral director he was told 'I've never seen anything that looks like that in the range of what cremated remains would typically expect to look like.' Two families were so suspicious they mixed the 'ashes' with water and found that they solidified. In two cases, the wrong body was buried, according to court documents. Many families said it undid their grieving processes. Some relatives had nightmares, others have struggled with guilt, and at least one wondered about their loved one's soul. Among the victims who spoke during Friday's sentencing was a boy named Colton Sperry. With his head poking just above the lectern, he told the judge about his grandmother, who Sperry said was a second mother to him and died in 2019. Her body languished inside the Return to Nature building for four years until the discovery, which plunged Sperry into depression. He said he told his parents at the time, 'If I die too, I could meet my grandma in heaven and talk to her again.' His parents brought him to the hospital for a mental health check, which led to therapy and an emotional support dog. 'I miss my grandma so much,' he told the judge through tears. Federal prosecutors accused both Hallfords of pandemic aid fraud, siphoning the money and spending it and customer´s payments on a GMC Yukon and Infiniti worth over $120,000 combined, along with $31,000 in cryptocurrency, luxury items from stores like Gucci and Tiffany & Co., and even laser body sculpting. Derrick Johnson told the judge that he traveled 3,000 miles to testify over how his mother was 'thrown into a festering sea of death.' 'I lie awake wondering, was she naked? Was she stacked on top of others like lumber?' said Johnson. 'While the bodies rotted in secret, (the Hallfords) lived, they laughed and they dined,' he added. 'My mom's cremation money likely helped pay for a cocktail, a day at the spa, a first class flight.' Jon Hallford´s attorney, Laura H. Suelau, asked for a lower sentence of 10 years at the hearing Friday, saying that Hallford 'knows he was wrong, he admitted he was wrong' and hasn't offered an excuse. His sentencing in the state case is scheduled in August. Asking for a 15 year sentence for Hallford, Assistant US Attorney Tim Neff described the scene inside the building. Investigators couldn't move into some rooms because the bodies were piled so high and in various states of decay. FBI agents had to put boards down so they could walk above the fluid, which was later pumped out. Carie Hallford is scheduled to go to trial in the federal case in September, the same month as her next hearing in the state case in which she's also charged with 191 counts of corpse abuse.

Adorable boy, 4, who 'loved giving hugs' is found dead inside car on 91F day
Adorable boy, 4, who 'loved giving hugs' is found dead inside car on 91F day

Daily Mail​

time16 minutes ago

  • Daily Mail​

Adorable boy, 4, who 'loved giving hugs' is found dead inside car on 91F day

A four-year-old boy, known for his love of giving hugs, was found dead inside a sweltering car on a blisteringly hot afternoon in Georgia, authorities said. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation confirmed it is looking into the death of Kameron Jamel Williams, whose body was discovered last Sunday at the Summer Trace Apartment Complex in Metter. Temperatures in the area had reached a suffocating 91 degrees Fahrenheit at the time. According to the Metter Police Department, officers responded around 1pm to a report of a missing child. Family members and police desperately searched the property, hoping to find Kameron safe. Instead, a relative made the heartbreaking discovery inside a parked car, where the boy had succumbed to the punishing heat. He was pronounced dead at the scene. 'Children who get into cars on their own are typically about 18 months to 4- or 5-years-old,' explained Amber Rollins, director of the Kids and Car Safety organization, in an interview with WTOC. 'About 68% of those children who get in on their own and can't get back out are little boys. So, this situation meets the typical profile for that type of situation.' Temperatures in the area had reached a suffocating 91 degrees F at the time little Kameron had climbed inside the vehicle outside his home in Metter, Georgia Investigators believe Kameron had left his apartment on his own and began playing nearby. Security video reportedly shows a child matching Kameron's description entering a vehicle and never getting back out. The Candler County coroner later confirmed the worst: the boy was beyond help by the time he was found. As family members grieve, experts highlight a tragic pattern all too familiar in the summer months. Rollins told WTOC that an average of 40 children die each year across the country after being trapped in hot cars, with more than half of them managing to get inside on their own but becoming unable to escape. Although no foul play is suspected at this time, Police Chief McKinley Lewis said the case is still under active investigation. Kameron's body has been sent to the GBI Coastal Crime Lab Medical Examiner's Office for an autopsy, with results pending. Images from the scene showed a police perimeter near a cluster of parked vehicles at the Summer Trace complex, where stunned residents looked on in disbelief. The GBI said its agents are working closely with the Metter Police and the Candler County Sheriff's Office to establish a timeline of exactly how long Kameron was trapped and what could have prevented such a tragedy.

Two killed after suspect shot at firefighters in Idaho, authorities say
Two killed after suspect shot at firefighters in Idaho, authorities say

Sky News

time29 minutes ago

  • Sky News

Two killed after suspect shot at firefighters in Idaho, authorities say

Two people have been killed after a suspect shot at firefighters responding to a fire in the US state of Idaho, authorities have said. Police were still "taking sniper fire" near the city of Coeur d'Alene on Sunday afternoon, the Kootenai County Sheriff's Office said. Crews were responding to a fire at Canfield Mountain around 1.30pm and gunshots were reported around half an hour later, the force said. Sheriff Bob Norris said officials did not know if anyone else was shot. "We don't know how many suspects are up there, and we don't know how many casualties there are," he said. "We are actively taking fire sniper as we speak." Governor Brad Little said "multiple" firefighters were attacked. "This is a heinous direct assault on our brave firefighters," he said on X. "I ask all Idahoans to pray for them and their families as we wait to learn more." The sheriff's office in neighbouring Shoshone County said authorities were "dealing with an active shooter situation where the shooter is still at large". The fire was still raging, Mr Norris said. "It's going to keep burning," he added. "Can't put any resources on it right now." Canfield Mountain is a popular hiking and biking spot on the outskirts of Coeur d'Alene, a city of around 55,000 people in northern Idaho.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store