Latest news with #TaylorSwift-Themed
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Yahoo
California Bombing Suspect Once Burned Family House Down, Was ‘Easily Influenced,' Dad Says
The father of the 25-year-old man suspected of bombing a Southern California reproductive clinic says his son was a smart but easily influenced child who once set their house on fire while playing with matches. Guy Edward Bartkus, who authorities believe was the lone person killed in Saturday's Palm Springs blast, had a fascination with lighting fires and making model rockets and smoke bombs as a teenager, his father, Richard Bartkus, told various media outlets. 'Nothing major, nothing like a 'bomb' bomb, but he'd build rockets, shoot them in the air,' he told The New York Times of his son, whom he said he hadn't spoken to for more than 10 years after divorcing his mother. The younger Bartkus accidentally burned down the family's Yucca Valley home at the age of 9, which landed him on juvenile probation, his father said. The elder Bartkus, speaking to KTLA, said his son was 'a follower who was easily influenced by others.' He repeated that description to the Times and said that it sometimes got his son into trouble. 'If somebody came along and said this was a good idea, he'd probably go along with it,' he said. Bartkus told KTLA that he lost contact with his son, who had opted to live with his mother after his parents' divorce. 'What my wife, what my daughter knows, I really don't know, but they had to see a change in him. They don't just go off like that and nobody sees a change,' he said, later saying: 'I was too strict for him, so I think he wanted to stay with mom when the divorce came through.' An online manifesto that the 25-year-old purportedly wrote expressed opposition to in vitro fertilization and human reproduction. It also cited the recent death of a friend who shared his 'nihilistic' beliefs. The two had an agreement that 'if one of us died, the other would probably follow,' according to a review of the writings by LAist. Akil Davis, the assistant director in charge of the FBI's Los Angeles Field Office, said Sunday that authorities had not confirmed that the writings indeed were by Bartkus, who is believed to have acted alone in the attack that is being treated as an act of terrorism. 'The subject had nihilistic ideations, and this was a targeted attack against the IVF facility,' he said. Davis declined to say what kind of materials were used in the explosive, saying it's still under investigation. The blast was powerful enough 'to throw pieces of vehicle hundreds of feet in the air and then several blocks away. You can use your imagination for how big that bomb device was,' he said. FBI Says Palm Springs Fertility Clinic Blast An 'Act Of Terrorism' AG Pam Bondi Charges Alleged Tesla Vandals, Calling Attacks 'Domestic Terrorism' Teen Accused Of Killing 3 At Taylor Swift-Themed Dance Class In UK Charged With Terrorism
Yahoo
24-02-2025
- Yahoo
Yoga Teacher Who Led Taylor Swift-Themed Class for Kids Speaks Out About Deadly Southport Attack
Leanne Lucas, the instructor whose Taylor Swift-themed children's dance and yoga class became the target of a deadly stabbing in Southport, England, last year, is speaking out about the attack for the first time. In a sit-down interview with BBC posted Monday (Feb. 24), Lucas recalled from start to finish how then-17-year-old Axel Rudakubana — who in January pleaded guilty to the murders of three young girls and the attempted killings of 10 other people at the July 2024 class — burst into her studio with a knife. As he began attacking the children in the room, Lucas sprang into action calling the police and urging the rest of the class to run to safety. More from Billboard Teen Pleads Guilty to Murder in Stabbings at Taylor Swift-Themed Dance Class Marc Anthony Kicks Off 2025 Viña del Mar Festival: 'There's No Country Like Chile' Justin Bieber Wants to Get Baby Jack Blues on Skates 'As Soon as Possible' That's when she says Rudakubana turned on her, leaving her spine, head, ribs, lung and shoulder blade severely injured. 'I just knew that if I didn't get out, everyone was going to die,' Lucas told the broadcaster with tears in her eyes. 'I thought that he wasn't going to stop until he killed everyone. I thought that he wanted to kill us all.' Rudakubana was sentenced to 52 years in prison, with Judge Julian Goose adding in his January ruling that the teenager would likely 'never be released.' In addition to critically wounding multiple people, Rudakubana killed 9-year-old Alice Da Silva Aguiar, 7-year-old Elsie Dot Stancombe and 6-year-old Bebe King. In the interview, Lucas recalled the agony of helping the rest of the children escape while enduring the pain of her injuries, for which she was later hospitalized. She noted that police have told her that the surviving children would not have made it out of the class alive if not for her and fellow organizer Heidi, who also assisted the fleeing children at the scene — but Lucas still feels guilt over the three girls she couldn't save. 'That gives nothing for the children who did die … that doesn't take that away,' Lucas told the BBC. 'I just don't know what else I could have done.' The dance class was just one of countless Swift-themed events local organizers all over the globe put together during the 'Anti-Hero' singer's Eras Tour last year and in 2023. Before the attack started, Lucas remembers her students happily making friendship bracelets and chatting in a circle, with 9-year-old Aguiar apparently saying shortly before her death, 'This is the best day of my life.'' Swift personally spoke out about the killings one day afterward, writing in a statement, 'The horror of yesterday's attack in Southport is washing over me continuously, and I'm just completely in shock …' 'The loss of life and innocence, and the horrendous trauma inflicted on everyone who was there, the families and first responders,' she added at the time. 'These were just little kids at a dance class. I am at a complete loss for how to ever convey my sympathies to these families.' About a month later, Swift hosted some of the survivors and their families at her London Eras shows and personally greeted them backstage at Wembley Stadium. Lucas told the BBC that she still has to take life 'an hour at a time' amid her grief, but that Aguiar, Stancombe and King are the reasons she keeps going. 'The only reason to survive is the fact that I did get out, and I am alive,' the instructor said. 'The fact that the girls aren't, I've got to stay alive for them. Otherwise, what's the point?' Best of Billboard Chart Rewind: In 1989, New Kids on the Block Were 'Hangin' Tough' at No. 1 Janet Jackson's Biggest Billboard Hot 100 Hits H.E.R. & Chris Brown 'Come Through' to No. 1 on Adult R&B Airplay Chart
Yahoo
10-02-2025
- Yahoo
Mom of Girl, 7, Killed at Taylor Swift-Themed Event Says She Will ‘Never Feel True Happiness Again'
The mother of Elsie Dot Stancombe, 7, who died following a mass stabbing at a Taylor Swift-themed event in Southport, England, on July 29, 2024, has said she doesn't think she'll feel "true happiness again, ever" while speaking to ITV's "I was so proud of her. The effort that she put in everything, the love that she gave, not just [to] us, her friends, her teachers ... her nature was so pure," Jenni Stancombe said during the emotional interview Alice da Silva Aguiar, 9, and Bebe King, 6, also died in the attack. Axel Rudakubana, 18, has since been jailed for life and will serve a minimum of 52 years in prison The parents of a 7-year-old girl who was fatally stabbed at a Taylor Swift-themed yoga and dance class event are speaking out. In an interview with ITV's Good Morning Britain, Jenni Stancombe — who is the mother of Elsie Dot Stancombe, 7, who died along with Alice da Silva Aguiar, 9, and Bebe King, 6 on July 29, 2024, in the Southport, U.K. attack — insisted it was a "privilege" to be the late youngster's mom. "I was so proud of her. The effort that she put in everything, the love that she gave, not just [to] us, her friends, her teachers ... her nature was so pure," she added in a clip shared on X. On Jan. 23, Axel Rudakubana, 18, was sentenced to life in prison, with Merseyside Police confirming he'd serve a minimum of 52 years for the murder of the three young girls, according to a news release. He was also charged with the attempted murder of eight other children and two adults. 'It was a privilege to be her mum.' Elsie Stancombe was killed at a Taylor Swift themed dance class, alongside Alice da Silva Aguiar and Bebe King in the Southport attack, last July. Elsie's parents open up to @susannareid100 about her legacy. — Good Morning Britain (@GMB) February 10, 2025 Related: Yoga Teacher Was Critically Injured While Protecting Children During Stabbing at Taylor Swift-Themed Event In the GMB interview, Elsie's parents Jenni and David Stancombe called their daughter "fearless" and "brave" and said she was a "devoted Swiftie" who would watch Swift's Eras Tour concert film "every night" before bed. "If Elsie knew that Taylor knew her, it would be like all her dreams had come true," Jenni added. Jenni and David said Swift, 35, invited them to her show at Wembley last year and the pop superstar wrote in one of Elsie's books about her. Jenni, who has set up the charity Elsie's Story with David, insisted, "We feel like it's our duty as her [mom] and dad to continue writing Elsie's story for her." "So many times we've said: 'We'll never feel true happiness again, ever,' " Jenni added. "We might just feel a little bit of something when we make another child smile, for Elsie," she continued. "We want to do her proud." Elsewhere in the interview, Jenni said of Elsie attending the Swift-themed event, "We just dropped her off to dance and make bracelets, that's all we did ... it was something nice for her to do for a couple of hours in the first week of the school holidays." "We should have never have sent her, but she wanted to go so much," she added, insisting that if they had been there when the attack took place, Elsie wouldn't have died. "I might not be here, but I would never have let that happen," Jenni told presenter Susanna Reid as she broke down in tears. "I'd swap with Elsie any day," she added. Bebe and Elsie died in the attack, while Alice later died from her injuries in the hospital. The stabbings took place at The Hart Space community center in Southport. There will be a public inquiry into the murders, the U.K. government announced in a Feb. 5 release. Bebe's parents, who have not shared their names or shown their faces for privacy reasons, also gave their first TV interview since losing their daughter in the attack to GMB. "She's with me in every way," Bebe's mom insisted in a clip shared to X. "She was my mini-me." In the interview, Bebe's mom spoke about their last moments with their daughter at Alder Hey's Children's Hospital. Before saying their goodbyes, they went through her usual bedtime routine, which included reading her favorite book, Jack and the Beanstalk, per The Independent. 'She was in her pajamas, we read to her and the family visited her. The final day we lay next to her and we did our final goodbye,' Bebe's mother told GMB. Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases. As well as the murder and attempted murder charges, Rudakubana was also charged with "possession of a knife in a public place, production of a biological toxin namely ricin contrary to Section 1 of the Biological Weapons Act 1974 and possession of information, namely a PdF file entitled 'Military Studies in the Jihad Against the Tyrants: The Al-Qaeda Training Manual, of a kind likely to be useful to a person committing, or preparing, an act of terrorism," per the Jan. 23 police release. The day after the stabbings, Swift shared a message on her Instagram Stories. The singer wrote in the July 30 post, "The horror of yesterday's attack in Southport is washing over me continuously, and I'm just completely in shock... The loss of life and innocence, and the horrendous trauma inflicted on everyone who was there, the families and first responders." "These were just little kids at a dance class," she added. "I am at a complete loss for how to ever convey my sympathies to these families." Read the original article on People
