Latest news with #eventsecurity
CTV News
10-07-2025
- CTV News
Festival organizer reacts to B.C. report on event security in the wake of Lapu-Lapu attack
Members of the Vancouver Police forensics team examine the scene where a vehicle drove into a crowd at a Lapu Lapu Day street festival Saturday evening in Vancouver, Sunday, April 27, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick Christi-Ann Watkins is just getting back on her feet after she was seriously injured at the Lapu-Lapu Day festival in Vancouver in April. She suffered multiple broken bones and road rash all over her body when a driver plowed into the crowd at the event. Watkins not only attended with her son — she was one of the organizers. Watkins told CTV News there was simply no budget for paid security staff or concrete road barriers at the festival. 'It's just for community, by community. We don't have all the money in the world,' she said. So she welcomes a recommendation in a new report on event security that organizers be given more access to targeted grants, financial support and cost-sharing programs from the B.C. government to help cover security costs. But she predicts it won't be easy to navigate. 'I would be very naive to believe that it would be just like a snap of the fingers, would be like, 'Oh, we're having an event' – 'OK, here's all the money you need,'' Watkins said. 'So it's time, it's forms, it's bureaucracy, it's red tape, it's everything. So I understand it's not going to be easy to apply for.' Another big cultural festival — Carnaval Del Sol — is happening this weekend in Vancouver. Unlike Lapu-Lapu, it doesn't not take place on city streets. But the festival is still putting in concrete barriers and metal detectors at event entrances this year. The security budget has ballooned to $30,000, so Paola Murillo with Latincouver, the organization that puts on the festival, would welcome a grant from the province to help cover the costs next year. 'That would be a huge plus for organizations,' said Murillo. 'Security has increased every year for the extra things that the city has wanted.' Watkins approves of all the report's recommendations to make big events safer. 'Definitely the number one priority always has been safety of the people. So if it's one step closer to that then yeah, it's a positive,' Watkins said, adding she wants more detailed plans from the province. 'It's still quite broad and quite vague. So I think these are baby steps.' Despite the injuries she sustained, and concerns that her 11-year-old son could suffer ongoing trauma from the horror he witnessed at the festival, she has every intention of being part of next year's Lapu-Lapu Day event. '100 per cent, no doubt,' Watkins said. 'I always said I would be if they'd take me. So if they invite me, I'll be there.'
Yahoo
15-06-2025
- Yahoo
‘Innocent bystander' fatally shot during Salt Lake City ‘No Kings' protest, police say
A 39-year-old man who was shot during a 'No Kings' protest in Salt Lake City, Utah, on Saturday, died in the hospital, police announced had announced. 'Our victim was not the intended target, but rather an innocent bystander participating in the demonstration,' Salt Lake City Police Chief Brian Redd said in a press conference on Sunday. Police said the shooting took place when an armed man allegedly raised a gun and ran towards a protest crowd. An individual in a neon vest, who may have been serving as event security, then fired a weapon, striking the running man as well as the 39-year-old bystander, the Salt Lake Tribune reports. Officials have said further information about the victim will be released later today. This is a breaking news story and will be updated with new information.
CNN
22-05-2025
- Politics
- CNN
Washington, DC shooting, Israeli embassy staff killed near Capital Jewish Museum: Live updates
Update: Date: Title: 2 people shot were a couple about to be engaged, Israeli ambassador to the US says Content: The two people shot Wednesday night near the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, DC were a 'young couple about to be engaged,' according to Yechiel Leiter, the Israeli ambassador to the US. 'The couple that was gunned down tonight in the name of 'Free Palestine,' was a young couple about to be engaged. A young man purchased a ring this week with the intention of proposing to his girlfriend next week in Jerusalem. They were a beautiful couple,' Leiter said. Update: Date: Title: A suspect is in custody, police chief says Content: Pamela Smith, chief of the Metropolitan Police Department, said that a suspect is in custody in connection with the shooting near Capital Jewish Museum that left two dead. 'The preliminary investigation indicates that both victims were exiting an event at the Capitol Jewish Museum located in the 500 block of Third Street Northwest when the shooting occurred,' Smith said. 'We believe the shooting was committed by a single suspect who is now in custody. Prior to the shooting, the suspect was observed pacing back and forth outside of the museum.' Smith said that the suspect 'approached a group of four people, produced a handgun and opened fire striking both of our decedents.' After the shooting, Smith said that the suspect then entered the museum and was detained by event security. The suspect chanted 'Free Free Palestine' while in custody, Smith said. Update: Date: Title: DC mayor says 'no active threat' following shooting outside Jewish museum Content: Following a shooting outside a Jewish museum in Washington, DC, on Wednesday that killed two people, Mayor Muriel Bowser reassured the community that 'there is no active threat.' 'I will say up front that there is no active threat in our community,' Bowser said at a news conference. Bowser went on to share a message of unity, saying 'We're going to stand together as a community in the coming days and weeks to send the clear message that we will not tolerate antisemitism.' Update: Date: Title: Now: DC mayor gives update on shooting Content: Washington, DC, Mayor Muriel Bowser, along with other officials, is giving an update to the shooting near the Capital Jewish Museum. Update: Date: Title: Israeli embassy spokesperson says 2 staff members shot at close range Content: Tal Naim Cohen, spokesperson at the Israeli embassy in Washington, DC, said two of the embassy's staff members were shot on Wednesday night 'at close range' while attending a Jewish event at the Capital Jewish Museum in the city. 'We have full faith in law enforcement authorities on both the local and federal levels to apprehend the shooter and protect Israel's representatives and Jewish communities throughout the United States,' the spokesperson said in a statement. Update: Date: Title: Noem says 2 Israeli embassy staff were "senselessly killed" Content: Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in a social media post on Wednesday that 'two Israeli Embassy staff were senselessly killed tonight near the Jewish Museum in Washington, DC.' 'We are actively investigating and working to get more information to share. Please pray for the families of the victims. We will bring this depraved perpetrator to justice,' Noem said. DC Police say they are investigating a shooting across the street from the FBI's Washington Field Office. The Capital Jewish Museum is also nearby. The Israeli embassy is working with law enforcement. The Israeli ambassador was not involved in the incident and was not at the location when the shooting happened, an embassy spokesperson told CNN. Update: Date: Title: American Jewish Committee releases statement on DC shooting Content: Ted Deutch, the CEO of the American Jewish Committee, said his organization was hosting an event at the Capital Jewish Museum Wednesday evening. 'We are devastated that an unspeakable act of violence took place outside the venue,' Deutch said in a statement. 'At this moment, as we await more information from the police about exactly what transpired, our attention and our hearts are solely with those who were harmed and their families.' Update: Date: Title: Attorney General Pam Bondi says she's on scene of the shooting outside Capital Jewish Museum in DC Content: Attorney General Pam Bondi posted on X that she's at the scene of the shooting near the Capital Jewish Museum Wednesday night. I am on the scene of the horrible shooting outside the Washington, DC Capital Jewish Museum with @USAttyPirro. Praying for the victims of this violence as we work to learn more. Update: Date: Title: Israel's Ambassador to the UN reacts to reports of the shooting Content: Danny Danon, Israel's Ambassador to the United Nations, reacted to the reports of the shooting on Wednesday, saying on X: 'The fatal shooting that took place outside the event that took place at the Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C. – in which Israeli embassy employees were also injured – is a depraved act of anti-Semitic terrorism.'
CBC
07-05-2025
- Politics
- CBC
B.C. government appoints former chief justice to review festival safety measures
Social Sharing The British Columbia government has appointed a former chief justice of the B.C. Supreme Court to report on safety measures for event organizers and police after 11 people were killed when a driver rammed into a crowded street festival in Vancouver. Premier David Eby says Christopher Hinkson has agreed to serve as commissioner to conduct the review "in a very short period of time." Eby says Hinkson is expected to report back by June 30 to help guide event organizers across B.C. to "maximize safety," while not retreating from the fact that people want to get together and celebrate. The premier says he knows there is a lot of anxiety from organizers and those planning to attend events this summer, and that they have questions about security, so he's glad that Hinkson is willing to take on the job. The commission will study best practices for public safety at community events, especially around traffic control, deploying trained security personnel, and engaging first responders, according to the commission's terms of reference. Event planner Laura Ballance, who has organized thousands of events in B.C., says the incident was an unimaginable tragedy, but it's also important to understand that attacks such as the one alleged to have happened at the Lapu-Lapu Day festival are difficult to prevent. She says security and safety have always been the top priority of event organizers, and safety measures also occupy a very large portion of their budgets.
