THURSDAY SNAPSHOT 5/11/23
BIPOC DAILY NEWS
4 Teens Charged with Fatal Shooting of Chicago Police Officer Aréanah Preston
Chicago Sun-Times - A call by a 16-year-old boy bragging about the killing of Chicago police Officer Aréanah Preston helped authorities crack the case and charge four teens with first-degree murder, prosecutors said Wednesday.
Jaylen Frazier asked a friend if he had seen the news about Preston being gunned down in front of her home earlier and told him “it was his work,” prosecutors alleged in court documents.
The friend later went to police and, in front of detectives, called Frazier and put him on speakerphone as the teen talked about the shooting, “including details that had not been released,” prosecutors said.
All four of the teens have previously been convicted of robbery as juveniles.
He also talked about the armed robberies he and his friends had allegedly committed because a girlfriend needed money for a barbecue. They had already robbed five people and had stolen a car when they came across Preston early Saturday in the 8100 block of South Blackstone Avenue, according to prosecutors.
Preston was hit at least twice and also grazed by a bullet. ShotSpotter, the city’s gunshot detection system, picked up the barrage of gunfire, but an officer didn’t respond to the block for more than 30 minutes.
The officer drove her to University of Chicago Medical Center, where Preston was pronounced dead.
The teens fled to a vacant lot in the 7200 block of South Eberhart, where private surveillance video captured them walking together north through an alley to the back door of a home, prosecutors said. Video from a distance later showed the car, a Kia, burning.
Later that evening, Frazier allegedly called his friend.
“Frazier asked if he had seen the news about a police officer being killed…Frazier said it was his work,” prosecutors said. Frazier “told him they were out robbing people when they saw a single female in her car. They were going to rob her, but the female shot at them. One of the guys he was with shot back at the cop and killed her.”
Frazier claimed he stayed inside the Kia while the other three suspects robbed and shot Preston, prosecutors said. They later burned the Kia using lighter fluid, Frazier allegedly told police.
Frazier’s mother told the Sun-Times she attended a memorial for Preston Tuesday evening after leaving the police station to turn in her son.
“She did not deserve that. I am very, very sorry about what happened,” Jaquanna Walker said.
Figuring Out Texas: From Guns to Immigration
HOUSTON (AP) — Thirteen people dead in two mass shootings. Eight immigrants killed when an SUV slams into a crowded bus stop. The likely approval of legislation that would let the Republican governor overturn elections in the most populous county, a Democratic stronghold. All in the past two weeks.
These issues and the forces behind them — anger and guns, immigration turmoil, deep political divisions about what democracy means — are playing out across American life in various ways. But in Texas, with its immense size and a population that grows by more than 1,000 people a day, the stage is far bigger — and often louder.
Mass killings have a deep history in Texas. Arguably the first modern American mass shooting happened here in 1966, when an engineering student opened fire from a building observation deck at the University of Texas. He killed 14 people and wounded dozens more.
But the state’s strict gun laws didn’t begin to crack until a few years after another mass shooting — this one in 1991, when a gunman drove his pickup truck through the window of a central Texas cafeteria and killed 23 people. By then, decades of Democratic control were giving way to Republicans who saw gun rights as a key issue.
In 1995, then-Gov. George W. Bush signed legislation that allowed Texans to carry concealed guns. Today, Texans can carry weapons openly. Some do — passionately.
Chad Hasty, a well-known conservative talk radio host based in Lubbock, mourns the latest killings — “I don’t want to get to a time where we’re not shocked by a mass shooting” — but is adamant that gun rights be protected. He rarely leaves home without his Sig Sauer P365, a small firearm designed for everyday carrying and one of the best-selling pistols in America.
He dismisses the idea that Texas is particularly prone to violence.
“I don’t view it as a uniquely Texas thing,” he said. Instead, the number of mass shootings is simply a matter of size: “We’re a huge state — millions and millions of people.”
Read More on US News & World Report
DUBUQUE MAIN STREET DANCING WITH THE STARS FUNDRAISER
DUBUQUE MAIN STREET - Bid on Your Community Member being held to fundraise money for Dubuque Dances with the Stars featuring Jeff Vaassen, raising money for Dubuque Main Street!
Ticket: $45 per person
Held at 7 Hills Event Center May 18th from 6-9pm. Appetizers will be available from 6-7:30pm with an open bar, with soda, beer and wine during the entire event.
There will be a silent auction and a live DJ perform from 8-9pm.
We have 6 Special Guests that you will be able to bid on for an evening out with one of these guests and a plus one of their choice. The highest bidder will get a plus one of their choice and Dubuque Main Street will provide the dinner location and payment.
*Bidder and Special Guest can choose the night that works best for their schedules.*
Special Guests
Alanda Gregory
Motivational Speaker – Life Coach – Entertainment Marketing
Brad Cavanagh
The Mayor of Dubuque
Jeff Vaassen
Vice President Business Lending at Dupaco Community Credit Union
Board Member for Dubuque Main Street
Star for Dubuque Dances with the Stars
Jessica Pfohl Paisley
Creative – Entrepreneur – Editor/Owner of AMIDST
Justine Paradiso
Vice President of Events and Programs at The Dubuque Area Chamber of Commerce
Nick Anderson
Agent with New York Life empowering minority families & business owners with tools to make strategic
financial decisions to build, protect, and grow multigenerational wealth.
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