Month: March 2022

One teenager was killed and two others were in critical condition after a shooting on Monday afternoon outside a high school in Des Moine, Iowa.  A 15-year-old boy did not survive his injuries, said Des Moines Fire Department spokesperson Ahman Douglass. Two others, a 16-year-old girl and an 18-year-old girl, were hospitalized in critical condition.

The shooting happened outside on the East High School campus. It has not been confirmed whether the victims were students at the school. East Principal Jill Versteeg said “I think we can all agree an event like this is everyone’s worst nightmare. Tonight, hug your students and love them.”  A statement from Des Moines Public Schools said that East High School will be closed Tuesday, adding: “The DMPS grief team will be available at East High for students and staff beginning tomorrow through the remainder of the week. School counselors will be available at our other schools for students who need additional support.”

Des Moines confirmed the shooting took place on school grounds, but outside the main building before 3 p.m on Monday.  Des Moines Police Sgt. Paul Parizek said potential suspects were detained, but no charges had been filed as of press time: “We’ve got some potential suspects detained. That will be a piece that moves through the night that we’re going to have to be working on. The kids in that school are our community’s most precious cargo. So the medics and the firefighters did an outstanding job getting up here.”

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Ukraine side cited progress in establishing humanitarian corridors, despite negotiators from Ukraine and Russia failing to reach a breakthrough during a third round of peace talks on Monday.  Safe corridors meant to allow Ukrainian civilians to flee the country, which were negotiated in the second round of talks, failed to materialize earlier in the day. The cease-fire began early Monday to allow refugees to flee in four Ukrainian cities — Kyiv, Kharkiv, Sumy and the southern port city of Mariupol — but was quickly shattered.

Lead Ukrainian negotiator Mykhailo Podolyak said there had been small but “positive” movement in “improving the logistics of humanitarian corridors” under which local cease-fires could be set up to facilitate the evacuation of civilians as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine entered its 12th day. Podolyak said in a Twitter post: “Intensive consultations have continued on the basic political block of the regulations, along with a ceasefire and security guarantees.” 

His Russian counterpart, Vladimir Medinsky, however, said no substantial progress had been made in Monday’s talks, telling reporters: “Our expectations from negotiations were not fulfilled. We hope that next time we will be able to take a more significant step forward.”  Medinsky said he “hoped there would be progress” in an upcoming fourth round of talks at an unspecified date and location.

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Florida state officials said Sunday that two wildfires in the Florida panhandle have burned nearly 10,000 acres collectively.  The Florida Forest Service said The Bertha Swamp Fire, which began in Gulf County, has spread to 8,000 acres and pushed into Bay and Calhoun counties, and was 10% contained as of Sunday morning, while the Adkins Avenue Fire held at 1,400 acres and was 35% contained.  Overall, 150 wildfires are currently burning more than 12,100 acres throughout the state.

Residents in the Bear Creek area were put under mandatory evacuation orders in response to the Bertha Swamp Fire and all existing evacuation orders from the Adkins Avenue Fire remained in place. Overall about 600 homes have been evacuated. The Florida Forest Service said there was no timeline for when residents will be allowed to return home.

A total of 17 tractor-plow units are combatting the Bertha Swamp Road Fire, while 25-tractor-plow units have been sent to build fire lines around the Adkins Avenue fire and more than 103,000 gallons of water have been dropped on the blaze since Friday. Officials said that both fires have been intensified by strong winds and dry conditions that are expected to persist throughout the region as fire danger levels remain elevated.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced that a state of emergency declared in response to the fires had been expanded to include Calhoun and Gulf counties, saying:  “Right now, the main focus is, of course, getting the fire contained, but we are marshaling assets and we will provide whatever the folks here in northwest Florida need.”

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