Washington mall shooting: Police arrest 20-year-old suspect
One day after a shooting left five people dead at a mall north of Seattle, authorities arrested a 20-year-old suspect Saturday after an overnight manhunt that left the city on edge. Arcan Cetin is suspected of killing four women and a man Friday night at the Cascade Mall in Burlington, Washington. Washington state authorities said it’s too early to rule out terrorism or anything else because their investigation is still in the preliminary stages. Before the suspect’s arrest, an official with the FBI had told reporters there was “no evidence at this time” of a link to terrorism.
When police confronted the suspect walking down the street near his residence in Oak Harbor, he did not try to run, he just froze and complied, said Lt. Mike Hawley of the Island County Sheriff’s Office. The suspect, who was not armed at the time of his arrest, said nothing, “kind of zombie-like,” Hawley said. Cetin immigrated from Turkey and is a legal permanent resident of the United States, authorities said. It’s unclear when he moved to the US.
A blurry surveillance photo of a rifle-toting man inside the mall offered a big lead in the hunt for the shooter. The grainy security camera footage showed the suspect initially appearing to enter the mall unarmed and — about 10 minutes later — walking into Macy’s carrying a rifle.
The suspect “fired multiple times, struck four females ranging in age from a teenager to seniors,” said Mount Vernon police Lt. Chris Cammock. It’s unclear whether the suspect knew his victims. “I don’t know what his motivation was,” Cammock said. “I don’t know what his motivation was to continue, I don’t know what his motivation was to stop, but I certainly intend to find out.” He said police recovered a rifle at the mall but would not disclose the type or caliber.
The FBI office in Seattle is helping with a review of intelligence. There’s no information to suggest additional attacks were planned. [Source: CNN News]
Three indicted in attempted killing of Texas judge
A federal grand jury has indicted three individuals for their roles in fraud and racketeering schemes that involved the alleged attempted capital murder of State District Court Judge Julie Kocurek. An 11-count indictment unsealed in Austin Friday alleges that Chimene Onyeri, Marcellus Burgin, and Rasul Scott carried out various fraudulent schemes for financial gain in Austin, Houston, the state of Louisiana and surrounding areas. The racketeering enterprise is alleged to have engaged in mail fraud, bribery of a public official, wire fraud, document fraud, access device fraud and money laundering as well as offenses involving murder.
According to the indictment, the defendants carried out a wire fraud scheme whereby they used debit card readers, or “skimmers,” and cameras placed on ATMs to steal personal identification information (PII) from, and identify PIN #’s used by, unsuspecting individuals. The defendants then used the stolen PII and debit card PIN #’s to “cash out,” or deplete, those bank accounts. The indictment also alleges that Onyeri and others carried out a credit card skimming scheme whereby they captured unsuspecting individuals’ credit card information at various restaurants and retail stores. They would then transfer the stolen information onto gift cards and subsequently use those gift cards to purchase retail items or money orders which could then be sold or converted to cash. The indictment further alleges that Onyeri and others were involved in a Stolen Identity Refund Fraud (SIRF) scheme. Onyeri and others used stolen PII to create and file fraudulent income tax returns seeking refunds.
When the existence of the criminal enterprise was threatened, the defendants responded with violence. The indictment alleges that the defendants attempted to murder State District Court Judge Julie Kocurek, whom Onyeri believed was going to sentence him to prison, by shooting Judge Kocurek while she sat in her car outside her home in Austin. As a result of the incident, Kocurek suffered serious bodily injury from multiple gunshots and resulting shrapnel. “This multi-agency investigation uncovered a diabolical scheme that went from multi-faceted fraud to an attempt on the life of a state judicial officer,” stated United States Attorney Richard L. Durbin, Jr.
Upon conviction, the defendants face up to life in federal prison for the RICO conspiracy charge; up to 20 years in federal prison for conspiracy to commit mail or wire fraud charge; and, a mandatory two years in federal prison for each aggravated identity theft charge. [Source: Kokomo Perspective]
Armed subject enters Tampa Ross store, found dead after shots fired
A male with a handgun walked into a Ross discount clothing store in north Tampa on Saturday night, shots were fired and he was found dead there by deputies, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office said. The incident occurred just before 9 p.m. at the Ross Dress for Less store in the Carrollwood Commons shopping center. The subject entered the store, walked towards the front counter and then to the rear of the store, the Sheriff’s Office said. Patrons and employees started evacuating. Employees heard gunshots and deputies later found the subject dead. He was not immediately identified. Local police are still investigating. [Source: Tampa Bay Times]
Many Questions Still Unanswered After Yahoo Confirms Massive Data Breach
Yahoo has recently suffered a data breach in which the data of 500 million accounts were stolen. And while Yahoo voluntarily came out and admitted to what happened, the lack of details in its press release left a lot of unanswered questions.
Bear in mind that these information were stolen in late 2014. So one has to wonder why it took two years for Yahoo to disclose that half a billion accounts are compromised. The Sunnyvale-based company did not specify when it uncovered the information got stolen from its database. Did they not know until recently? If this is the case, however, then it puts Yahoo in a peculiar spot where its ability to provide data security becomes questionable.
Yahoo says that a “state-sponsored actor” is responsible for the intrusion without giving any specifics regarding the culprit/s. Early in August, reports of a hacker, known only as “Peace” or “Peace of Mind,” selling 200 million Yahoo accounts over the dark web surfaced. However, analysts say that Peace does not fit Yahoo’s description of the culprit for the late 2014 data breach since it’s not typical of a state-sponsored hacker to sell/profit from the looted dumps.
It is no secret that Verizon is well on its way to closing $4.83 billion deal for acquiring Yahoo. However, Yahoo’s data breach report may prompt Verizon to make adjustments regarding the deal. “We will evaluate as the investigation continues through the lens of overall Verizon interests, including consumers, customers, shareholders and related communities,” Verizon said in response to Yahoo’s revelation. [Source: The Tech Times]
7K worth of ink pens stolen from Rice Village store
Seven thousand dollars worth of high-end ink pens were stolen from a store in Rice Village, Texas, and the theft was caught on camera. The owners are hoping the clear image of the thief will help identify him. It happened on Tuesday at Dromgoole’s; but owner Larry Dromgoole didn’t notice the pens were missing until Thursday. “Evidently he’s been here before,” Dromgoole said. “He knew where the key was to the case, he unlocked it and started loading his pockets up with pens.” On his way out, Dromgoole said the thief even put the key back in its proper spot.
Dromgooles’s has been in the community for five decades. Larry Dromgoole is the third-generation owner; he’s never had something like this happen before. “My customers are my friends,” he said. “I don’t have to worry about this happening, and I’m very shocked that it did. We’ve got a good video. We want to catch this person.” [Source: NBC News Houston]
Brinks Security employee steals over $30,000 on the job, police say
A California man is out of a job after police say he stole over $30,000 from his employer, Brinks Security, a money transportation company that supplies and collects cash. La Que Jefferson was arrested and faces a charge of grand theft greater than $20,000, but less than $100,000, after authorities say he stole money from his employer. The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office said Jefferson used the money to pay medical bills, buy gifts for his family members, such as an Xbox game console and television, and pay credit card payments. Authorities also said he gave money to his family.
Jefferson worked as a messenger, or money person, for Brinks Security, where he replenished ATMs, banks, or businesses with the necessary amount of money needed at the time. As is standard practice, Brinks Security supervisors confronted Jefferson and asked him to complete an ATM shortage/overage explanation form. On each of these forms, Jefferson said he collected and packaged the money cassettes from each ATM, as he normally does, and that he did nothing else with the money from that point on.
According to the police report, Jefferson confessed to the theft to a Brinks employee who questioned him during an internal interview about the three incidents of shortages mentioned above. Jefferson showed remorse and wrote letters of apology where he explained how he took the money, what he spent it on and that he was apologetic for his crime. He returned $10,560, including $9,300 in cash, and a television valued at $960 and an Xbox valued at $300. He said the rest of the stolen funds, totaling $16,673, could not be returned because he “spent a good amount of it and cannot get it back.” [Source: ABC News]
LP Worldwide: Drug Dealing bridal shop owner boasted ‘who says crime doesn’t pay’
A wedding business owner who boosted her income by selling ecstasy and cannabis and boasted in a text “who says crime doesn’t pay” has been jailed. Melanie Chirgwin, of Caernarfon (North Wales) has been sentenced to four years in prison after being found guilty of possessing drugs with intent to supply. Chirgwin, who ran the former Mel’s Brides store in Caernarfon, broke down and wept in the dock as she was jailed.
Chirgwin’s vehicle was stopped by police in Penrallt, Caernarfon. When officers carried out a search, they found 120 ecstasy tablets with a street value of about £380 and a small amount of cannabis. A further search found several mobile phones and sim cards. Ffion Tomos, prosecuting, said: “Although the amount of cannabis found was small, the evidence on the mobile phones demonstrated her involvement in the supply of drugs. Messages suggested she was making as much as £1,000 a week and she boasted in one message about this and added ‘who says crime doesn’t pay’.” [Source: The Daily Mirror]
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