The White House says that President Joe Biden will formally call on Congress to "take action" in keeping "weapons of war" off of streets and "keep guns out of the hands of criminals and people who have serious mental illness."

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre made the comments aboard Air Force One to the press as the president traveled to Buffalo, New York on Tuesday to visit the area of a mass shooting there at a supermarket called Tops Market.

As the Associated Press reported, the shooter, Payton Gendron, was described as a quiet, socially awkward student. He once reportedly threatened a murder-suicide while at school and was put under a mental evaluation, then released later the next day when investigators are said to have stopped looking into the matter as serious.

Gendron is accused of shooting and killing 10 people at the Buffalo supermarket. Most of the victims were said to be in their 50s or older. Investigators described the attack as  “racially motivated violent extremism.”

“It is my sincere hope that this individual, this white supremacist who just perpetrated a hate crime on an innocent community, will spend the rest of his days behind bars. And heaven help him in the next world as well,” said New York Gov. Kathy Hochul.

Gendron shot 11 Black people and two white people before he surrendered to police.

BALTIMORE —

As many as 30 people were shot in a mass shooting overnight in Baltimore, Maryland, police said.

Baltimore Police Department Acting Commissioner Rich Worley said officers received multiple calls just after 12:30 a.m. for a mass shooting in the Brooklyn neighborhood, where there was a block party underway.

Worley said officers found an 18-year-old woman dead at the scene. Nine others were taken to hospitals, and as many as 20 others arrived at hospitals across the region on their own.

A 20-year-old man also died, and three others were in critical condition.

Worley said a suspect is not in custody, but that investigators were reviewing video and talking to witnesses to try to identify a suspect. Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott implored the public to provide information.

"This is an absolute tragedy that did not have to happen," Scott said. "Anyone that knows anything about what happened here, anything about this mass shooting, to come forward with any piece of information. Treat this as if it was your family and how you would want people to treat it as as if you were mourning, as if this were an event happening in your community."

Residents told our sister station WBAL TV there was a large gathering in the neighborhood before they heard what sounded like fireworks, which they later learned were gunshots.

No further information was immediately released.

This report will be updated.

Raw video below: Police news conference in its entirety

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NEW YORK CITY — More children across the country are dealing with anxiety and depression than ever before, but mental health experts say children’s books can play a role in helping them cope. Because of that, sales of these books have been steadily increasing over the last decade.

Children’s author Ian Ellis James takes on grown-up conversations with his own children’s book. James, who goes by Electric, is an Emmy-award-winning writer for Sesame Street. Now an author, he visits elementary school kids in New York City to share messages about safety.

“If I can write some books, if I can use some songs, and then go out and start with a 5-year-old, 6-year-old going in and do this well, like a workshop about gun violence and gun violence awareness, I think I can change behavior,” said James.

Books like James’ "A Gun is Not Fun" are in high demand. Sales of books for young readers on violence, grief and emotions have increased for nine straight years, with nearly 6 million copies sold in 2021, that’s more than double the amount sold in 2012.

James sees these books are especially needed in lower-income communities where children typically have less access to mental health care services.

“It really impacts kids of color, the community of color. I tell you, it like, it breaks my heart. That's really why I'm doing this,” said James.

Child psychologist Aryeh Sova believes these children’s books can be effective in helping kids make sense of violence and loss.

“I think it could be a great way to help kids become more of a partners in their own therapy, because a lot of these books involve activities that they could participate in and they can fill out for themselves,” said Sova.

However, Sova said bringing up violence when a child isn’t worried about it could increase their anxiety unnecessarily. So, parents and teachers need to ensure kids are prepared for what they're reading.

“There was probably an effort a while ago to keep children's literature sort of light and happy, and kids shouldn't have to experience trauma in their books. but the fact is, kids do,” said Andrea Colvin, the editorial director of Little, Brown Books for Young Readers.

Colvin hopes parents and teachers see these books as an opportunity to prepare children for the world they’re living in.

“Whenever major things happen in the world, it makes its way down to children's literature because children's literature needs to or it should reflect what's actually happening to kids and what's happening in the world,” said Colvin.

James is encouraged that communities are embracing the idea as a way to help kids cope.

“If I could get you on board to monitor guns and not pull a gun on your friend or neighbor and realize that this gun is not a good thing. If I can turn you around, we got something. We got a little strategy here going,” said James.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The places may change names, but the pain remains the same—mass violence inflicted on people going about their lives.

“That's all that we knew. That he had been shot,” said Deborah Hayslett, whose brother was being treated at a hospital after he was shot during a mass shooting at a Walmart in Chesapeake, Virginia on Tuesday night.

What happened in Virginia and at the LGBTQ nightclub in Colorado several days prior, both are called a “mass shooting” because they fit a specific definition. What exactly does that entail, though?

“That's a really interesting question because it's very much debated in the academic literature,” said Jaclyn Schildkraut, an associate professor of criminal justice at the State University of New York at Oswego and co-editor of the Journal of Mass Violence Research. “Regardless of the definition that you use, all of our different data sources are showing the same thing, and that is an upward trend.”

According to the Gun Violence Archive, there have now been 606 mass shootings in America so far in 2022. Those are defined as when four or more people are injured or killed, not including the shooter.

There have also been 36 mass murders, defined as when more than four people were killed, not including the perpetrator.

“But it doesn't really take into account any sort of the contextual factors,” Schildkraut said. “So, as a result, you have things like gang violence and then familicides, or family shootings, kind of lumped in with what happened in Walmart last night, even though they're very different types of events.”

Daniel Webster studies gun violence and mass shootings as co-director of the Center for Gun Violence Solutions at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

“We tend to really compartmentalize the problem of gun violence,” he said, “and, the truth is, there's a lot of similarities across the different forms of gun violence.”

Webster said when it comes to mass shootings, in particular, there are commonalities when it comes to how they unfold.

“Some of the basics are remarkably consistent,” Webster said. “It's generally a male phenomenon. Again, it's easy access to firearms and acting on some sense of grievance.”

Experts say that makes the sheer number of mass shootings in the country, a distinctly American phenomenon.

“We have not seen historic rises in gun violence or mass shootings in other countries,” Webster said. “We are unique, in not a good way.”

Schildkraut, who is also the interim executive director of the Regional Gun Violence Research Consortium at the Rockefeller Institute, said there are things that can be done to minimize the number of mass shootings.

“There is a lot of planning, a lot of premeditation that goes into them, and so, these are not individuals who wake up and snap. These are individuals who invest a lot of time into preparing for what they're intending to do,” she said. “We have to work to be more proactive to prevent gun violence and less reactive. And so, I think kind of keeping those things in mind is really important, as we sort of struggle with, ‘How do we go to places like Walmart to pick up our Thanksgiving dinner and feel unsafe?’”

It is a question that the country is grappling with on this most American of holidays.

The homicide rate for older U.S. teenagers rose to its highest point in nearly 25 years during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the suicide rate for adults in their early 20s was the worst in more than 50 years, government researchers said Thursday.Video above: COVID-19 pandemic increases awareness about youth suicideThe Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report examined the homicide and suicide rates among 10- to 24-year-olds from 2001 to 2021.The increase is alarming and "reflects a mental health crisis among young people and a need for a number of policy changes," said Dr. Steven Woolf, a Virginia Commonwealth University researcher who studies U.S. death trends and wasn't involved in the CDC report.Experts cited several possible reasons for the increases, including higher rates of depression, limited availability of mental health services and the number of guns in U.S. homes.Guns were used in 54% of suicides and 93% of homicides among the age group in 2021, the most recent year for which statistics were available."Picture a teenager sitting in their bedroom feeling desperate and making a decision, impulsively, to take their own life," Woolf said. If they have access to a gun, "it's game over."Suicide and homicide were the second and third leading causes of death for 10- to 24-year-olds, after a category of accidental deaths that included motor vehicle crashes, falls, drownings and overdoses. Other researchers have grouped the data by the method of death and concluded that guns are now the biggest killer of U.S. children.Earlier this year, Woolf and other researchers looking at CDC data noted dramatic increases in child and adolescent death rates overall at the beginning of the pandemic and found suicide and homicide were essential factors.The report also found:Suicide and homicide death rates remained far higher for older teenagers and young adults than they were for 10- to 14-year-olds.In 2021, there were about 2,900 suicides in youths ages 10 to 19, and 4,200 in 20- to 24-year-olds. About 3,000 homicide deaths were reported in the younger group, and nearly 3,900 in the adults in their early 20s.The homicide death rate jumped from 8.9 deaths per 100,000 teens aged 15 to 19 in 2019 to 12.3 in 2020. It rose to 12.8 deaths per 100,000 in 2021, the highest since 1997, according to CDC data.Homicide deaths became more common than suicide deaths among 15- to 19-year-olds, while suicide was more common in the younger and older age groups.While large increases were seen in homicide rates for young Black and Hispanic people in the U.S., there were no significant increases for their white counterparts, other CDC data shows.Among 20- to 24-year-olds, the homicide death rate jumped 34% from 2019 to 2020 — from 13.4 per 100,000 population to 18 per 100,000. It held stable in 2021, but the suicide rate rose enough in 2021 — to 19.4 per 100,000 — to surpass the homicide rate.Suicide death rates in children and teens were rising before COVID-19, but they jumped up at the beginning of the pandemic. Dr. Madhukar Trivedi, a psychiatrist at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, said the reasons may be hard to pinpoint, but that isolation during COVID-19 lockdowns could be a factor."There is a misperception that if you talk to young people about depression, they'll get depressed. A don't-ask, don't-tell policy for depression is not effective," Trivedi said. "The earlier we can identify the ones who need help, the better chance we'll have at saving lives."

JERUSALEM (AP) — A Palestinian gunman opened fire outside an east Jerusalem synagogue Friday night, killing seven people, including a 70-year-old woman, and wounding three others before he was shot and killed by police, officials said. It was the deadliest attack on Israelis in years and raised the likelihood of more bloodshed.

The attack, which occurred as residents were observing the Jewish sabbath, came a day after an Israeli military raid killed nine people in the West Bank. The shooting set off celebrations in both the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip, where people fired guns into the air, honked horns and distributed sweets.

The burst of violence, which also included a rocket barrage from Gaza and retaliatory Israeli airstrikes, has posed an early challenge for Israel’s new government, which is dominated by ultranationalists who have pushed for a hard line against Palestinian violence. It also cast a cloud over a visit by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken to the region Sunday.

Addressing reporters at Israel's national police headquarters, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had held a security assessment and decided on “immediate actions.” He said he would convene his Security Cabinet on Saturday night, after the end of the sabbath, to discuss a further response.

Netanyahu declined to elaborate but said Israel would act with “determination and composure.” He called on the public not to take take the law into their own hands.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the U.S. strongly condemned the attack and was “shocked and saddend by the lose of life,” noting it came on International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

″The United States will extend our full support to the government and people of Israel,” she said.

Israeli police said the shootings occurred in Neve Yaakov, a religious neighborhood in east Jerusalem with a large ultra Orthodox population, and that the gunman fled in a car after opening fire. Police said they chased after him and after an exchange of fire, killed him.

Jerusalem police chief Doron Turjeman confirmed seven deaths, in addition to the shooter, and said three people were wounded.

Police identified the attacker as a 21-year-old east Jerusalem resident who apparently acted alone. Turjeman promised an “aggressive and significant” effort to track down anyone who had helped him.

Police also released a photo of the pistol it said was used by the attacker.

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant huddled with Israel's military chief and other top security officials and instructed them to assist police and strengthen defenses near Jerusalem and for Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank.

"Israel’s defense establishment will operate decisively and forcefully against terror and will reach anyone involved in the attack,” Gallant said.

Israel's MADA rescue service said the dead included five men and two women, including several who were 60 or older. Jerusalem’s Hadassah Hospital said a 15-year-old boy was recovering from surgery.

The bloodshed was the deadliest on Israelis since a 2008 shooting killed eight people in a Jewish seminary in Jerusalem, according to the Foreign Ministry. Given the location and timing, it threatened to trigger a tough response from Israel.

Overnight Thursday, Gaza militants fired a barrage of rockets into southern Israel, with all of them either intercepted or landing in open areas. Israel responded with airstrikes on targets in Gaza. No casualties were reported and calm appeared to be taking hold before Friday night's shooting.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the shooting. In Gaza, Hazem Qassem, spokesman for the ruling Hamas militant group, said the attack was “a revenge and natural response” to the killing of nine Palestinians in Jenin on Thursday.

At several locations across the Gaza Strip, dozens of Palestinians gathered in spontaneous demonstrations to celebrate the Jerusalem attack, with some coming out of dessert shops with large trays of sweets to distribute.

In downtown Gaza City, celebratory gunfire could be heard, as cars honked and calls of “God is great!” wafted from mosque loudspeakers. In various West Bank towns, Palestinians launched fireworks and honked horns in celebration.

The attack escalated tensions that were already heightened following Thursday's military raid in the West Bank town of Jenin, where nine people, including at least seven militants and a 61-year-old woman, were killed. It was the deadliest single raid in the West Bank in two decades. A 10th Palestinian was killed in separate fighting near Jerusalem.

Angry Palestinians had marched Friday as they buried the last of those killed a day earlier.

Scuffles between Israeli forces and Palestinian protesters erupted after the funeral for a 22-year-old Palestinian north of Jerusalem and elsewhere in the occupied West Bank, but calm prevailed in the contested capital and in the blockaded Gaza Strip for most of the day.

But all that quickly dissolved with the east Jerusalem shooting, described as “horrific and heartbreaking” by Yair Lapid, the opposition leader and former prime minister.

Neve Yaakov is a religious Jewish settlement in east Jerusalem that Israel considers to be a neighborhood of its capital. Israel claims all of Jerusalem as its undivided capital, while the Palestinians seek east Jerusalem as a capital of their future state.

Blinken’s trip will probably now focus heavily on lowering tensions. He is likely to discuss the underlying causes of the conflict that continue to fester, the agenda of Israel’s new far-right government and the Palestinian Authority’s decision to halt security coordination with Israel in retaliation for the deadly raid.

The Biden administration has been deeply engaged with Israeli and Palestinian leaders in recent days, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said, underscoring the “urgent need here for all parties to deescalate to prevent the further loss of civilian life and to work together to improve the security situation in the West Bank.”

While residents of Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank were on edge, midday prayers Friday at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, often a catalyst for clashes between Palestinians and Israeli police, passed in relative calm.

Both the Palestinian rockets and Israeli airstrikes seemed limited so as to prevent growing into a full-blown war. Israel and Hamas have fought four wars and several smaller skirmishes since the militant group seized power in Gaza from rival Palestinian forces in 2007.

Tensions have soared since Israel stepped up raids in the West Bank last spring, following a series of Palestinian attacks. Jenin, which was an important a militant stronghold during the 2000-2005 intifada and has again emerged as one, has been the focus of many of the Israeli operations.

Nearly 150 Palestinians were killed in the West Bank and east Jerusalem last year, making 2022 the deadliest in those territories since 2004, according to leading Israeli rights group B’Tselem. Last year, 30 people were killed in Palestinian attacks against Israelis.

So far this year, 30 Palestinians have been killed, according to a count by The Associated Press.

Israel says most of the dead were militants. But youths protesting the incursions and others not involved in the confrontations also have been killed.

Anwar Gargash, a senior diplomat in the United Arab Emirates, warned that “the Israeli escalation in Jenin is dangerous and disturbing and undermines international efforts to advance the priority of the peace agenda.” The UAE recognized Israel in 2020 along with Bahrain, which has remained silent on the surge in violence.

In the West Bank, Fatah announced a general strike and most shops were closed in Palestinian cities. The PA said Thursday it would halt the ties that its security forces maintain with Israel in a shared effort to contain Islamic militants. Previous threats have been short-lived, in part because of the benefits the authority enjoys from the relationship, and also due to U.S. and Israeli pressure.

The PA has limited control over scattered enclaves in the West Bank, and almost none over militant strongholds like the Jenin camp.

Israel says its raids are meant to dismantle militant networks and thwart attacks. The Palestinians say they further entrench Israel’s 55-year, open-ended occupation of the West Bank, which Israel captured along with east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip in the 1967 Mideast war. The Palestinians want those territories to form any eventual state.

Israel has established dozens of settlements in the West Bank that house 500,000 people. The Palestinians and much of the international community view settlements as illegal and an obstacle to peace, even as talks to end the conflict have been moribund for over a decade.

Stockton, California, police said that an arrest was made after a man was shot seven times in what authorities had been investigating as a possible hate crime. The San Joaquin County District Attorney's Office confirmed later that it will be moving forward with hate crime charges.Detectives with the Stockton Police Department arrested Michael Hayes, 31, in connection with the Friday shooting of 45-year-old Bobby Gayle Jr., a news release said. Hayes was booked into the San Joaquin County Jail and is facing attempted homicide, assault with a deadly weapon and weapons charges.“I would like to thank the anonymous tipster and the hard work of our detectives for bringing a quick resolution to this case for the victim and his family,” Stockton police Chief Eric Jones said in a prepared statement. “Gun violence is not tolerated in our community.”Part of Friday night's violence was captured in surveillance footage obtained by KCRA 3. Bobby, a cement mason, was preparing to do some work with a friend near the Wells Fargo Bank on Pacific Avenue near Rivara Road when a driver going backward almost hit them, said Bobby's brother, Dr. Marlon Gayle."My brother threw his hands up, was like, 'Hey, man, slow down. What's going on, like slow down,'" Marlon said. “And the guy got out his truck, parked his truck, got out, and he started saying the 'n' word and just started shooting."Bobby is seen on the right of the video holding his hands up as a gunman on the left shoots. Marlon said two of the shots hit Bobby in his face.Even though he was injured in the shooting, Bobby managed to call for his brother, Marlon recalled, and played a voicemail that said, "Marlon, I've been shot. Pray for me. I swear to God. Please. In the name of Jesus. Hallelujah."Marlon said none of the bullets pierced any major arteries. He is expected to survive.Gayle remains in the hospital, but his family said he's recovering."I'm in pain a little bit right now. But it's a good pain and just I can feel myself being carried by the lord. This is the lord's work. My brother wants me to slow down — I can't go back out there and work," Gayle said in a recorded video to KCRA 3.The San Joaquin County District Attorney’s Office said Hayes could be arraigned on Monday.

WASHINGTON —

The CEO of a Chicago company said he was arrested after breaching the U.S. Capitol during Wednesday's violence in Washington.

Brad Rukstales, CEO of the marketing technology firm Cogensia, apologized for what he called a "moment of extremely poor judgment."

"It was the single worst personal decision of my life," Rukstales said in a statement posted on Twitter.

Cogensia, based in the Chicago suburb of Schaumburg, sought to distance itself from its CEO, whom the company said has been placed on leave of absence.

"Mr. Rukstales' actions were his own; he was not acting on behalf of our company nor do his actions in any way reflect the policies or values of our firm," Cogensia said in a statement posted on LinkedIn.

Neither Rukstales nor Cogensia were reachable for further comment. The U.S. Capitol Police did not respond to a request for comment to confirm the arrest.

Five people died as a result of Wednesday's insurrection, including a U.S. Capitol Police officer. A federal murder investigation has been opened into the officer's death. House Democrats plan to introduce articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump as early as Monday for "incitement of insurrection," according to sources familiar with the matter and a draft article obtained by CNN.

Video: U.S. Congressman questions Capitol protest security

"Without qualification and as a peaceful and law-abiding citizen, I condemn the violence and destruction that took place in Washington," Rukstales said in his statement.

The Cogensia CEO said that following the rally in Washington, he "followed hundreds of others through an open set of doors to the Capitol building to see what was taking place inside."

Rukstales said he was arrested and charged with unlawful entry.

"My decision to enter the Capitol was wrong, and I am deeply regretful to have done so," he said.

A number of other people present at Wednesday's unrest have faced consequences from their employers. Navistar, a direct marketing company in Maryland, fired an employee who was photographed wearing his company ID badge inside the U.S. Capitol building.

"While we support all employees' right to peaceful, lawful exercise of free speech, any employee demonstrating dangerous conduct that endangers the health and safety of others will no longer have an employment opportunity with Navistar Direct Marketing," the company said in a statement provided to CNN.

Video: Scenes from Washington protests

"The situation right now is very dire," Patricia Gossman, associate Asia director for the Human Rights Watch, said.

As the Taliban take control of Afghanistan, women and girls are beginning to live under the return of a very dark reality. 

"The Taliban ruled over Afghanistan for five years until 2001, and they harbored al-Qaeda. Their rule was ghastly, and it was harsh, and there are many concerns that the rights of women over the past 20 years could be rolled back in an instant," Aya Batrawy, Gulf correspondent for the Associated Press, said.

Across the country, observers report the Taliban has already become violent against women and girls for not obeying Islamic extremism rules that reject western influence.  

Nilofar is a displaced teacher from the Takhar province. She says the Taliban recently lashed girls from her school for their choice of footwear, sandals, that were too revealing. 

"They are already also seeking out people that were associated with the current government. We are aware of a number of executions of people have been taken into Taliban custody," Gossman said.

As reports surface of girls being told not to attend school, the Taliban says education will be allowed, so long as "Islamic Sharia laws are not neglected."

"When we consider women and girls, all those who've had their lives advanced, this is searing. It is hard stuff," Secretary of State Antony Blinken told ABC News.

Some women are even being told to stay home and give their jobs to male relatives. 

"I am worried about the women who are vocal, but more importantly, I’m more worried about the girls who cannot talk, who don't have a platform, who cannot represent themselves," Pashtana Dorani, executive director of LEARN, said.

And this may be the beginning.

Meg Hilling at Newsy first reported this story.

CINCINNATI —

Cincinnati police said there is an alarming rise in domestic violence-related killings.

The latest being a pregnant mother and her unborn child in West Price Hill.

Michelle McDonald's family said she was loving, happy and kind.

They told WLWT they had no idea something so terrible was about to happen.

That's why they hope victims will find help as soon as they can.

"I just feel so much pain that I just don't feel like it's going to ever going to end," said Michelle Sanchez, McDonald's mother.

Sanchez cries for her 31-year-old daughter and her unborn baby granddaughter, Aaliyah.

Cincinnati police said both are the latest victims of domestic violence murder.

McDonald is remembered for her smile.

"Unfortunately, it's events like these that bring it to light more. So, now we've lost this beautiful woman and this child," Lt. Col. Lisa Davis said.

Police have charged Antonio Wilcox, 37, with murder.

Loved ones said he was dating McDonald and was the baby's father.

McDonald leaves behind a 4-year-old daughter, who family members said witnessed the shooting.

Cincinnati police recorded three domestic violence-related murders in 2018.

They said there were just as many in 2019.

Officials said in 2020, there were five domestic violence-related murders.

So far in 2021, they have counted nine.

Davis said the pandemic may have fueled a spike.

"The controlling, the manipulation, isolating you from your friends and family, those type of things. I think the lesson is whenever, as a family member, as a friend, you're seeing those things," she said. "I think it's OK to ask those tough questions and I think we all have to be that person because we care about them."

Police said Wilcox has a violent history and should not have had a gun.

"We know a lot of bad guys get their guns through straw purchases, meaning, they'll get someone who can legally buy a gun and then they give that to the bad guy," Davis said.

McDonald's family hopes her story could inspire victims to find help.

"Let them know they've got that one person they can come talk to and confide in when something like this is going on because it's happening in everybody's families," said Dorothea Young, McDonald's cousin.

Police said this case is a reminder to never give up on the victims.

They said it is important to remember to go at their pace and remind them that they have safety and support when they decide it is time to leave.

Cincinnati police said domestic violence incidents typically only make up between 6% and 8% of homicides.

This year, the number sits at 16%.

They believe part of the problem is the number of guns available on the streets.

Officials said so far, Cincinnati officers have recovered more than 800 guns.

London’s police department is under scrutiny for the way officers handled some participants at an unofficial vigil Saturday night for a London woman whose death led to murder charges against a fellow officer and spurred a national conversation about violence against women in the U.K.

Hundreds of people disregarded a judge's ruling and police requests by gathering at Clapham Common in honor of Sarah Everard, 33, who last was seen alive near the south London park on March 3. Demonstrators said they wanted to draw attention to the fear and danger many women see as a daily part of British life.

Everard disappeared while walking home from a friend’s apartment at about 10:30 p.m. and was found dead a week later. The slaying sent shockwaves across the U.K. because a Metropolitan Police officer is charged with her kidnapping and murder.

Video of Saturday's informal vigil turned rally showed officers from the same police force tussling with participants as they pushed their way through the crowd. At one point, several male officers grabbed hold of several women and pulled them away in handcuffs to screaming and shouting from onlookers, Britain's Press Association reported.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan decried the police actions.

“The police have a responsibility to enforce COVID laws, but from images I’ve seen it’s clear the response was at times neither appropriate nor proportionate,” Khan said on Twitter.

Home Secretary Priti Patel tweeted that she had asked the Metropolitan Police for a full report on what happened.

The gathering happened hours after London constable Wayne Couzens, 48, appeared in court for the first time since his arrest in Everard's death. As Metropolitan Police officers approached the Clapham Common bandstand on Saturday evening, boos, jeers and shouts of “Shame on you” came from the crowd, according to the Press Association.

Organizers had hoped to hold “Reclaim the Streets” vigils in Everard’s memory at the south London location and in other U.K. cities on Saturday but canceled the in-person events after a judge refused to grant an order allowing them to go on despite coronavirus restrictions that bar mass gatherings.

Hundreds of people showed up nonetheless. Before police moved in, many participants laid flowers at the park bandstand. Among them was Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, who was seen pausing for a moment in front of the sea of flowers.

Other people held signs reading “We will not be silenced” and “She was just walking home,” and the crowd chanted, “Sisters united will never be defeated.”

In the wake of Everard’s disappearance and killing, many women have taken to social media to share their own experiences of being threatened or attacked while walking outside.

A 33-year-old nurse who works in the Clapham area, Mel Clarke, said she felt “very conflicted” about attending Saturday's gathering because of pandemic restrictions, but in the end "just felt that I needed to be here.”

“I’m really pleased that there are a lot of men here. I hope that this is kind of an opportunity for men to learn how women feel, how vulnerable we are," Clarke said. “I hope that this is the start of justice being served for Sarah.”

The Metropolitan Police has expressed shock and horror that one of its own was a suspect in the case. The London police force said Couzens joined its ranks in 2018 and most recently served in the parliamentary and diplomatic protection command, an armed unit responsible for guarding embassies in the capital and Parliament.

During his court appearance earlier in the day, Couzens stood wearing a gray tracksuit as the charges were read to him. He was remanded into custody and has another appearance scheduled Tuesday at London’s Central Criminal Court.

Everard's body was found hidden in an area of woodland in Kent, more than 50 miles southeast of London, on Wednesday, a week after she went missing. A post-mortem examination is underway, police said Friday.

TV and radio presenter Sandi Toksvig said at the start of a vigil held online Saturday that a “cultural shift about how women are viewed and treated both in the public and private space” was needed.

“I am filled in equal measure with profound sorrow and rage, and I know there are many who share this rage, and I think it is entirely justifiable," Toksvig said. "But I also know that it will harm rather than help us if we don’t try and direct that anger to good purpose.”

CNN —

A coalition tracking reports of racism and discrimination against Asian Americans says it has received at least 3,795 firsthand complaints since last year.

Stop AAPI Hate began tracking violence and harassment against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders on March 19 last year.

From then through the end of 2020, Stop AAPI Hate received a total of 3,292 complaints from all 50 states and Washington, D.C., according to a Stop AAPI Hate news release. The coalition, which had previously reported a lower number of complaints for 2020, said some incidents that took place in 2020 were not reported until earlier this year.

There were at least 503 anti-Asian hate incidents reported between Jan. 1 and Feb. 28 according to the group's latest report, released Tuesday.

While the incidents reported through their website likely only represent a portion of the number of hate incidents in the United States, the coalition says those numbers show that anti-Asian sentiment is still prevalent.

"Hate incidents are not abating. We cannot let anti-Asian American hate be a legacy of COVID-19 or the last presidential administration, but that's exactly what will happen unless we demand concrete action," Russell Jeung, co-founder of Stop AAPI Hate and professor of Asian American Studies at San Francisco State University, said in a statement.

The majority of the incidents — about 68%— were cases of verbal harassment, while shunning or avoidance made up about 20.5%. About 11% of the incidents involved physical assaults, according to Stop AAPI Hate.

More than a third of the incidents — 35.4% — took place in businesses, 25.3% were in public streets and 9.8% in public parks. Nearly 11% of the reports involved online incidents, according to the organization.

Among those saying they've experience hate, 42.2% identify as Chinese, followed by 14.8% who said they're Korean. Vietnamese and Filipinos make 8.5% and 7.9% of those reporting the incidents, respectively.

Stop AAPI Hate said it doesn't independently verify any of the reports it receives, but that its total number of incidents only includes those reports that came with a description.

"We just report what we receive. We do tend to believe the impacted person, especially as so many are willing to go on record and to speak publicly about what happened to them," said Ujala Sehgal, a spokeswoman for Stop AAPI Hate.

In recent months, advocates, actors and officials have come together to denounce violence following a string of attacks in California and New York that left several people severely injured and some dead.

Last week, President Joe Biden addressed the nation on the one-year anniversary of the COVID-19 shutdown. During his speech, he condemned the hate and discrimination that Asian Americans have faced.

"Too often, we have turned against one another," Biden said. "A mask, the easiest thing to do to save lives, sometimes, it divides us, states pitted against one another, instead of working with each other, vicious hate crimes against Asian Americans, who have been attacked, harassed, blamed and scapegoated."

"At this very moment, so many of them, our fellow Americans, they're on the front lines of this pandemic trying to save lives, and still, still they're forced to live in fear for their lives just walking down streets in America. It's wrong. It's un-American. And it must stop," he added.

Hours before Biden's speech, two Democratic lawmakers reintroduced legislation in the House and the Senate calling for the expedited review of hate crimes related to the pandemic.

Rep. Grace Meng of New York, who sponsored the bill in the House, said she hopes the legislation tackles the "disgusting pattern of hate" that Asian Americans are facing since the start of the pandemic.

CINCINNATI —

Cincinnati is confronting the dichotomy of what data shows about street violence in the city and what it feels like to fearful residents.

According to statistics the police department has compiled, shootings and homicides are lower than they were a year ago at this time. Not only that, but overall violent crime in the city is at a six-year low.

So, why does it feel that the situation is worsening? One reason may be that although there are fewer shootings so far this year, there have been 49 in the past 28 days.

And most of the 183 shootings since the first of the year have occurred since May.

That includes the shooting of a sixteen year-old boy in Avondale last night. On Tuesday, police went to that neighborhood to hand out fliers and do some one-to-one conversing.

"A grandma, a single mom, pushing a stroller, a young person, anyone," Lieutenant Colonel Mike John instructed his officers Tuesday afternoon. "Just engage. That's the most important part of this."

He said he'd rather see them hand out ten fliers out instead of a hundred if they can have a meaningful conversation with someone. The fliers included dots on a map showing where street violence was happening.

As they fanned out to eight separate locations, the fact that data showed a decrease in overall crime was only a stat easily dismissed on the streets.

"My kids don't even want me to walk to the store," Charlotte Baker told Officer Lou Arnold.
Arnold walked the back lots of some apartment buildings off Reading between Cleveland and Blair, one of the hot spots in the neighborhood.

The idea was to show people how to connect with agencies that have helpful resources and to establish a connection. He did that with Baker, both agreeing that the neighborhood they grew up in is nothing like it once was.

He met Edward Clay, who told us he's 58 and has lived in Avondale for 15 years.

"I'm a gunshot victim. Got shot three times out in Winton Terrace," said Clay.

He told us he never looked back.

"I ran the streets and stuff like that. But I had to wise up to let myself know that, hey man, this stuff out here ain't nothin', man, you know. I got to keep a roof over my head."

Clay said people on the margins need help.

Over-the-Rhine, Walnut Hills, West End, Avondale and Westwood lead the neighborhood list of shootings in 2021.

Police have had success in reducing the number of homicides by ten at the midway point of the year. And their clearance rate is 73% which is higher than the national average.

They have seized 750 illegal guns from the streets this year, 200 above the three-year average.

At City Hall, Chief Eliot Isaac told lawmakers illegal guns are used in most of the shootings and are tragically and mistakenly viewed as a logical response to sudden disputes.

"Someone retrieves a gun and now it turned into a shooting," said Isaac. "The inability to resolve conflict is what is at the root of most of these violent crimes."

His voice grew more animated as he asked for help on this from the community.

"Make sure young people know how to resolve conflict before they're out in society and it doesn't result in someone picking up a gun or two individuals having an argument and they end up shooting three little kids as they try to shoot each other."

Law Committee Chairman Chris Smitherman said citizens tell him how they want a police presence and are against the notion to defund the police.

Asked about morale, Isaac conceded his officers feel scarred by the heat of political rhetoric and do not feel supported at times. He asked that they look past that and focus on the policies and votes by local lawmakers.

He pointed to a significant raise, overtime approval, external vests and other programs that were funded as examples of what City Council provided.

"I feel very supported by this Council," Isaac stated.