Apparent security camera footage shows a person allegedly firing into a police car in Compton, California Saturday evening
Two law enforcement officials are in critical condition and a suspect is at large after the officers were shot in their patrol vehicle in Compton, California on Saturday, according to media reports.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office posted moments after the shooting what appears to be security footage of the incident on their Twitter page, saying that one male deputy and one female deputy were “ambushed” and are going through surgery after sustaining “multiple gunshot wounds.”
The incident happened around 7 p.m. PDT at the corner of Willowbrook Avenue and Compton Boulevard in front of a metro station, KABC-TV in Los Angeles reports.
Update: The gunman walked up on the deputies and opened fire without warning or provocation. pic.twitter.com/cBQjyKkoxJ
The video posted to Twitter shows an individual walking up to the police vehicle and motioning his arms toward the front passenger window before turning to their left and running away.
While the deputies’ names have not been disclosed at this time, it has been revealed that one is a 24-year-old man and a 31-year-old woman, who is the mother of a six-year-old.
The local news outlet reports that both victims had become deputies just 14 months prior to the incident.
In a press conference, authorities revealed that one of the deputies was able to give a “very generic suspect description” of a “dark skin male,” but no other details were provided.
Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva spoke at the press conference, calling the shooting “a cowardly act.”
“The two deputies were doing their job, minding their own business, watching out for the safety of the people on the train,” Villanueva stated. “To see somebody just walk up and start shooting on them. It pisses me off. It dismays me at the same time. There’s no pretty way to say it.”
President Donald Trump weighed in on the situation on Twitter, writing “Animals that must be hit hard” in one post.
The president also retweeted a request for prayer for the officers from his son, Donald Trump, Jr., saying: “If they die, fast trial death penalty for the killer. Only way to stop this!”
If they die, fast trial death penalty for the killer. Only way to stop this! https://t.co/K3sKh28GjX
A senior Trump campaign adviser said Sunday he believes it's likely the president will trail in the polls and mail-in voting requests going into Election Day but come from behind to win, similar to his victory in 2016.
“I would concede that it's probably going to be a similar scenario where, when we look back retrospectively we will probably see that the president was down into Election Day, and then won Election Day itself by an incredibly wide margin,” senior Trump campaign adviser Steve Cortes said on “Fox News Sunday.”
Cortes’ remarks come as Democrats outpace Republicans in mail-in ballot requests, especially in key battleground states. A new Fox News national poll shows Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden winning 71 percent of likely voters who said they planned to vote by mail.
Cortes suggested more Democrats requesting ballots didn't necessarily indicate they would vote for Biden, but said regardless Donald Trump would likely close the gap on Nov. 3.
The president has repeatedly attacked mail-in voting, claiming without evidence that it could lead to more instances of ballot fraud.
Appearing on NBC's "Meet the Press," Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel also predicted Trump would prevail, despite Democrats' lead in fundraising.
"I feel very good about the investment that the RNC's put in place, and I feel very confident in the plan that the campaign has," she said. "The plan, the campaign will have the money and it has the strategy to win."
On Fox, Cortes explained his belief in an Election Day win for Trump stemmed in large part from the gap in enthusiasm between Biden and Trump supporters.
Trump has continued to lead Biden in enthusiasm, though the new Fox poll indicated Biden may be bridging that divide: 43 percent of likely Biden voters said they were enthusiastic about voting for Biden, up 12 points from Fox’s June poll.
The Fox News poll of 1,191 likely voters was conducted Sept. 7-10 with a margin of error of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points.
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COMPTON, Calif. — The shooting of two Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies in an apparent ambush prompted a manhunt for the shooter, reaction from the president and protests outside the hospital where the wounded deputies were being treated Saturday night in California.
The 31-year-old female deputy and 24-year-old male deputy both underwent surgery Saturday evening, Sheriff Alex Villanueva said in a late-night news conference. Both graduated from the academy 14 months ago, he said.
The deputies were shot while sitting in their patrol car at a Metro rail station and were able to radio for help, the sheriff said. Villanueva, whose department has come under fire during recent protests over racial unrest, expressed frustration over anti-police sentiment as he urged people to pray for the officers.
“It pisses me off. It dismays me at the same time,” he said.
The department shared video of the shooting in a Twitter post showing a person open fire through the passenger-side window of the patrol car.
“The gunman walked up on the deputies and opened fire without warning or provocation,” the department stated.
The video sparked thousands of reactions, including from President Donald Trump, who responded, “Animals that must be hit hard!”
Protesters gathered outside the emergency room at the hospital where the injured deputies were being treated.
“To the protesters blocking the entrance & exit of the HOSPITAL EMERGENCY ROOM yelling “We hope they die” referring to 2 LA Sheriff’s ambushed today in #Compton: DO NOT BLOCK EMERGENCY ENTRIES & EXITS TO THE HOSPITAL,” the sheriff’s department tweeted. “People’s lives are at stake when ambulances can’t get through.”
A radio reporter who was near the protest scene was taken into custody, KABC-TV reported. The sheriff’s department later tweeted that the reporter interfered with the arrest of a male protester.
“The female adult, who was later identified as a member of the press, did not identify herself as press and later admitted she did not have proper press credentials on her person,” the department stated.
Capt. Kent Wegener said officers were blanketing the area in search of the suspect seen on the video opening fire with a pistol.
“We have a very, very generic description,” he said.
The incident happened around 7 p.m. a short distance from the Compton sheriff’s station.
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Overt harassment and subtle intimidation during fieldwork compound the discrimination that Black scientists already feel in academic settings
WASHINGTON (AP) — University of Washington ecologist Christopher Schell is studying how coronavirus shutdowns have affected wildlife in Seattle and other cities. But when planning fieldwork, he also thinks about how he’s perceived in neighborhoods where he installs wildlife cameras.
“I wear the nerdiest glasses I have and often a jacket that has my college logo, so that people don’t mistake me for what they think is a thug or hooligan,” said Schell, who is African American.
The recent episode of a white woman calling the police on a Black birder in New York’s Central Park shocked many people. But for Black environmental scientists, worrying about whether they are likely to be harassed or asked to justify their presence while doing fieldwork is a familiar concern.
Tanisha Williams, a botanist at Bucknell University, knows exactly which plants she’s looking for. But after being questioned by strangers in public parks, Williams, who is Black, has started carrying her field guides with her.
This 2020 photo provided by Tanisha Williams shows her in Lewisburg, Pa. Williams, a botanist at Bucknell University, knows exactly which plants she’s looking for. But after being questioned by strangers in public parks, Williams, who is Black, has started carrying her field guides with her. (Tanisha Williams via AP)
“I’ve been quizzed by random strangers,” she said. “Now I bring my wildflower books and botanical field guides, trying to look like a scientist. It’s for other people. I wouldn’t otherwise lug these books.”
Overt harassment and subtle intimidation during fieldwork compound the discrimination that Black scientists and those from other underrepresented racial and ethnic backgrounds already feel in academic settings.
Now researchers in the environmental sciences are increasingly raising issues of discrimination and marginalization in the wake of a national reckoning on race. They are also pointing out how a lack of diversity among scientists can lead to flawed or incomplete research.
A National Science Foundation survey found that in 2016, scholars who identified as Black or African American were awarded just 6% of all doctorates in life sciences, and less than 3% of doctorates in physical and Earth sciences. Students who identified as Hispanic or Latino were awarded less than 8% of doctorates in life sciences and about 5% of doctorates in physical and Earth sciences. According to the most recent census, Black people make up 13.4% of the population, and Latinos 18.5%.
“The issue is not lack of interest” on the part of students from the underrepresented groups, said the University of Washington’s Scott Freeman, who studies educational pipelines to degrees in science, technology, engineering or math. But many of those students come from families with fewer financial resources and face gaps in access to secondary education that is geared toward the sciences or college preparation. Those factors can influence how well they perform in freshman general chemistry — considered a gateway course for pursuing these so-called STEM majors.
It’s possible to decrease the impact of these disadvantages by adjusting teaching styles, such as replacing traditional large lectures with hands-on learning, according to Freeman’s research. And students from underrepresented backgrounds who overcome initial obstacles are “ hyper persistent ” in their studies, continuing at higher rates in STEM fields compared with their white peers, he found.
Tanisha Williams (Tanisha Williams via AP)
Addressing these gaps has taken on new urgency as the U.S. confronts systemic racism in the wake of nationwide protests after the death of George Floyd at the hands of police.
At a meeting this summer of the Society for Conservation Biology North America, one panel was devoted to “why conservation science needs to prioritize racial and social justice.” Hundreds of scientists have joined a wider discussion among academics about racism, posting their personal experiences of discrimination under the Twitter hashtag #BlackintheIvory, referring to the ivory tower.
But environmental scientists must confront discrimination not just in the halls of academia but in the field as well.
Carnivore ecologist Rae Wynn-Grant, a fellow at the National Geographic Society, said she has to put her “feelings aside” when her fieldwork takes her to places where she encounters racist symbols. While driving in rural Maryland to study bears, Wynn-Grant, who is Black, passed several Confederate flags and a cloth doll of a lynched man hanging from a tree.
“This is the extra labor Black people have to do in order to participate in something they’re interested in,” she said.
Many researchers say that exposing middle school and high school students to scientists from diverse backgrounds is essential to combating systemic racism.
“Growing up, the only Black botanist I’d heard of was George Washington Carver,” said Williams, the scientist at Bucknell, who helped organize a Twitter campaign to highlight the achievements of Black botanists.
— Dr. Tanisha M. Williams 🌳 #BlackBotanistsWeek 🌺 (@T_Marie_Wms) July 7, 2020
Itumeleng Moroenyane, a doctoral student at the National Institute of Scientific Research in Quebec, grew up in post-apartheid South Africa and said he was the only Black botany student in his university’s graduating class. Moroenyane now makes it a priority to mentor younger Black scholars.
This 2019 photo provided by Itumeleng Moroenyane shows him in Laval, Quebec, Canada. Moroenyane, a doctoral student at the National Institute of Scientific Research in Quebec, grew up in post-apartheid South Africa and says he was the only Black botany student in his university’s graduating class. (Itumeleng Moroenyane via AP)
Corina Newsome said her passion for biology started during a high school internship at the Philadelphia Zoo, where a zookeeper who mentored her was the first Black scientist she had met.
Now an ornithologist at Georgia Southern University, Newsome, who is Black, said institutions can promote diversity by helping students find mentors and offering paid internships. “To enter wildlife studies, you are often expected to do a lot of free labor and free internships early in your career,” she said. “This automatically excludes many people.”
Empowering ecologists and other researchers from diverse backgrounds can improve the research itself, scientists say.
Deja Perkins, a Black conservation biologist at North Carolina State University, has studied gaps in how community-science bird-watching projects are conducted in wealthy and poor communities.
This 2020 photo provided by Deja Perkins shows her on Sapelo Island, Ga. Perkins, a conservation biologist at North Carolina State University, has studied gaps in how community-science bird-watching projects are conducted in wealthy and poor communities. (Jason Ward/Deja Perkins via AP)
“It’s a problem if data from poor neighborhoods isn’t collected, and that shapes wildlife management plans,” she said.
The University of Washington’s Schell noted that Black scientists have led the field of urban ecology to examine crucial questions about how redlining — racial discrimination in mortgage-lending practices — has shaped urban landscapes, influencing which neighborhoods have more or less green space and biodiversity.
This 2020 photo provided by Deja Perkins shows her in Raleigh, N.C. Perkins, a conservation biologist at North Carolina State University, has studied gaps in how community-science bird-watching projects are conducted in wealthy and poor communities. (Murry Burgess/Deja Perkins via AP)
“Who you are affects the questions you ask and the type of data that’s being collected,” Schell said. “We cannot understand how our natural world interacts with our cities without understanding the problems and legacy of racism.”
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
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