EDM Wednesday Briefing: Charlotte & Tulsa Protests, Charges Filed in NY, NJ Bombings, CA Wildfires, Indonesian Landslides

Emergency and disaster management briefing for September 21, 2016: Protests erupt in Charlotte, NC after an officer-involved shooting, Tulsa, OK protestors call for the firing of a police officer involved in a fatal shooting, U.S. prosecutors file charges against Ahmad Rahami for the recent New York and New Jersey bombings, a California wildfire becomes the costliest fire in history to fight, smartphones may be vulnerable to hacking that affects critical infrastructure, at least 19 die in Indonesian flooding and landslides, Atlanta police investigate a suspicious package, and a U-2 spy plane crashes, killing one pilot.

1. One man, Keith Lamont Scott, was [link url=”http://www.wsoctv.com/news/local/official-1-taken-to-hospital-after-shooting-in-university-city/448050164″ title=”killed in an officer-involved shooting”] in Charlotte, NC on Tuesday near 4 p.m. Reports have identified the officer involved in the shooting as Brentley Vinson, an African American who has been with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department since July 2014. A large crowd of people quickly began gathering in the area of the shooting and the [link url=”http://www.wbtv.com/story/33141522/one-killed-in-officer-involved-shooting-in-northeast-charlotte” title=”Civil Emergency Unit was deployed”] at approximately 10 p.m. to remove police officers safely from the area after they were surrounded by protestors.
2. The Charlotte protests resulted in [link url=”http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/crime/article103009432.html” title=”injuries to approximately 12 police officers, one that was hit in the face with a rock”], damages to several police vehicles, and the reported looting of a Wal-Mart nearby and semi-trailers on Interstate 85. Interstate 85 was also closed for a short time, reportedly due to police activity, and police used tear gas to break up the protestors.

https://twitter.com/DBloom451/status/778538309526163457

3. [link url=”http://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2016/09/20/terence-crutcher-tulsa” title=”Protests also erupted in Tulsa, OK”] on Tuesday evening due to an officer-involved shooting that occurred last Friday. Officer Betty Shelby, who is white, shot and killed Terence Crutcher, a black man, during a response to a stalled vehicle report. No weapon was found on Crutcher or in his vehicle, but PCP, a hallucinogenic drug was found in his SUV. [link url=”http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/latest-relatives-view-tulsa-police-shooting-videos-42194705″ title=”Protestors were demanding the firing”] of the officer, who was placed on administrative leave while an investigation is conducted into the incident.

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4. [link url=”http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/21/nyregion/ahmad-khan-rahami-suspect.html” title=”U.S. prosecutors charged Ahmad Rahami”], whose family owns First American Fried Chicken in Elizabeth, NJ, with the use of weapons of mass destruction, bombing a place of public use, and destruction of property by means of fire or explosive. [link url=”https://amuedge.com/suspect-in-new-york-new-jersey-bombings-apprehended/” title=”Rahami was apprehended in Linden, N.J. early Monday”] after exchanging gunfire with police in which he was shot and wounded. After he was apprehended, [link url=”https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/sep/20/ahmad-khan-rahami-charged-bombings-new-york-new-jersey” title=”” title=”police recovered a notebook”] that Rahami was carrying, blood spattered and pierced with a bullet, on which he recorded some extremist Islamic ideology.
5. According to the National Interagency Coordination Center, the [link url=”http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-vandenberg-afb-canyon-fire-20160920-snap-story.html” title=”Soberanes Fire in California”] has now reached a cost of $208.4 million to fight, not including property value and rehabilitation. This figure exceeds the 2002 Biscuit Complex Fire, which surpassed $150 million in costs to fight, and makes the Soberanes Fire the most expensive fire in history. Officials blame the [link url=”http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/Soberanes-Fire-Becomes-Costliest-Blaze-in-US-History-394145001.html” title=”cost of the blaze on the length of time”] the fire has been burning – since July 22 – when an illegal campfire ignited the blaze near Big Sur. Officials indicated that as of Tuesday the blaze was 71 percent contained with more than 2,000 firefighters battling the blaze.
6. Another wildfire is burning at [link url=”http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-vandenberg-afb-canyon-fire-20160920-snap-story.html” title=”Vandenberg Air Force Base near Lompoc, CA”], and has consumed more than 10,500 acres. Named the Canyon Fire, more than 630 firefighters are battling this blaze in Santa Barbara County. According to officials, since the weekend, the fire has more than doubled in size.
7. According to a survey by the Centers of Disease Control (CDC), nearly 44 percent of homes have done away with landline phones and have moved to wireless means of communication through the use of smartphones. This [link url=”https://amuedge.com/could-a-ddos-cyber-attack-take-down-a-911-emergency-system/” title=”move has put areas of the nation’s critical infrastructure at risk”] for disruption and the American people vulnerable to botnet attacks, as seen through the study done by researchers from Ben Gurion University (BGU).

[relink url=”https://amuedge.com/could-a-ddos-cyber-attack-take-down-a-911-emergency-system/”]

8. On Tuesday night, a [link url=”http://www.ktvu.com/news/ktvu-local-news/206745120-story” title=”gas odor that became pervasive”] caused officials to request that residents in south Vallejo, California shelter in place, while the smell was being investigated. After receiving more than 500 calls regarding the odor, the [link url=”http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/Shelter-in-Place-Ordered-Due-to-Strong-Odor-in-Vallejo-Firefighters-394223411.html” title=”Emergency Operations Center was activated by the city”] who also placed its HAZMAT team on alert. A sheen of oil was found on the bay by the U.S. Coast Guard, just outside the city. PG&E crews were working with Vallejo fire officials to investigate the cause, although gas monitors deployed in the area were not recording any abnormal readings.
9. Although flood waters are now receding in Indonesia, [link url=”http://time.com/4502430/java-indonesia-flood-natural-disaster/” title=”landslides triggered by torrential rains”] that resulted in flooding have killed at least 19 villagers on the island of Java. The death toll includes seven women, five children and an infant who died after rivers overflowed in the district of Garut on Tuesday evening. The situation has caused the evacuation to temporary area shelters of nearly 1,000 people.
10. Police in [link url=”http://www.11alive.com/news/local/little-5-points/police-investigating-suspicious-package-in-little-five-points/322244620″ title=”Atlanta were called to investigate a suspicious package”] left outside of the Wrecking Bar, which is located in Little Five Points on Moreland Avenue. Bomb squad units were also on the scene, and authorities closed the street while they investigated the item. The item was determined to be some type of equipment piece, likely a compressor from a unit air conditioner. The [link url=”http://www.fox5atlanta.com/news/206717583-story” title=”area was deemed safe”] at approximately 10:45 p.m.
11. According to U.S. Air Force officials, a [link url=”http://www.foxnews.com/us/2016/09/20/u-2-spy-plane-crashes-in-california.html” title=”U-2 spy plane crashed just after take-off in Northern California”] on Tuesday morning. Both pilots ejected from the aircraft. The pilots were participating in a training mission when the plane crashed at about 9 a.m. Beale Air Force Base [link url=”http://sacramento.cbslocal.com/2016/09/20/military-plane-crashes-in-sutter-county/” title=”confirmed the death of one pilot”] and injuries sustained by the second pilot were unknown. The U-2 spy plane reaches altitudes of 70,000 feet and was designed to get behind the Iron Curtain during President Eisenhower’s administration.

https://twitter.com/planesonthenet/status/778479765065965568