Baltimore police open probe into new shooting of unarmed black man

By John Clarke

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Police have opened an investigation into the killing of an unarmed black man by law enforcement officers outside Baltimore, authorities said on Saturday, two months after the city was rocked by protests over the death of another African-American who was taken into custody.

The latest incident unfolded in the Baltimore suburb of Owing Mills, where three officers fired at least 19 rounds and killed Spencer Lee McCain, 41, during a domestic disturbance on Thursday. The Baltimore County police's homicide unit is investigating, police said in a statement Saturday.

Police will conduct an internal review to determine compliance with departmental policy, rules and regulations, the department said. It will send the findings to the Baltimore County State’s Attorney’s Office for review.

The investigation comes at time when U.S. law enforcement is under close scrutiny over the use of lethal force, especially in confrontations with African-American men.

In April, 25-year-old Freddie Gray died from a spinal injury suffered in custody of Baltimore police. His death triggered protests and rioting on the day of his funeral, drawing national attention to the city. Six Baltimore police officers are now facing criminal charges in his death.

A statement by the Baltimore County police identified the officers involved in the latest incident as Wilkes, Besaw and Stargel, providing only their last names.

A police spokesman would not provide first names or ages, saying he was prohibited from doing so by union rules.

Baltimore County Police Department salary records show Shenell Wilkes, Jonathan Besaw and Shannon Stargel as the only employees with those last names.

Wilkes is a six year veteran, Besaw an eight year veteran, and Stargel is a five year veteran, police said.

Officers were called to a home in Owings Mills just after 1 a.m. on Thursday. They forced their way inside when they heard a disturbance, police said.

Three officers shot McCain, fearing he had a weapon, but no firearms were found. Investigators found 19 shell casings, but the exact number of rounds fired was unknown, police said.

McCain was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The officers have been placed on administrative leave.

A woman and two children were also in the home and the woman was injured, the police statement said. McCain was under a protective order barring him from having contact with the woman and the children and from going to the home. 

Police had been called to the address about 17 times since January 2012, police said.

(Editing By Frank McGurty and Tom Brown)

News source : Yahoo

Kim Kardashian Thought the Kardashians Were Done After Kris Humphries Disaster

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Kris Humphries's marriage into the Kardashian family was short-lived. (WireImage)

Kim Kardashian has built a career out of knowing just what the people want, like plenty of photos of her backside. Obviously.

However, when she abruptly split with Kris Humphries in 2011, she incorrectly predicted that her fans were through with her and her family.

"At the time, when I was going through the divorce I did say to everyone, 'You guys, I think our careers are over. I hope you saved your money,'" Kardashian told the U.K.'s The Drum. "'And now we'll just continue to do our clothing stores and continue to do what we did before the show.' I totally thought it was over."

Kardashian's breakup with Humphries was shocking, yes. They'd only been married for 72 days when it happened. Not only that, but their lavish, televised wedding ballooned into a celebrity story almost as big as... her 2014 wedding to Kanye West.

Still, the Kardashians were not done after the Humphries disaster. They're arguably more prominent than ever, with even more clothing lines, books, and other products in the works.

Kim, for instance, spoke about her video game, Kim Kardashian: Hollywood, which launched this time last year and was an instant hit. It turns out, the many fans of it should thank her husband, Kanye West, for advising her to do it.

"I had just had the baby... My husband and I had all these talks, just about, not slowing down but only working on passion projects," she noted. "My husband does only everything that he is one billion percent passionate about, and he had seen me do things that were a little bit all over the place. Maybe I wasn't so passionate about everything." (We had no idea she didn't love Midori liqueur with every fiber of her being!)

"I respect him and his opinion, and so I asked him, 'What do you think of this video game, do you think I should do it?'" Kim recalled, "And he was like, 'You have to do this.'"

TMZ estimated last July that Kardashian would rake in roughly $85.5 million in the game's first year. That's more than three times what Forbes estimated she earned the year before that.

However, Kim recognized social media as the thing that's really "heightened" her career. She added that she's even considered including a new streaming service in the vein of Snapchat on her new website, which launches this summer.

Doesn't look like we have to worry about the end of the Kardashians at the moment.

News source : Yahoo