Madison, Wisconsin: Female student kills 2, self in shooting at Christian school – National & International News -MON 16Dec2024

Madison, Wisconsin: Female student kills 2, self in shooting at Christian school.

New Jersey drone puzzle persists.

Israel’s brutal land grab in Syria continues.

NATIONAL NEWS

Madison, Wisconsin: Female student kills 2, self in shooting at Christian school

One teacher, one student, and a lone shooter (also a teenaged student) are confirmed dead in a shooting at Abundant Life Christian School in Madison, WI. Six others were injured, including at least two with life-threatening injuries. Abundant Life is a k-12 school serving about 390 students. The school was to close next week for the Christmas holidays.

None of the victims have yet been identified. The shooter has been identified as Natalie Rupnow, but went by Samantha. Samantha was a 15-year-old female student at Abundant Life. Officers say she turned the gun on herself after shooting and gravely injuring several others in a mixed-grade study hall. A second grader called 911 to report the shooting just before 11 am. Samantha had planned the attack in advance and used a 9 mm pistol.

Police are working to find a motive for the shooting and have not said whether the Samantha had previous contact with police. Officials said she had been experiencing “problems” which she had expressed in writing, but did not specify. The girl’s family is cooperating with authorities. At present, the police have no reason to believe that the parents are in any way criminally responsible for the shooting. In some recent school shootings, parents of minor shooters have been held criminally responsible for the actions of their children.

According to CNN, this is at least the 83rd school shooting of 2024.

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New Jersey drone puzzle persists

Sightings of drones in several northern counties of New Jersey have continued unabated for nearly a month. Drones have also been seen in Pennsylvania, New York state, and other northeastern states in recent weeks. The drones have appeared over civilian infrastructure, crowded residential areas, sensitive military sites, as well as over Donald Trump’s Bedminster golf course.

Despite demands from concerned citizens and state and local officials in the affected areas, there still is little clarity as to who is piloting the drones. There are, however, some feasible explanations that have been proposed. For example, some of the “drones” are in fact private or commercial manned aircraft flying at high altitude. It’s likely that many are also piloted by hobbyists, whether innocently or capitalizing on the panic to create mischief. This could potentially explain many of the sightings.

However, some of these drones are larger than commercially available drones and have transited sensitive or restricted airspace with impunity. It remains unclear what their purpose is, and who is controlling them. This is not the first time this has happened. Last year, drones swarmed an East Coast military base for over 2 weeks. A year later, the responsible party and their aims have not been uncovered.

Some experts speaking to the New York Post have proposed that the suspect drones could be part of a top secret project by the US government, a “special access program”. The experts theorized that the military or some government agency could be using the drones to test data gathering instruments, such as sonar, infrared, radio wave interceptors or imaging technology. In a special access program, as few as a dozen officials could be privy to the activities carried out within the program. Other government agencies would be unaware even of the existence of the program.

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INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Israel’s brutal land grab in Syria continues

Since 1967, Israel has illegally occupied the Golan Heights, which is part of Syria’s sovereign territory. The United States officially recognized the Golan Heights as Israeli territory during the Trump administration, but nearly every other country recognizes it as illegally-occupied Syrian territory.

As many Syrians celebrate the fall of the Assad regime, Israel has moved to annex even more Syrian territory. Israel has carried out airstrikes on targets within Damascus, and is systematically destroying Syria’s military infrastructure and capabilities including its navy and air force. This has left the nascent regime taking hold in Damascus defenseless against a further Israeli land grab. Curiously, Syrian forces do not seem to be mounting much resistance Israel’s aggressions.

Meanwhile in Gaza, Israel continues to carry out daily deadly airstrikes in the north of the territory. As has frequently been the case, Israel’s targets have largely been against civilian infrastructure, including refugee camps, hospitals, aid stations, and UN shelters. Israeli strikes and snipers have also targeted doctors, journalists, aid workers, and guards protecting shipments of aid. The carnage continues even as members of the Biden Administration, and even the incoming Trump administration, are pushing for a ceasefire to end over a year of bloodshed. Over the past 14 months, Israel has killed at least 45,000 Palestinians in Gaza, over 70% of which were women and children.