CRIME SURGES DURING CORONA PANDEMIC

Houston Reaches Grim Milestone With 400th Murder Of 2020

 

LAPPL News Watch

January 4, 2021

 

Just before the end of a harrowing, exhausting, virus-ridden year, Houston police were dispatched to the city's 400th murder — a 15-year-old boy who was shot at an apartment complex in the Alief area. 

Police found the teen's body around 8:30 p.m. Monday in a parking lot outside the complex in the 8000 block of Cook Road. Investigators found witnesses to the shooting, police Lt. Larry Crowson said, and authorities are hunting for the two men believed responsible. 

Investigators believe the shooting stemmed from a narcotics deal and that the unidentified boy did not live at the apartment complex. 

The killing solidified the year's murder rate — calculated by the number of known murders per 100,000 people — as one of the worst in three decades. The number is a sharp increase from the 281 deaths last year but the rate is comparable to those of 2006 or 2007, according to a Chronicle analysis of Houston Police Department statistics. 

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LA Sheriff Superspreader Task Force Detains 900 During NYE Party Busts

 

The LA County Sheriff Department’s Superspreader Task Force shut down at least five New Year's Eve parties across the county, resulting in at least 900 people being detained, 90 arrests and/or citations, and the recovery of at least six guns. 

FOX 11’s cameras were at three of the parties, including Malibu, downtown LA, and Pomona. The Malibu party was held at a large, upscale home on Moonrise Dr. after it had been promoted on Instagram. 

LASD showed up outside the home in the middle of the party, warning the crowd on a loudspeaker that "this is the LA County Sheriff’s Department. This superspreader party is now over. Anybody who refuses to leave will be subject to arrest." 

Hundreds of people were ordered to leave the party immediately, those who refused were cited. There were at least two arrests, and LASD says two guns were recovered. 

"We are actively enforcing the superspreaders to protect against COVID," said Captain Holly Francisco. "Once we confirmed there was a party here, we had our super spreader task force respond and detain the occupants."