11 killed in mass shooting in Virginia; suspect gunned down

Agencies
June 1, 2019

Virginia, Jun 1: A disgruntled public utility employee opened fire on co-workers at city offices in Virginia Beach, Virginia, on Friday afternoon, killing 11 people and wounding at least six others before he was fatally shot by police, authorities said.

Virginia Beach Police Chief James Cervera gave few details of what was known about the mass shooting in the coastal resort city, but said the gunman “immediately and indiscriminately fired upon all the victims” after he entered the municipal building shortly after 4 p.m.

“The suspect did shoot a police officer. The officers returned fire. The suspect is deceased,” Mr. Cervera said. A city spokesman later confirmed to Reuters by email that the gunman was shot by police and later pronounced dead at a hospital.

The officer hit was among six people who survived their injuries, and he was saved by his bulletproof vest, Mr. Cervera said.

The shooting was believed to be the deadliest act of workplace gun violence in the United States since February, when a factory worker shot five colleagues to death in Aurora, Illinois, just after he was let go from his job.

The precise circumstances of Friday’s shooting remained under investigation, with FBI agents and Homeland Security Department forensic technicians assisting local police due to the “size and scope and intensity” of the crime scene, Mr. Cervera said.

The police chief said the suspect was a longtime public utilities employee, and described him as “disgruntled”, but declined to say more about what may have precipitated the attack.

“We have more questions than we really have answers,” he told reporters about two hours after the shooting.

The bloodshed unfolded, according to Mr. Cervera, at Building Two of the municipal center complex, a facility which houses the city's public works and utilities next door to City Hall.

The complex lies several miles inland from the town’s popular seashore, situated on the Atlantic coast at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay. It ranks as Virginia’s most populous city with roughly 450,000 year-round residents.

“This is the most devastating day in the history of Virginia Beach,” Mayor Bobby Dyer said at a news conference with the police chief. “The people involved are our friends, co-workers, neighbors, colleagues.”

Arriving in town a short time after the carnage, Virginia Governor Ralph Northam said. “This is just a horrific day.”

In Washington, a White House spokesman said President Donald Trump had been briefed on the shooting and “continues to monitor the situation”.

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News Network
November 27,2025

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Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Thursday announced that he will convene a high-level meeting in New Delhi with senior leaders — including Rahul Gandhi, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar — to resolve the escalating leadership turmoil in Karnataka and “put an end to the confusion.”

Kharge said the discussions would focus on the way forward for the ruling party, as rumours of a possible leadership change continue to swirl. The speculation has intensified after the Congress government crossed the halfway mark of its five-year term on November 20, reviving talk of an alleged 2023 “power-sharing agreement” between Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar.

“After reaching Delhi, I will call three or four important leaders and hold discussions. Once we talk, we will decide how to move ahead and end this confusion,” Kharge told reporters in Bengaluru, according to PTI.

When asked specifically about calling Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar to Delhi, he responded: “Certainly, we should call them. We will discuss with them and settle the issue.”

He confirmed that Rahul Gandhi, the Chief Minister, the Deputy Chief Minister and other senior members would be part of the deliberations. “After discussing with everyone, a decision will be made,” he said.

Meanwhile, Siddaramaiah held a separate strategy meeting at his Bengaluru residence with ministers and leaders seen as his close confidants, including G. Parameshwara, Satish Jarkiholi, H.C. Mahadevappa, K. Venkatesh and K.N. Rajanna.
Signalling calm, the Chief Minister told reporters, “Will go to Delhi if the high command calls.”

Shivakumar echoed a similar stance, saying he too would head to the national capital if summoned by the party leadership.

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Agencies
November 22,2025

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New York/Washington: US President Donald Trump has again claimed to have solved the conflict between India and Pakistan, repeating his assertion during a meeting with New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani in the Oval Office.

Mamdani flew to Washington DC for his first meeting with Trump in the White House on Friday. Trump said he “enjoyed” the meeting, which he described as “great.”

During remarks in the Oval Office, with Mamdani standing next to him, Trump repeated his claim that he solved the May conflict between India and Pakistan.

"I did eight peace deals of countries, including India and Pakistan,” he said.

On Wednesday, Trump had said he threatened to put 350 per cent tariffs on India and Pakistan if they did not end their conflict, repeating his claim that he solved the fighting between the nuclear-armed neighbours and that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had called him to say “we're not going to go to war.”

Since May 10, when Trump announced on social media that India and Pakistan had agreed to a “full and immediate” ceasefire after a “long night” of talks mediated by Washington, he has repeated his claim over 60 times that he “helped settle” the tensions between India and Pakistan.

India has consistently denied any third-party intervention. India launched Operation Sindoor on May 7, targeting terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in retaliation for the April 22 Pahalgam attack that killed 26 civilians. India and Pakistan reached an understanding on May 10 to end the conflict after four days of intense cross-border drone and missile strikes.

Mamdani emerged victorious in the closely-watched battle for New York City Mayor, becoming the first South Asian and Muslim to be elected to sit at the helm of the largest city in the US.

He had been the front-runner in the NYC Mayoral election for months and defeated Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa and political heavyweight former New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo, who ran as an independent candidate and was officially endorsed by Trump just hours before the elections.

Indian-descent Mamdani is the son of renowned filmmaker Mira Nair and Columbia University professor Mahmood Mamdani. He was born and raised in Kampala, Uganda and moved to New York City with his family when he was 7. Mamdani became a naturalised US citizen only recently, in 2018.

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News Network
December 5,2025

Mangaluru: In a significant step to curb online hate and intimidation, Mangaluru City Police have registered a suo motu case against multiple Instagram accounts accused of circulating alleged provocative and threatening content.

While monitoring social media activity on Tuesday, Kankanady Town PSI Anitha Nikkam identified the Instagram handle ‘team_targetttt_900’ for posting a hate message alongside images of lethal weapons. Another account, ‘team_nagara_900’, allegedly shared a threatening post targeting activist Bharath Kumdelu, tagging additional pages such as KARAVALI-OFFICIAL.

Several other accounts — including ‘immu_bhai.fan’, ‘target_boy_900’, ‘kings_of_manglore’, ‘team_target_boys.900’, ‘arshad_mangalore’, ‘target_ka19_ullal’, ‘team_target__’, ‘troll_tigersz_900’, ‘tr_group_900’, and ‘team_target_900’ — are also under scrutiny for spreading similar inflammatory material, police said.

Authorities have urged citizens, especially young social media users, to report suspicious pages and avoid engaging with groups that glorify violence or threaten individuals. Online hate can quickly escalate into real-world harm, and police stress that sharing or promoting such content can attract legal consequences.

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