Two days ago, a teenager armed with a semiautomatic weapon shot at crowds of students at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. At least 17 people were killed during the attack, and a further 14 sustained injuries. Nicolas Cruz, who was a former pupil at the school, has appeared in court for the first time today after pleading guilty to 17 counts of premeditated murder. Since the attack, at least one other person has made threats to attack their school. A high school student from South Carolina was arrested after posting an image of himself on Snapchat with the caption, "Round 2 of Florida tomorrow". He has since been charged with disturbing a school, even though he insists it was a joke. Now, even more shockingly, an 11-year-old girl has been arrested after it was discovered that she put a threatening note under her assistant principle's office door. Jasmine Powell, a student at Nova Middle School, penned the note herself. It said: "I will bring a gun to school to kill all you ugly a** kids and teachers b****. I will bring the gun Feb. 16, 18. Be prepared B****." Davie police stated that they were made away of the note after Powell was spotted on CCTV camera. Despite the girl being so young, it's still a felony to threaten to kill or impose bodily harm on somebody, so law enforcement had to take her message seriously - especially in the wake of what has just happened. "This arrest is evident that these types of crimes will be taken serious," said Davie police spokesman Mark Leone. After she was arrested, the sixth-grade student confessed to having written and delivered the note, but claimed she was coerced into doing so. According to her, another girl in her class had threatened to start a fight with her if she did not write the threat. "So to avoid getting in a fight with her friend I put the letter under the door," Powell's confession read. Since the shooting, several pupils from the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School have come forward to give their accounts of what happened, but also to share their opinions on gun control. "People get used to what’s going on and that’s not OK," said David Hogg, a 17-year-old survivor of the attack. "We’re habituating to this and what happens when we do that is children are dying and they will continue to die unless we stop it. Stand up and take action." Another student took to Twitter in order to reply to Donald Trump's tweet, in which he said "my prayers and condolences to the families of the victims". In response, the student - Sarah Chad - said that "prayers won't fix this, but gun control will prevent it from happening again." [[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/ashleyfeinberg/status/964141485829566467]] More information about the killer has been released in the last 48 hours, namely that he was a member of a white nationalist group, and also that he posted multiple images of himself holding guns and knives on Instagram. Whether or not this will at last be the final straw for anti-gun control advocates is yet to be seen - but it's certainly sparked another wave of discussion in the ongoing debate.

A brave officer rescuing a distraught six-year-old girl who had been allegedly kidnapped by a stranger was caught on a bodycam.

It was reported on July 2 that a stranger pulled up and got out of his vehicle in Valley Station, Louisville, before grabbing a little girl from her bicycle.

The stranger subsequently threw her into the car by the collar and drove away.

A father and son who witnessed the ordeal immediately got into their own car and began following the kidnapper as they called 911.

Watch the dramatic bodycam footage of the moment the suspect is confronted below: 

Officer Beth Ruoff of Louisville Metro Police Department (LMPD) told The Epoch Times that they were able to give police "a very detailed" account of the event.

This included a description of the red Dodge Challenger and its driver as well as partially deciphering a license plate.

Several officers were then dispatched from the LMPD’s third division, according to the statement, and K9 and airborne units followed to help with the rescue.

Officer Jason Burba and Sergeant Joe Keeling were able to get the young girl back where she belonged within half an hour.

Officer Burba's bodycam footage shows him running toward the alleged kidnapper's car, opening the door, and rescuing the crying child.

As she held onto her rescuer, the girl wept: "I want my Daddy!"

She was reunited with her family shortly after making this heartbreaking statement.

Credit: Louisville Metro Police Department

The suspect was taken into custody and charged with kidnapping a minor, but he pled not guilty, WAVE 3 News reported.

He is now being held on a $1 million bond.

"It's like the world stops… every second feels like hours," Officer Burba told Wave 3 News of the rescue.

He explained that because the passenger window of the car was so dark, he had no idea what he would find when he opened it.

The LMPD's incident report shared with The Epoch Times revealed that the suspect had no relationship or connection with the girl.

Featured image credit: Alamy / Stephen Barnes/Law and Order

When kids get to a certain age, you have to let them leave the house on their own. That can be scary for parents, who see horrific stories every night on the news. The world is full of bullies, thieves and even worse, kidnappers.

When I was growing up, my parents and teachers offered the same advice: If somebody attempts an abduction, fight back, make a scene and run away. Sometimes I wondered how that situation would play out - would it really be possible to get away? Well, four brave, tough girls in Millington, Michigan did just that.

According to a statement by the Millington Police Department, a 22-year-old man, identified as Bruce Hipkins, followed four young girls home at 10pm last Friday night. The girls, who are between ages 11 and 14, noticed a strange man following them, so they stopped by a well-lit convenience store to get drinks. After they walked out, the suspect "grabbed the youngest girl around the head and told her she was coming with him."

However, Hipkins did not count on the girl's three plucky friends. "The other three girls kicked, hit, and threw their hot coffee on him," said authorities. "The suspect let the young girl go and grabbed another one of the girls by her hair. The suspect was again kicked and hit by the girls until he let her go and fled on foot."

The girls ran a block away to nearby hotel and called for help. Hipkins was apprehended by police officers minutes later. None of the girls were harmed in the incident. In an emotional interview with ABC affiliate WJRT, two of the girls, sisters Allison and Lauren Eickhoff, described the traumatic ordeal.

"He said, 'You're coming with me.' And like, he grabbed my face," said Allison, 11. "This cannot be happening; I thought it was a test at first, but then I'm like, 'This is real.'" Lauren, 13, said her first reaction was to scream. Then, remembering her father's advice, she sprang into action, and fought back: "I grabbed my drink and chucked it at his head. I tried, I punched him in the head. Seeing that your little sister was going to get taken is very scary."

Police officers charged Bruce Hipkins with unlawful imprisonment, assault and battery and two counts of criminal sexual conduct. He is being held on a $250,000 bond at the Tuscola County Jail. In his mugshot, he's wearing a white shirt, and the stains from the girls' drinks appear to be visible.

Speaking with The Washington Post, Millington Police Chief Jason Oliver praised the girls' actions: "I think they did great. They did exactly what they should have done. They fought the suspect — and they won." Allison and Lauren's father, Aaron Eickoff, agreed. He told the Post he was proud of his daughters and their friends: "How they reacted was just amazing. It was true bravery."

A 13-year-old boy has been hailed a hero after saving his little sister from being kidnapped by shooting the attacker with his slingshot.

The Michigan teen and his eight-year-old sister - who have not been named - had been in the backyard of their home in Alpena hunting for mushrooms when the terrifying incident took place.

The 17-year-old suspect allegedly appeared from a nearby wooded area and grabbed the girl and held her mouth shut as she fought back, managing to break free from his grip.

Her quick-thinking brother, who witnessed the attempted kidnapping from his bedroom window, seized the opportunity to grab his slingshot and hit the alleged attacker in the head and chest to stop him from grabbing the little girl again.

Michigan State Police did not reveal what missile the boy had hit the alleged kidnapper with, but Fox Detroit reports that officers found the suspect hiding at a nearby gas station with injuries to his head and chest.

The 17-year-old was taken into custody and interviewed, where police say he admitted that he had planned on severely beating the child.

The alleged attacker - who is being charged as an adult but has not been named - was booked into Alpena County Jail on charges of kidnapping, attempted assault, and assault.

He has been given a $150,000 cash bond and is next due to appear in court on May 17.

Police said in a statement: "A description of the suspect was aired, and a family member observed the suspect matching the description fleeing the area. Alpena Post Troopers canvassed the area and were able to locate the suspect hiding at a nearby gas station."

They said the teen had "had obvious signs of injury sustained from the slingshot with wounds to his head and chest."

The little girl and her family are said to have been left shaken by the incident, which occurred on Wednesday but was not made public until Friday, and police credited her brother's actions for saving her from a horrifying ordeal.

According to the FBI, an average of 350 people under the age of 21 are abducted each year since 2010.

Lieutenant John Grimshaw, commander of the local post of the Michigan State Troopers, shared his advice to other children who may find themselves in the same situation.

He told 9 and 10 News what he advises they do: "Fight, fight, do everything you can; bite the hand, stomp on their feet, kick them in the shin, do whatever you can to fight. And then if your mouth is free, scream as loud as you possibly can."

Featured image credit: RDNE Stock project/Pexels

 

An 11-year-old girl who smeared blood on herself in order to play dead amid the deadly shooting in Texas last week, couldn't comprehend why police stayed outside while the gunman's massacre went on inside the classroom.

CNN's Nora Neus, who spoke to 11-year-old Miah Cerrillo, says the youngster told her that she couldn't understand why law enforcement officials waited so long to come inside the classroom to rescue them from the rampage.

"Why didn't they come in? Why didn't they save us? The police were outside?" Miah wanted to know, according to Neus.

Check out what Neus had to say below:

AP News previously reported that police waited more than an hour to breach the classroom in which fourth graders were trapped with the shooter.

The young students repeatedly called 911, including one child who pleaded: "Please send the police now."

A Texas official said at a news conference on Friday that the Uvalde police made the "wrong decision" by waiting so long to breach the classroom, where the attacker ultimately shot and killed 19 children and two teachers.

"From the benefit of hindsight, where I’m sitting now, of course it was not the right decision," Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steven McCraw said, per NPR. "It was the wrong decision, period."

Credit: Newscom / Alamy

"[The onsite commander] was convinced at that time that there was no more threat to the children and that the subject was barricaded and that they had time to organize with the proper equipment to go in," McCraw added.

In any case, CNN reporter Neus explained how Miah told her that she managed to survive the shooting by smearing her friend's blood on her own body in order to play dead.

Miah told Neus that she initially thought the police hadn't arrived at the school yet as she waited for an hour for them to take out the attacker.

It was only after the massacre that Miah heard adults speaking about how the officers had been waiting outside the school while the shooter's killing spree went on inside.

Last Tuesday's massacre in the mostly Latino town of Uvalde was the deadliest shooting at a school in the US since 20 children and six adults were shot dead at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut, in December 2012.

The 18-year-old gunman, Salvador Ramos, entered Robb Elementary School at around 11:32 AM. He was armed with a handgun and an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle before "horrifically, incomprehensibly" opening fire, Texas Governor Greg Abbott said.

The teen also shot his grandmother and crashed his car near the school prior to entering the building. He was eventually shot dead by law enforcement officers. Nineteen children and two adults were killed in the attack.

Featured image credit: ZUMA Press, Inc. / Alamy